Gifts For New Parents & Charlie Approved Baby Gifts
A collection of baby items we love + gifts for new parents!
As I was putting together my collections of Charlie Approved Gifts, Gifts for Babies/Kids, and Gifts for New Parents, I realized that they all kind of belong in the same post. Until your kids are full blown kids who understand the holidays, every gift for a baby is actually a gift for the parent, right? So let’s dive into some favorites!
Books
When in doubt, books are a great gift for small children. While you might be hesitant to spoil them with toys, books help cognitive development, language skills, and so much more. We are BIG fans of the Little Blue Truck books right now. Get them all!
Barefoot Dreams Suitcase Set
If the baby you’re shopping for hasn’t arrived yet, this going-home set is so so so special. Not only is it insanely soft and cute (all the nurses gushed over it!), but I love that it comes in a keepsake suitcase with space to write their name, birth date and time, weight and height. The sweetest gift!
Activity Center
Not only do all little ones love this thing, but it’s also very helpful for parents to have a place to set their baby down where they’ll be safe! If the baby you’re shopping for is still too little for this, the BabyBjorn was essential for us in those early days.
Kick & Play Piano
This piano is a must for all new parents in my opinion. Charlie absolutely loved kicking the keys while on his back the first few months, and now that he’s bigger, he can hit the keys with his hands while sitting up! Plus, a few of the songs are bangers.
Laugh & Learn Car
This car is a newer toy for us and Charlie already loooves it. He can honk the horn, play music, crawl around… it’s adorable.
Feeding Essentials
When it comes to starting solids, Lalo has the most helpful stuff – and it’s all on sale right now! I highly recommend getting the First Bites Kit and the Smock Bibs!
Play Mat
I CANNOT RAVE ABOUT THIS MAT ENOUGH! It’s not cheap, but it is currently on sale and a great gift if you’re feeling generous. It’s got great cushion, you can easily move it or store it upright in a closet, it wipes clean and it looks pretty!
Cart Cover
This is where we start to veer into gifts for parents more for the baby… because while Charlie loves riding in the grocery cart with this cover, it’s mostly so that parents don’t have to deal with their kids getting sick from touching the cart 🤣
Magnetic Me
If you want to make all those diaper changes easier for new parents, get them Magnetic Me pajamas. Instead of fussing with zippers, you just pull it open and pop it shut! Easy peasy!! Now that he’s bigger, we also love their fleece and puffer jackets too!
If magnetics freak you out, we also love Little Sleepies because they have a 2 way zipper, they’re super soft and they stretch to grow with your baby. Burt’s Bees makes great affordable jammies too!
Lovevery Toy Subscription
The Lovevery toy subscription is one of the best gifts you can get for both the baby and the parents because each box has toys specifically designed for the developmental stage that your baby is in… which means that they love it AND the parents don’t have to take on the mental load of figuring out what toys they should be giving their baby when. Parenting is overwhelming and this takes one thing off their plate.
And on that note let’s shift to things even more geared towards the new parents…
Chatbooks
My friend told me about Chatbooks back when I was pregnant and it is truly one of the best things I’ve done this year. It’s hard to keep up with getting photos printed or writing in a memory book, but I got their Monthly Minis so we have a small photo book for every month of his first year! The best part is that their app connects to your camera roll on your phone, so you just select your favorites, play with the order if you want, and send it to print. SO EASY.
Baby Brezza
I hesitated putting a Formula Maker and Sterilizer/Dryer on our registry because I wasn’t sure they were necessary… but only a few days into being parents, Adam and I kept saying I’M SO GLAD WE GOT THESE! The only thing I’d do different is get the full Washer/Sterilizer/Dryer to make our lives even easier. No need to be a hero.
Baby Carrier
Some babies aren’t big carrier fans, but Charlie absolutely LOVED the Sollywrap when he was a newborn, and now our favorite is this Mabe carrier. We tried a lot of them over the past 9 months and this one is the easiest to put on and the most comfortable for both me and Charlie.
Easy Kitchen Items
Becoming a mom made me love our Nespresso machine more than ever. We also realized that Ember mugs were created for parents who can never finish their coffee before it gets cold 🤣
Beyond coffee, we used our Wonder Oven a lot more since that was an easy way to cook and reheat meals quickly. And if I did turn the oven on, this nonstick pan was my go-to for sheet pan meals. Both are on sale too!
Mom Clothes
I’m not sure I ever would have purchased this Mom of the Year sweatshirt and Mom hat on my own, but I wear them ALL THE TIME. They’re both really high quality and feel like special fun gifts. I also highly recommend Lake’s maternity pajamas if you’re shopping for someone who is still pregnant and/or freshly postpartum because the buttons are super convenient for breastfeeding.
Skylight Calendar
If you’re shopping for people with more than one kid who are managing a bunch of different schedules, I hear AMAZING things about this digital calendar.
