“If I Could Do It All Over” Baby Registry – Part 3 (Diapering and Bathing)

After reading Part 1 and Part 2 of my baby registry series, you have everything you need for strolling, sleeping (in babyland, this IS a transitive verb!) and clothing your munchkin. Read on to find out what you need for changing those poopy diapers (yay!) and for bathing your bundle of joy.

Diapering

So, here’s the not so fun part! … Although with the right diapers, it won’t be too too bad. After trying just about every diaper out there (Pampers Swaddlers, Pampers Baby Dry, Honest, Huggies, CVS brand, Babyganics, Earth’s Best), I’ve decided my favorite diaper is Target’s Up and Up brand. I like everything about them. They not only are soft and (usually) don’t leak, but they are also pleasing to the eye and the wallet. I wish I had discovered them sooner. We used Pampers Swaddlers until recently, and they are definitely my runner up, but Up & Up diapers are almost half the price, so look no further. Put 2 giant packs of sizes 1-3 in your registry, and once you’re done with those, subscribe to have them delivered to your door so you’ll never run out.

Tip: Whatever you do, never try Pampers Baby Dry. They’re so horrible, I’m not sure why they even exist.

As far as butt cream goes, I’m very sorry to say this, but Boudreaux’s Butt Paste, you suck! We use a German brand called Penaten, and we like it the best. We like it because it works, and it’s the right consistency – not nasty and pasty like so many others (Boudreaux’s). It’s expensive ($20 on Amazon right now) unless you have friends and family bringing them to you from Deutschland. 🙂 If this is not an option, opt for Aquaphor Baby Diaper Rash Cream.

We’ve also tried many a butt wipe (Babyganics, Pampers, Huggies), and I’m not sure how any wipe could be better than Water Wipes. They’re super wet, they don’t smell like anything, and they’re 99.9% water.

We honestly use any hand sanitizer, but we’re switching to Babyganics alcohol-free foaming hand sanitizer since it seems to be safer to put on baby’s hands, which I occasionally do when Pookie’s hands go wandering during diaper changes! Oy! Put some of the on-the-go ones into your registry.

Now, where should you change your baby’s diapers? We went with a nice white dresser from Pottery Barn Kids, and I can’t say it has been perfect. I now wish we had gone with the Stuva Changing Table from Ikea. It’s great because you can change your baby from the front without having to move over to the side of the table. I love that there’s plenty of space on the surface for the changing pad and your diaper caddy and plenty of storage with open shelves and drawers down below. Even better, the changing table converts into a desk for when they get older. AND it looks cute. I think it’s perfect.

We got the Keekaroo peanut changing pad, but I don’t see why people love it so much. It’s not soft and cozy for baby, and ours actually stained our dresser somehow! If I could go back, I’d just get a regular changing pad like this one by Colgate.

You will also unfortunately need to change diapers when you’re on the go, so register for a travel changing pad. We’ve had no complaints with ours from Skip Hop. You’ll of course also need a diaper bag. I’d say definitely go with a backpack style so you can more easily hold it AND your squirmy baby. We went with the Skip Hop Forma, which is fine, but I’d go with the Swish Baby if I could go back.

As far as diaper pails go, you may or not feel you need one. We were so lucky to be gifted the Ubbi diaper pail off of our registry, but we did eventually stop using it. Our apartment is so small that we found it was easier to just put the diaper into our regular garbage can. Of course, if you do this, you’ll want to take your garbage out very regularly. 😉 If you do decide to get a diaper pail, the Ubbi is the cream of the crop!

Bathing

We went with a basic baby tub with infant sling, but found it pretty cumbersome. Today, I would get this adorable Blooming Baby flower thing for bathing babies 0-6 months in the sink and the cute and compact Schnuggle Baby Bathtub for when baby gets bigger. We also discovered this hard to find (Read: not on Amazon) bath seat by Keter while we were in Germany and highly recommend using it until you’re comfortable putting your munchkin directly into the big tub.

Don’t forget to add some super soft hooded towels to your registry and some nice lightweight washcloths like these by Spasilk. You’ll need some soap/ shampoo, so go with this nice gift set by Burt’s Bees that also includes lotion, diaper rash ointment, buttermilk soap and keepsake box. Also, grab some rubber duckies, any of these awesome looking bath toys, a faucet cover and a bath tub toy caddy.

We obsessively measured the bath temperature in the beginning, and I’m thinking you’ll want to as well, so put one of these bath thermometers in your registry.

Now that you have everything you need for bathing your munchkin and for those middle of the night poop-splosions, check out Part 4 all about feeding that hungry little munchkin!