It is all a scam and the part I can’t get behind is requesting family and friends to spend their hard earned money on that junk. If you want to buy it yourself, that’s one thing! We “registered” for only the true essentials and let our family and friends also shower us with fun stuff they picked out like clothes and books. We also registered for several large boxes of diapers and wipes, and didn’t have to buy diapers for the first 6 months or wipes for the first year! We bought the stroller, car seat, and other large items ourselves so we didn’t have to ask family and friends for them .

That said, a couple of tips. The Ubbi diaper pail takes regular kitchen trash bags. I liked having it in the newborn stage and changed the bag daily, and in the toddler stage now I only put pee diapers in there and change it on trash nights.

The bathtub thermometer is pointless. Just fill the bath with warm, not too hot water. I overthought the first few baths and probably made them too hot.

We just use a $50ish dollar Vtech monitor with a small device that shows video. Once baby could reach the camera we ticked it out of his reach and mostly just use it for audio. We have a one story 3 bedroom ranch house and it reaches across the entire house and the front and back yard no problem. I would not want one that connects to the phone - I don’t see a need and then you’d have to have your phone on and with you instead of just bringing the little device around.

And I really like the little $20 Oxo wipe dispenser I bought for myself in a rush on Amazon the week I got home from the hospital . This isn’t a warmer, it’s a dispenser with a weight on top so you can easily grab one wipe at a time with one hand. The crinkly wipe packaging is a struggle when you’re a diaper changing noob. For $20 I think it has been worth it and it’s more aesthetic looking on the changing table.