What NOT to buy for a newborn: the minimalist baby registry
Baby product companies compete to launch new must-haves, often preying on the anxiety of not being prepared enough. According to Altroconsumo, Italy's leading consumer group, a newborn's needs in the first few months are very simple: sleeping, eating, being changed, feeling safe, and a good share of the products marketed as “essential” are actually useless, or even discouraged for safety reasons. This guide is a baby registry in reverse: not what to add, but what to remove or postpone, with the sources to back it up.
Why it's worth starting from “what you don't need”
This guide isn't about how to organise your baby registry, prices, sizes, timing for sharing it: for that, there's the guide on the 7 mistakes to avoid when creating your baby registry. Here the focus is different: which product categories, regardless of how you organise your list, you can simply leave out, because they're unnecessary, redundant, or actively discouraged.
In the crib: not just unnecessary, actually discouraged
Padded bumpers, pillows, stuffed animals and infant positioners are among the most-gifted baby registry items, and among the most discouraged by safe sleep guidelines, which link them to a suffocation risk in the first few months. This isn't a matter of aesthetic taste, it's safety. For the full list of what to put (and not put) in the crib, the guide to newborn sleep goes into detail, including the three rules recommended by Italy's Ministry of Health.
For feeding: what to hold off on buying
If you're breastfeeding exclusively and don't plan on bottles, you can skip a bottle warmer and steriliser entirely: there's nothing to warm or sterilise. If even one bottle a day is on the cards, they remain a convenience but not a necessity in the first few days, a pot of hot water warms things up just the same, for free. The same logic applies to stockpiling: bottle sets beyond the initial 2-3, formula supplies, more than one cooler bag for pumped milk are all better bought later, once the real picture is clearer. The full detail is in the guide to what you actually need for breastfeeding.
Baby scale, shoes and slippers: the trio of unnecessary purchases
Three purchases that show up often on registries but that, according to Altroconsumo, are rarely needed:
⚖️ Baby scale — weighing your baby just means a trip to the pharmacy or paediatrician, who does it anyway at scheduled check-ups. A dedicated scale almost always ends up in a drawer after the first few weeks of curiosity.
👟 Shoes — not needed until your baby starts walking. Before that, a rigid sole only restricts the foot's natural movement.
🧦 Indoor slippers — soft socks are enough to keep little feet warm, without the cost (and waste, given how quickly sizes change) of a dedicated product.
Dedicated changing table: a piece of furniture you can skip
A “proper” changing table, with a tub and dedicated frame, is convenient but not essential: a chest of drawers at a comfortable height, with a changing mat on top, does exactly the same job. The added benefit is that the chest of drawers stays useful afterwards too, once you no longer need a changing table at all, while a dedicated changing table becomes bulky clutter to resell or dispose of.
Bath time: skip the full toiletry kit
For bathing a newborn, up to their first birthday, water is enough, possibly with a few drops of almond oil or a spoonful of rice starch if the skin is dry. The full kits sold with dedicated bubble bath, shampoo and cream aren't necessary in the first few months, and in some cases can dry out or irritate skin that's still very delicate.
0-3 month clothes: quantity matters more than variety
This isn't a ban, more a word of caution on quantity: babies only wear newborn-size bodysuits for a few weeks, so filling your registry with the smallest sizes almost always leads to clothes that never get worn. To balance sizes properly across 0-3, 3-6 and 6-12 months, the guide on the 7 mistakes to avoid on your baby registry has the practical rule of thumb for splitting them.
My four-point compass
1. If a product exists only to reassure you, not to meet a real need of the baby's, you can wait to buy it.
2. In the crib, safety comes before looks: no bumpers, pillows or stuffed animals in the first few months.
3. Many “safety” products (scales, monitors) are actually just conveniences: check the facts before adding them to your registry.
4. A multi-use item (chest of drawers as changing table, socks instead of shoes) almost always beats a dedicated item you'll use for a few weeks.
Frequently asked questions
Do I actually need a baby scale?
Almost never: according to Altroconsumo, weighing your newborn regularly just means a trip to the pharmacy or paediatrician, who weighs them anyway at scheduled check-ups. It's a purchase that almost always ends up in a drawer after the first few weeks.
Do I need shoes or slippers for a newborn who isn't walking yet?
No: newborns don't need shoes until they start walking, and they don't need indoor slippers either. Soft socks are enough to keep little feet warm, without forcing a still-developing foot into a rigid sole.
Should I skip the bottle warmer and steriliser if I'm breastfeeding?
If you're breastfeeding exclusively and don't plan on bottles, yes, you can skip them entirely: there's nothing to warm or sterilise. If even one bottle a day is on the cards, they remain a convenience but not a necessity, a pot of hot water does the same job for free.
Do I need to buy a dedicated changing table?
Not necessarily: a chest of drawers at a comfortable height, with a changing mat on top, works exactly the same way and stays useful afterwards too, once you no longer need a changing table at all.
Sources
- Altroconsumo, “Useful and useless, if not dangerous, products for a newborn” — altroconsumo.it (retrieved 6 July 2026).
- Italy's Ministry of Health — SIDS: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (retrieved 6 July 2026).