Recently a great many of my girlfriends have had babies…some their first and some second and thirds.  I wanted to take a minute to share my favorite and most used gifts that I have been given.  It can certainly be overwhelming when you look at baby registries and think of all of the items that are listed, what might be the most useful and the most fun to buy.  The items that I have chosen are ones that my friends use regularly, I use regularly and ones that people have said were great gifts.

Aiden & Anais Swaddle Blankets – these are my favorite blankets; because they are thin and lightweight.  They are long enough to tightly secure even the most efficient Houdini.  My babes tend to sleep hot and these don’t make that situation worse.  They are great!  They can be found just about everywhere, there are tons of different patterns to choose from which makes them all the more lovable.

Sophie the Giraffe – this natural teether has been around for over 50 years, proving it’s usefulness among the petites.  This teether is well worth the cost of what seemingly looks like a dogs chew toy.  I have no idea what is so special but both my girls love Sophie, the worst part is if you happen to leave her behind somewhere.

Diapers – for the more practical gift givers and moms alike.  Getting diapers is amazing…it may not seem fun, but you can always purchase these super cute Honest Company diapers to make it a little more personalized and cute.  The reason I think giving and getting diapers make sense is that a baby goes through an immense amount of diapers in their first year.  I read this article and just about fell over when I saw it written out like this.  Size 1 – 840, Size 2 – 560, Size 3 – 1512 this is true, an insane amount of diapers…I can vouch for it too, I bought lots of diapers for my little one in advance in all sizes and these amounts are spot on.

Toys – there are so many different ones to choose from, I really like this caterpillar.  It has lots of fun crunchy sounds, little bits to chew on, and tags to pull on.  Of course it pairs really well with the Eric Carle Very Hungry Caterpillar book.  Both my girls love it, we have given it as a gift many times as well.

Oobie (my daughter calls breasts “oobies”) Things – this I would say is a great gift.  I have given oobie things to many of my friends, remember you need all those diapers because of all of those feedings.  🙂  The Madela Hydro Gel pads are so amazing when you first start nursing and really help to soothe sore oobies in-between feedings.  The Tender Care Lanolin is great, it is thin enough to cover, and also doesn’t need to be washed off before nursing which is a huge pain if you ask me.  Finally nursing pads, you can go through quite a few of these during those first weeks of nursing.

Books – there is no way you can wrong with books.  “Ugh, I hate books, especially children’s books” ~ said no one ever.  There are so many incredibly cute books out there for babies that you really have no limits of what you can buy.  These Babylit books are a personal favorite of mine.  The illustrations are fabulous and they cover the classics, really what’s not to love.

Soothing Sounds Sleep Sheep – this is one of those things that I thought, really do I need this?  I had my screaming daughter in a store and she was a hot mess and we saw this (well, the bear version) and we jokingly laughed and turned it on thinking yeah right it will calm her down.  Well, the magical powers of the sleep sheep/bear are still used to this day in our house.  It’s also great for babes who are fussy in the car.  Great use of white noise.

Of course, as things always go, I want to add other things that are my favorite gifts to give, so maybe this will be a series of best baby gifts ever.

Erin