1336709616

An online search for must-have baby gear or baby gadgets will return millions of results, each page offering multiple items promising to be necessary and lifesaving. Expectant parents (or those buying gifts for them) can easily be overwhelmed. To get some hands-on reviews, we reached out to recent parents and child care providers for some recommendations on which items were truly beneficial in the care of infants.

The top recommendation from those surveyed: sleep aids. New parents recommended multiple gadgets to help infants sleep and topping the list was a sleep sound machine or white-noise player. Although they have been around for a while, machines that provide soft background noise to mask other environmental sounds have gained traction with infants – and adults – in recent years.

“It’s so helpful when trying to get a baby to sleep, especially if other people in the house are awake,” reports new mom Amanda. By playing a range of low-volume sounds, a sound machine keeps the background noise constant and can help a baby (or anyone) fall asleep and stay asleep. One parent recommended a noise machine for home and another portable one for the car or while traveling.

Also in the sleep aid category, new parents recommended a soft nightlight for late-night feeding and changing. Nightlights allow parents avoid turning on a larger, brighter light and may help the baby stay asleep or go back to sleep faster.

Swaddle blankets also continue to be helpful for some infants and come highly recommended by parents. “My daughter hated to be swaddled. She wouldn’t sleep,” reports new dad Evan. “But my son — it’s the only way he sleeps through the night.” Rebecca, who’s youngest is now two, agrees: “Those Velcro swaddles are definitely helpful.”

Swings or bouncers also come highly recommended, but it may take some testing to find which one works for each infant. Amanda recommends trying before buying. “Every baby is different, so that can save you a lot of money,” she says. “One of my kids hated the bouncer and the other one loved it. You have to try different things to see what each baby likes.”

Another endorsed item is tried-and-true for any new parents: a good diaper bag. If the large ready-for-anything bag isn’t quite your style, another recommendation is a travel pouch that holds two diapers and a travel wipe container. It’s small and portable but can save the day in an emergency.

Following the diaper bag theme, always make sure to have wipes available. “Large capacity and travel sized refillable baby wipes dispensers,” adds Kate, a child care provider and mother of three.

Some useful gadgets also come in the form of apps, available for smart phones. Apps exist to track developmental activities, record milestones and inspire baby-parenting activities. “Apps can track when they last pooped, had a bottle, wet diapers, etc.,” says baby and toddler mom Jennifer. “That is helpful especially if you have a child in daycare. They can track it for you and send you a snapshot of the day.”

Other recommendation on what to buy:

• Diapers in multiple sizes

• Sleepers with zippers (not snaps)

• More burp cloths than you think you’ll need

• Pacifier clips, if you use pacifiers

• Gas drops

• Diaper rash cream

• Nursing pillow

• Easily accessible snacks for parents

Gadgets such as bottle warmers, wipe warmers and baby monitors had mixed reviews, and multiple parents pointed out sometimes the best contraptions are whatever babies and toddlers want to (safely) play with, from old car keys to wooden spoons. Sometimes, as one parent observed, you just don’t need a gadget.