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I remember having to put together my first registry list when I was pregnant with Bennett. Talk about overwhelming! I felt completely clueless about what I needed to register for and what brands were the best. I asked a lot of my friends and the answers were all so different, that I didn’t know who to listen to! I learned that you really just have to figure it out on your own through trial and error. I took the advice of several of my friends and tried out a few of their suggestions. Some of their suggestions I liked and some of them I regret purchasing or putting on my registry. ?Today I am going to try and?help you with your own baby registry process by sharing with you?a few of those items that I truly love.

1.Playtex? Diaper Genie? Complete

I love this diaper pail so much, but we had to learn this the hard way. My number one nursery regret was the diaper pail that we originally registered for. The diaper pail that we registered for and got at our baby shower was made of stainless steel instead of plastic like the other ones on the market. ?The stainless steel pail is?supposed to help with fighting odor, so I thought this would be a great option.??A few months into having Bennett and we could smell everything that was in the pail. I tried using baking soda odor absorbers in the pail and even scented garbage bags, but nothing worked. The smell only got worse as Bennett got older and started eating solid foods. We also noticed that we were constantly emptying the pail (it only held?about 30 size 4 diapers).

We decided to switch to the?Playtex? Diaper Genie? Complete,?hoping for some immediate odor relief. Here are some of its?odor fighting features:

Odor Lock System: the pail has a built-in odor controlling antimicrobial and double-air tight clamps that help seal in odors. Once we got the Diaper Genie, we stopped smelling odors in his nursery when the pail was closed.?The Diaper Genie also has a front tilt bin, where you pull the full bag through the cutter and tie a knot on the end when switching out bags.

Carbon Filter: on the top of the pail lid, there is a carbon filter that helps absorb all the odors. If any of the odors even tried to leak out, they would be knocked right down when they hit the carbon filter at the top.

7 layer Refill Bags: Each of the?Diaper Genie bags have a ?seven-layer odor lock refill with barrier technology built into each bag to help eliminate odors. Each of the bags hold 270 dirty diapers! There’s also a black indicator line that lets you know when the refills are almost out.

Another?great feature of the Diaper Genie that we really liked?was the foot pedal. I never had to use my hand to open the pail like I did with our other one. ?We also really liked the height of the pail compared to our first one, as you don’t have to bend down ?to throw the diaper away (a tricky maneuver when you’re trying to hold a squirmy toddler on the changing table).

Another reason that we decided to go with our first diaper pail was that I liked that it came in different colors. Now the Diaper Genie comes in multiple colors as well! It comes in blue, pink, grey, green and white. The Diaper Genie is sold at Target stores for $34.99, while our original pail cost $73 (obviously we didn’t pay for this since it was a registry gift, but I would have loved to have saved someone money!)

2. Soft Foldable Infant Bathtub

I originally registered for a standalone?bathtub, but ended up taking it back when I found out a soft foldable infant bathtub was available. This was great for our newborn because it fits right into your sink and allows you to make a little bath for them right there on your countertop. The main reason we got this was to save on space. We lived in a small house when Bennett was born and didn’t have a lot of storage room. This tub?folds flat when you are done and has a hole that you hang it up with to dry and store. We actually took this with us when we traveled too. It was easier to clean a hotel sink than an entire bathtub (and this took up less room in the car than a portable baby tub does).

3. Caddy Stroller

This was my favorite stroller to have when Bennett was under the age of one. I was actually really bummed when we had to give this one up, once he outgrew his carseat. I used this stroller everywhere we went. The best part about it?is that you just snap your carseat into it and go. It’s kind of a pain to keep unbuckling and buckling your baby in and out of their carseat and then buckle them in again to put them into a stroller. We used the stroller that we registered for if we went for a long walk in the park or something like that (or felt like our baby needed to stretch after being in the carseat for a while) but having this stroller made running errands so much easier.

4. Portable Music Player with Lights

Ok, this is seriously the best invention ever. ?We actually have two of these, and at 15.5 months old, Bennett still uses his. This was great to have on long car rides to keep Bennett entertained. It was great to have in the car, but it was even better to have while we were out shopping. If Bennett started to fuss, I would just give him this music player and he would stop fussing or crying right away. There were even times when we were in Target and I would take one off the shelf and give it to him if we forgot ours (you gotta do what you gotta do!).

5.?A Wearable Baby Thermometer

Bennett didn’t get sick that much in his first year of life, but when he did get a fever, I wished I had one of these! When your baby has a fever and you give them medicine and put them to sleep for the night, you worry about them! They always say that a baby will wake up and let you know if something isn’t right, but I would’ve felt so much better if I had this thermometer. This thermometer is a wireless bluetooth thermometer that your child wears under their clothes and it continuously takes their temperature. The temperature readings are then transported to a mobile app that you can access through your smartphone. The app alerts you if your baby’s temperature reaches a certain temperature threshold. This way you don’t have to worry about your baby while they are sleeping and you don’t have to wake up multiple times during the night to take their temperature.

6. A Play Mat/Activity Gym

When I was originally registering for items for Bennett’s nursery, I didn’t even think about a play mat! If I did think about it, I figured he probably wouldn’t need one until he was older. This was completely wrong. We started Bennett on a schedule around 3 weeks old and whenever there was awake time known as “play time” there was only so much I could do to keep him entertained on my lap as newborn. It was great to put him on that mat early on so he could look around at all the hanging objects. We obviously used this later for tummy time as well.

7.?An Angled Nursing Pillow

I originally registered for one of the most popular nursing pillows on the market, but actually ended up returning it, because I liked this one so much better. Since it has a bigger end on one side, it was more comfortable when breastfeeding. I was able to tuck the larger end under my arm on whatever side I was breastfeeding on and it allowed my son to be at the perfect nursing angle.

8.?A Sleep Sack

A?sleep sack was great to have when we transitioned Bennett out of a swaddle. Since babies under a year old ?are still too young to sleep with a blanket, this provides a great alternative. Every night we we would zip him up in his sleep sack and he would fall right to sleep. We never had to worry about a blanket being pulled over his face and suffocating him. We also got the fleece sleep sacks in the winter time when it was cold outside.

Since Target is a one-stop shop for baby (and the #1 place for baby registries!) I purchased or received all of these items from my local Target store. Since I am an avid Target Shopper and use my Cartwheel app each week when I grocery shop, I wanted to tell you about an?offer that is going on right now.??Now until 9/3, you can receive 10% off a?Playtex Diaper Genie?Complete. You can add it to your Cartwheel app right?here!?The Playtex Diaper Genie Complete can be found in the Baby section of Target in aisle M31 where the baby monitors and nursing pillows can be found (see in-store photo below!) I would love to hear about some of your favorite registry items as well. Comment below with your favorites!