Babies

Inside: Most advice about baby must haves leave out one very important person: the dad-to-be. These essential baby products make perfect gifts for new dads!

When you’re expecting a new little one, you get tons of advice about all the baby must haves.

But from a nose-sucking contraption for baby to a trusty breast pump for the new mom, a very important person is typically left out of all this helpful advice.

What about the new dad?

Related: 36 Awesome New Mom Gifts That She’ll Actually Appreciate

9 Most Appreciated (And Awesome!) Gifts for New Dads

As our littlest one approaches her second birthday next spring, my husband Ty and I have been looking back on what was most helpful to him as an expectant father and then later as a new daddy.

These baby products make perfect gifts for new dads at a baby shower, for Father’s Day, or just because. We can’t imagine how we could have survived without them!

Start your registry on Amazon, add these new dad gifts to it, and you’ll both be ready to meet your new little one.

1. A Baby Calm-Down Kit

Sometimes guys get a bad rap for not reading instructions. My husband definitely likes to figure stuff out on his own first.

But he’s so thankful there’s one baby manual he read before our first child was born.

Most new parents have this eye-opening moment after they get home from the hospital with their bundle of joy. You’re trucking along, changing diapers and nursing and marveling at how a baby can possibly sleep through The Avengers on full blast in the living room.

And then the baby cries. She’s not hungry, she’s not tired, and her diaper is clean. You have no idea what the hell is going on. But the crying is raising your blood pressure, and you know it’s your job to fix whatever is wrong.

You lock eyes with your partner, and you realize they’re as lost as you are.

…

9 Baby Must Haves That Make the Perfect Gifts for New DadsRead More

In the last month, our one-year-old Bailey has developed a terrible habit – keeping us up until 1:00 am.

Or later.

She’s not cranky or crying. She just won’t sleep.

So she plays and plays and plays until she can’t walk straight, and then we cart her off to bed and cross our fingers.

Sometimes she sleeps, sometimes she doesn’t. When she doesn’t, we hang our heads and trudge back to the living room for more playtime and stories.

One night, I took her on a walk around the neighborhood at 1:00 am until she fell asleep. It didn’t feel creepy until I saw some dude limping down the street, fidgeting with his shorts.

Another night, we loaded her up in the car at 12:30 am and drove around for 45 minutes. But she never fell asleep.

You name it, we’ve tried it.

But the worst part isn’t Bailey keeping us up late.

When she does finally fall asleep, she wakes up every hour to two hours. Sometimes every 30 minutes to an hour.

She’s killing us, slowly.

3 Things I Know

1. It’s just a phase.
2. This too shall pass.
3. She’s gearing up for another wonder week.

I know all that.

But.

I’m really freaking tired.

Related: 7 Things to Do When You’re Stuck Under a Sleeping Baby

Here’s How We’re Dealing

After work one day a couple weeks ago, we took the girls to the grocery store to pick up a few essentials – milk, bananas, ice cream bars.

Our grocery store trips have become embarrassing lately.

We wander the aisles trying to remember what we need. Then when we’re almost done, we realize we haven’t bought anything for dinner that week. So we double back to get dinner supplies.

Sometimes it’s all our brains can handle to think of one dinner at a time, so we end up making several trips around the store – one round for each meal.

As a special treat, we bought a super classy $2.99 bottle of wine.

That night, we pulled into the garage, throwing out dinner options.

“Pasta?” I said.

“Works for me. Oh, is today Wednesday?” Ty asked.

I paused to think because figuring out the day of the week actually does require me to focus nowadays. “Yeah.”

“I’m gonna set out the trash bins before I forget.”

“Good catch,” I said.

I unbuckled Bailey and put her on my right hip, then loaded my work bags on my left shoulder.

As I deposited each of my bags – purse on the counter, pump bag in the pantry, laptop bag on the kitchen table – I felt something wet on my hip.

I figured it was Bailey drooling on me.

She squirmed out of my arms, so I set her on the living room rug to play and headed back to the garage to grab the groceries from the trunk.

The air hit my hip where it was wet.

I looked down.

Definitely not drool.

