How Many Items Should Be on a Baby Registry?

Ask ten parents how long a baby registry should be and you'll get ten numbers, most of them followed by "but we ended up buying half of it ourselves anyway". There isn't a perfect figure. There is a simple way to land on a sensible one, and it starts with the guest list rather than the baby.

Start With Households, Not Guests

A couple, or a family of four, usually gives one gift between them. So before you do anything else, turn your shower guest list into a count of gifting households. A shower of 30 people is often 20 households or fewer.

Then add the people who will shop from the registry without coming to the shower: relatives who live far away, coworkers, friends of your parents, and anyone who sends something after the baby arrives. That second group is easy to forget and often bigger than people expect, especially for a first grandchild.

The Rule of Thumb: About Two Items per Household

Aim for roughly two items for every household you expect to buy from the registry. Not because each will buy two, but because people shop at different times with different budgets, and the last ones to shop deserve a real choice rather than whatever's left.

That means more items than you'd expect for a wedding of the same size, proportionally, because baby items are cheaper and people often buy two or three small things instead of one large one. A guest who would have bought a $90 stand mixer for a wedding will happily buy a $25 bath set and a $20 book for a baby.

Rough Numbers

• A small shower or a sprinkle (10 to 15 people): 30 to 45 items
• A typical shower (20 to 30 people): 50 to 75 items
• A big shower, or more than one (40 people or more, or a family shower plus a work one): 90 to 120 items
• A second baby: 15 to 30 items, mostly consumables and replacements

Treat these as starting points. If your family are enthusiastic gift-givers, go higher. If you have a lot of hand-me-downs on the way, go lower and say so in the registry description, so nobody worries that a short list means you forgot to finish it.

Spread It Across Every Budget

The number matters less than the mix. A registry with 60 items where 40 of them cost over $100 is effectively a short registry for most guests. A balance that tends to work in Canada:

• About half under $40 CAD. Swaddles, sleepers, bibs, burp cloths, books, bath things, bottles, nail clippers. This is where coworkers and casual guests shop.
• About a third between $40 and $100. A baby carrier, a monitor, a play mat, a good diaper bag.
• A handful over $150. The stroller, the car seat, a crib or glider. Mark these as good group gifts, because groups of friends and grandparents genuinely like having something big to go in on together. Our guide to group gifting explains how to make that easy.

Count Lines, Not Pieces

One line on the registry is one thing a guest can choose. A pack of five sleepers is one line; so is a single stuffed rabbit. If you want several of something, like muslin blankets or bottles, either list a few different versions or write in the item note how many you'd love, so guests know it's fine to buy one of the set.

This is also why a long registry rarely feels greedy. Sixty lines of small, practical things reads as organised. Twenty lines of expensive things reads as a shopping list for someone else's credit card.

What to Leave Off, or Keep Short

• Lots of newborn-size clothes. Babies outgrow them fast, and some skip the size entirely. Register mostly for 3 to 6 months and up.
• All newborn diapers. Same problem. Mix the sizes, or ask for a diaper fund instead.
• A used or foreign car seat. In Canada a car seat needs the National Safety Mark to be legal to use, so a seat bought in the US won't do, however good the deal. Car seats also have expiry dates, and a second-hand one with an unknown history isn't worth the saving. Register for a new one sold in Canada.
• Ten versions of the same thing. Pick the bottle or the swaddle you want and list that, rather than every option you're still deciding between.

When to Build It and When to Top It Up

Most people start their registry around the middle of the pregnancy and share it six to eight weeks before the shower, which gives out-of-town guests time to order. Check it a week before the shower; if the cheap items are nearly gone, add more.

Then top it up again after the shower and after the birth. The shower clears out the low prices, and once the baby is here you'll know things you couldn't before: which bottle they'll actually take, whether they hate the swing, that you need three times as many burp cloths as anyone told you. People who missed the shower are often still looking for something to send in those first weeks, so give them something useful to find.

Putting It Together

A baby registry rarely lives in one shop. The car seat comes from one place, the clothes from another, and the best swaddle from a small maker online. Send Me Your Gifts lets you put items from any store on one list, share a single link, and let guests claim what they're buying so nothing arrives twice. It never asks for your address, which is worth thinking about before you share a registry widely; our guide to baby registry privacy explains why.

If you're starting from a blank page, work through the essential baby registry checklist, then read how to set up a registry friends will actually use. Planning a wedding as well? The same logic is in how many items should be on a wedding registry. And when you're ready, make a free baby registry.

Keep browsing

More ideas in gifts for kids.

Or create your own free wishlist — add gifts from any store, share one link, and let people claim what they are buying so nothing arrives twice.