How Steph Claire Smith Would Redo Her Baby Registry

My silliest mistake? Buying size 000 summer clothes for a baby born in May.

As soon as I hit 13 weeks, mum and I hit the shops and bought a whole bunch of onesies and cute outfits. Some of which my son, Harvey, never wore before growing out of them because I didn't think about season — I bought a bunch of summer clothes in size 000 for a baby born in May. We were in lockdown for most of my pregnancy (Harvey was born in 2021), which actually allowed us to have so much time and space to prep for his arrival. My husband Josh and I had so much fun buying everything for the nursery and building it together. When it came to our baby shower and family and friends were asking what to get us, we asked for books. I love that we did that because now he has a bookshelf full of all different kinds of books, all bought for him from people that love him, some with handwritten notes inside. We did most of our baby gear shopping was done online due to lockdown, but also ease! For the majority of our baby shopping, I asked around for recommendations and when it came to the big purchases like prams or baby car seats for example, Josh got deep into researching. I reckon he watched about 20 Youtube videos before we made a decision for a pram. But asking people first was where we always started because there is an overwhelming range of brands to choose from when it comes to baby gear. This is where having a large following certainly came in handy… I asked people to send through their recommendations and I’d go through and find the top three recommended products and research each of them from there before purchasing. If I could go back in time, these are the things I'd advise myself to buy.

Leander Matty Change Mat

Now that I’ve made some mum friends I lean on them for advice all the time when it comes to baby gear. And we all are very quick to share with each other when we come across and item that has made things easier! The Leander Matty was highly recommended to us by a friend and I am so glad we got it. So much easier wiping down a change mat rather than changing a cover, and we love how portable it is.

BIBS Dummies

This wasn’t an expensive fail, but I bought three different dummys that I thought were "cute" before Harvey was even born, not realising that dummys have different teats and not all babies like every teat. I also forgot to pack them into the hospital bag so Josh had to run to the supermarket and grab whatever dummys they had, which again, were different teats to what we had at home. Three months later and he wasn't using dummies at all, but it would have been better to do the research on them for the beginning.

Haakaa Ladybug Milk Collector

The Haaka Breast Pump is great, along with the Haakaa Ladybug Milk Collector, both are so easy to use and easy to clean and also easy to take along to a night out with you in your handbag if you know you’re going out for long and will need to express.

Bubba Blue Bamboo Nappies

If I'm honest, I'd have to say my MVP are the nappy squares we used as burping cloths. These rags became my daily accessory and we still have them around the house handy for when he has a little spew.

The Cocoonababy

The Cocoonababy was something we used all day everyday in Harvey's first 3 months. It was bought for us by a friend who couldn’t recommend it highly enough, and after using it ourselves we would do the same. It was just so handy to have something so lightweight and portable that we could pop anywhere around the house and have him strapped in, and in our sights at all times. He loved it too, was very comfortable on it and always fell asleep on it for his day naps as a newborn.

PureBaby onesies

My silliest mistake was buying summer clothes and dressy clothes for him in sizes that he quickly grew out of. What he did wear was PureBaby onesies. They’ve always fitted him so well, feel so soft and haven’t changed after a million washes. They’re the best kind of hand-me-downs because they’re still in such good condition.