…

The Month My Baby Wouldn’t Sleep – And What I Did About ItRead More

By the end of her first five months, Bailey had been on:

• One 21-hour road trip (each way)
• Six plane rides

The road trip was about as horrible as you could possibly imagine. She screamed approximately 40 of the 42 hours we were on the road. And those two hours of silence were all thanks to these songs. In fairness to Bailey, she was only five weeks old.

But the plane rides were AWESOME. I nursed at take-off, and she slept pretty much the whole flight. Every time.

While she slept, I read books written for grown-ups. I played endless rounds of Dots on my phone. I even got to snooze a little.

Then last week, I went to the DC area for work, which meant 10-month-old Bailey would rack up four more flights.

Luckily, the cheapest flights happened to line up with her nap times.

We packed a few toys in her diaper bag, but I knew we wouldn’t need them.

Away We Go

After we got through security at the airport, I bought some mommy lit for my Kindle phone app – Life, Motherhood & the Pursuit of the Perfect Handbag.

While we waited by the gate, a nice middle-aged woman smiled at Bailey.

“Can you say hi?” I said, moving Bailey’s arm up and down in a wave.

Bailey smiled.

Then the woman’s face fell. Like it was dawning on her that this cherubic little thing might be screaming bloody murder once we were all locked in a small enclosed space and hurtling through the air together.

She looked at me and raised her eyebrows. “Did you remember to pack a pacifier? Babies need it for their ears so they don’t cry.”

I wanted to say: “This ain’t my first ro-DAY-o.” But 6-year-old Abby wasn’t there, so how could this woman know Bailey isn’t my first?

Then I wanted to say: “We don’t need a pacifier because I’m gonna stick my boob in her mouth.”

But instead, I said:

“I’ve got it covered, thanks.”

I smiled with just the tiniest glint of steel in my eye.

And then it was time to board.

…

21 Free Toys to Keep Your Baby Happy on a PlaneRead More

For Christmas, we got our baby one present. That’s it.

Why?

1. At 7 months old, she wouldn’t know what she was missing.
2. We thought her grandparents might do what grandparents do best. (They did.)
3. On the big day, her favorite people handed over a steady stream of colorful paper to crumple and tear and eat, not to mention the boxes. So many boxes!

But mostly, we stiffed Bailey on presents because babies are perfectly happy playing with everyday items around the house. They don’t need plastic, blinking, ringing toys designed especially for babies and for giving mom a truly spectacular migraine.

In fact, research shows that simple toys are baby MUST haves:

“Some active toys – the ones with the bells and whistles – prompt kids to sit back and be entertained by pushing buttons. But passive toys make for active kids. When the toy is simple, a child is forced to be creative, dynamic and engaged on an entirely different level, which enables and promotes development.”

Here’s What You Should Be Spending Money On

If you want to make your baby’s day, here’s a list of toys he will go BANANAS over, and they won’t cost you a dime. Not things he wants and can’t have like cords and toilet paper and dog food. For example, although Bailey would love to play with the remote controls, we don’t let her because of the nasty chemicals in most electronics.

This is a list of all the things around your house that are (relatively) safe and will put your baby in a magical trance.

The day I discovered the potato masher would keep Bailey entertained for 15 minutes straight? That was a good day.

Your house is chock FULL of these hidden baby toys. Rotate through them every couple days to keep baby interested. Variety is key. Having a wide variety of toys actually makes babies smarter!

Skip buying those silly baby toys at the store and save your money for things that really matter, like a new dress to fit your postpartum body or maybe a sweet bedtime story.

Related: 3 Brilliant Baby Food Hacks That Will Save You Time (And Money)

First, a Disclaimer

Always supervise your baby when playing with unofficial baby toys like this. Actually, always supervise your baby when they’re playing with ANYTHING. As a baby, Abby once choked on a piece that came off a baby rattle for her exact age range, made by a very respectable company. I had to perform the baby Heimlich maneuver. And then I sat down and cried in a very unattractive way, complete with snot running down my face.

The toy was later recalled. But my point is this: Humans make baby toys, and humans also make mistakes. Constant vigilance, as dear old Mad Eye Moody would say. These household items are relatively safe, but you gotta watch those little bags of slobber and puke at ALL TIMES. Also, please don’t sue me.

…

25 Surprising Toys Your Baby Will Totally LoveRead More