For the baby items mentioned here, you won’t need until your baby is about five-months-old or even older.
Placemats
Silicone placemats easy to clean so they are perfect for home and great for eating out. The pocket included in this placemat is something you will also love having. I really like the Mini Mat and wish it had a pocket to catch crumbs and spills.
Utensils
First spoons should be shallow and short. This helps baby learn and eventually master self-feeding skills.
Current recommendations state that solid foods should be introduced at 6 months. Some pediatricians are a little behind and still recommending solids at 4 months. According to the Academy of Pediatrics, World Health Organization, and the Center for Disease Control, babies should only have breastmilk or formula for the first six months and solid foods should be introduced at six months. Unfortunately, many parents ignore these recommendations and this research and introduce solid food too soon.
These are very popular for when you first introduce solids. We waited patiently for them to arrive because they were on backorder, and it was worth the wait. Because of the design, it is the only utensil we have that my 7-month old can use and get the food in her mouth without spilling.
Sippy Cups
Some favorites:
Straws
Trainer Cup/360
Spouted
Dentists, lactation consultants and feeding specialists will advise you to avoid cups with spouts. The spouts can promote poor oral skills and impact jaw growth and the way teeth come in. However, parents and kids like spouted cups. So, research, talk to your dentist or feeding specialist, and decide for yourself!
Foogo Stainless Steel Spouted Sippy Cup
Other Nice Stuff to Have
Infant Toothbrush 
Counter Chair 
Wooden Sensory Balls 
Padded Crib Rail
Silicone Infant Toothbrush ∙∙∙ These are great to promote proper hygiene.
Counter Chair ∙∙∙ We LOVE this! It’s great if you have a kitchen counter with a deep enough lip. It’s also great for travel and we even bring it into some restaurants.
My favorite older infant toy ∙∙∙ These look great, are non-toxic, and they stimulate multiple senses for baby.
Padded Crib Rail (for teethers) ∙∙∙ A teething baby often chews the rail of their crib. This will help protect your crib from the damage a teething baby can do. You don’t need this specific rail cover, but it’s definitely nice to have one.
Umbrella Stroller
- Summer Infant 3D Lite: (12lb; $59-$80) This has a 3-position reclining seat, and accessible storage basket, cup holder, and a pocket.
- Chicco C6 / Capri: (11lb; $80) This has a 2-position recline seat and comes with a bag and carry strap for easy transport.
- Uppababy G-Luxe: (15lb; $259-$280) It reclines to almost flat, it stands up on its own when folded and it has an extendable sunshade. However, it costs a small fortune. We have this one because I got it on major sale. The fold requires two hands, which is a bit annoying for an umbrella stroller. Overall, I like it a lot but you can get an umbrella stroller that does the job for way cheaper.
- Quinny Yezz: (11lb; $280ish)
- Maclaren Mark II Stroller: (7.3lb; $150-$200) This one is barely over 7 pounds, yet it is strong enough to have a 55-pound weight capacity!
- GB Pockit: (11lb; $170) This looks awesome for those of you that are city-living! it just two steps it folds down smaller than any other stroller (folded measurements: 12″ x 7″ x 20″). Look into it if you live in an urban area.
Baby Gates
You don’t need to worry about this for several months. While babyproofing your home is very important, you don’t need to worry much about that until baby is close to crawling. This is something I would recommend not registering for, and instead assessing what you need when your baby is close to being on the move. You may change your mind about what you want or need.
For the stairs, get a retractable gate! It’s worth the money! The gate fully retracts when not in use. So, it isn’t in the way and you don’t have to step over anything to get through. We have the retract-a-gate. It was the only one we found that didn’t require drilling into the wood post at one side of our stairs. I recommend this one to everyone!
This one from Summer Infant doesn’t look awful. In fact, it looks kind of nice! It is pressure-mounted without a walk-through. The downside is that you have to step over it to get by, but the upside is that it is more affordable and easier to install since it has a simple function. The gate has an attractive walnut finish with a modern decor panel. As far as low-priced baby gates go, they can’t look much better than this! It would be a great one for short term use or to bring to a family member’s home when needed.
It’s hard to find aesthetically pleasing baby gates. But here are a few more that aren’t too bad.
Other Baby Proofing
We really like Safety Baby Magnetic Cabinet Locks for our cabinet doors. With this magnet lock, you don’t have to drill anything in the back of the cabinet doors, and you don’t have some clunky plastic thing on the front of your cabinets.
Another alternative that is good for a temporary lock is something like this:
These outlet covers are important for safety and they look stylish in your home! You can get the old school clear plastic ones in bulk for cheap, but I think these look so much more chic!
If you have blind cords, these are a MUST HAVE.
If you have a toddler learning to walk, you’ll want to protect their head from sharp corners on tables.
We use one of these locks on our oven. Without it, my son would open up the oven and climb inside. And don’t think that a hot oven will deter your child… it didn’t stop mine from opening it!
Shopping Cart / High Chair Cover
This is useful once they can sit up on their own. I used it a lot with kid #1. I only used it once or twice with kid #2, because at that point I was already hauling around too much stuff whenever we left the house. However, with baby #3 I use it a lot. She is happier when sitting in a high chair at restaurants, but she still needs the padding provided by this cover to help stabilize her.
Convertible Car Seat
Assuming you are starting with an infant car seat, you won’t need this until closer to a year. So, it’s probably best to wait and decide which one meets your needs when the time approaches. The perfect convertible car seat for you is the one that fits in your car and your child. If your child is tall for his/her age, a different car seat would be recommended to allow for more time before it is outgrown. Also, before you actually need this, they may come out with an awesome car seat that you want even more! Ideally you would want one with high weight and height limits to allow for extended rear-facing — NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) and every single certified car seat safety technician says the absolute minimum age to flip a child forward facing is age two, but to ideally wait until your child has outgrown the car seat height/weight requirements for rear-facing. Fortunately, with most convertible car seats, most children can rear face four-years-old! Kids are about 5X less likely to die or have serious injuries when they are rear-facing. If you want to know some of the science behind rear-facing, check out Car Seats for the Littles. In Sweden, they rear face kids in cars until they are between four and six years olds. Child fatalities and serious injuries in car accidents are close to zero! Another great site for Convertible Car Seat ratings is Baby Gear Lab.
Essentials:
