grid of images with baby booties, baby pod, and child with hat

Our Family’s Favorite Baby and Toddler Items

Sarah Layton Recommendations

Affiliate links are used in this post, giving us a commission if you purchase items through the links, at no additional cost to you. Thanks for clicking through. Babies ain’t cheap.

This covers our family’s top recommendations and can’t-live-without baby items. It’s the list I’d send my sister or best friend if she was going to have her first baby.

Here you’ll find some of the basics, but obviously there are boatloads of other items you need — car seats and strollers and changing pads and furniture and clothes and ahhh! It’s overwhelming. I know. We’ve loved Lucie’s List as a comprehensive resource to consider all options.

Note new parents: Be prepared for trial and error with most equipment. You may love the look of something or carefully research the best option for your setup, but that baby will have other ideas. Especially for things like swings, baby carriers and safe sleep spaces (like a bassinet). The items below worked for our kids, and hopefully they’re at least a good starting point for yours.

Tech & Gear

  • Halo Bassinest: Both my babies slept in this for months, beginning the first night home from the hospital. It’s sturdy, has a thoughtful design to easily to move tiny sleeping babies in and out, and includes a swivel feature to maneuver it into position by your bed. Our room wasn’t big enough to fit the large wooden crib, so this was a great first step for safe sleeping.
  • Halo Bassinest
  • Halo Bassinest broken down for storage
  • mamaROO Baby Swing (4Moms): This electric bouncing and swaying seat was our preferred spot to hold young babies safely to give us a break. It held a place of honor in our living room. It’s hard to overstate how great this thing is, with a small profile to not overtake your living space and multiple options for speeds and different types of movement patterns. It’s also easy to remove the entire seat cover to wash it, should your baby have many, many blowouts in this seat. I speak from extensive experience. (Remember to grab the newborn insert!)
  • Lotus Travel Crib (see our full review here). We bought this to fit as a carry-on for frequent plane travel, and it’s been indispensable for any overnights or naps away from home. It’s a breeze to set up and tear down and super portable with the backpack carry case.
  • On-the-Go Baby Dome: This is small, super portable mini playyard. We spent a lot of time in our backyard and this was a perfect spot for a younger baby to rest safely. I loved that it enclosed completely (with mesh sides) to fully protect from bugs.
  • Lotus Guava portable crib
  • on-the-go baby dome
    Baby dome
  • Regalo Playyard
  • ErgoBaby360. I didn’t do as much day-to-day baby wearing, but this soft shell type of carrier was perfect for what I needed. It’s sturdy and comfortable. This lasted from newborn (with the infant insert) to carrying my 2-year-old on my back for walks in the park. If you’re new to the world of baby carrying, definitely read up on all the different types to match how you plan to use it.
  • Mella Ready to Rise Sleep Timer: For the older kids who understand color but not the concept of time, and also have a tendency to wake up early. You pick a wake up time, set the clock accordingly, and teach your kids Mella’s yellow light means to stay and rest in your room. When Mella’s light turns green, and ONLY then, is it ok to catapult into our bed for morning snuggles.
  • BabyConnect App. I’m sure there are tons of apps out there, but we’ve used BabyConnect for both kids and loved it. From the moment we got home from the hospital, we were able to track feedings and diaper changes — because you know the nurse asks at your first pediatrician appointments and no way are you remembering all that. It has the ability to connect multiple phones to one account and add child profiles as your family grows.

Car seats and strollers are the other big ticket items we didn’t mention here. For the record we used Cybex Aton infant car seat because we loved all the extra safety features like the load leg, and still love the Cybex Priam stroller. We highly recommend both, but there are so many other options out there considering a huge array of needs and budgets.

Diapering

  • Grovia Diaper Stick: We loved this option to help protect the diaper area and heal some minor redness, without having to slop on any creams. Picture a tube of chapstick…but for a butt.
  • Ubbi diaper pail. We prefer this since we can use whatever trash bags we have around — no specialty bags needed. And when you shop at Costco, you have a LOT of trash bags available.
  • SnoofyBee changing pad with hand barrier. Genius. Great for travel. Even better when older babies try to intervene with poopy diaper changes.
  • Pampers 360 diapers. Basically pull-ups for babies. We typically use them for sleeping, traveling, and standing changes for older babies. With soft stretchy band all the way around and no tabs, the sides don’t get bunched and the back can’t slip down. For older babies, the 360 diapers are super easy to step into if there’s not a safe place to fully lay them down for a regular diaper change. (Note: I’ve seen many confused parents unwilling to try these because they don’t realize the sides rip. When the diaper is dirty, you can either pull it down OR just rip the sides to remove like a normal diaper.)
  • SnoofyBee changing pad
  • Pampers 360 diaper in action
  • Pampers 360 on the move

Sleeping

To learn about safe sleep practices, see this guide.

  • Love to Dream SwaddleUP: Both my boys hated being swaddled arms down. With baby #2, we discovered the concept of transition swaddles. The Swaddle UP allows arms to be up and beside the baby’s head, but still contained in fabric. We loved it so much we kept buying all the sizes, up to the removable arms version when our youngest was a couple months old. (Current recommendations are to stop swaddling at 8 weeks, or when they show signs of starting to roll over)
Swaddle UP original and Swaddle UP with removable wings (close up and full view)

  • Kyte footie and 1.0 TOG sleep sack
  • Burt’s Bees Sleep Sack: For a cheaper sleep sack, we love our Burt’s Bees. Both Burt’s and Kyte have a rounded neckline and a nice zipper cover at the top and bottom (and double zippers!) to keep everything secure and not ride up. There are so many sleep sacks out there to address many different sleep situations and needs (i.e. research your TOG level needed for warmth, some babies benefit from the Merlin sleep sack, etc.). These are just two basic ones that we’ve loved.
    • We also have a collection of tried-and-true Halo sleep sacks as back-ups, though we’ve found they have more of a v-neck zipper and seem much looser at the top.
    • I know lots of families also love the ZippadeeZip — I probably would have used one had I known about it earlier.
  • Quick Zip crib sheet set. This is a new take on a fitted sheet crib set. It’s split into two pieces, allowing the top surface to be zipped off and replaced for quick changes. The main base wraps around the bottom of the mattress, and the top rectangle portion zips around the edges. It’s a breeze to change the top surface for minor, everyday diaper leaks and spit up. A full sheet change is necessary if a mess soaks through to the mattress pad, but for normal changes this unique concept is amazing.
  • Sleepy sheep. We’ve used this little guy every night and for every nap of both our kids lives. White noise options emanating from a cute sheep. That’s it.
  • Toddler pillow. When our kiddo was old enough to sleep safely with additional items, we went with this pillow (and pillowcase). It’s thin for the transition from sleeping directly on the mattress, and the perfect tiny size.

Clothing / Fabric Gear

  • Zutano Booties. If your baby’s socks keep flying off their tiny skinny feet, get a collection of these booties. Mine lived in them from November to February.
  • Baby sun hats. We kept two infant hats in rotation, with built-in UPF protection, a tiny brim and fabric flap covering the neck. This light full-brim option has served us going on a couple with our older toddler.
  • Zutano booties
  • Infant sun hat
  • Older toddler sun hat
  • Car seat cover. This fit reliably around the infant car seat and was super cozy for winter travel. The zipper and face peep were designed well to help circulate air and get baby in/out without dismantling the whole thing.
  • Shopping cart cover. This had a bunch of handy features — pockets, loops to hook toys into, and a clear pocket in the front for your phone to play videos.
  • Cart cover
  • black infant car seat cover
    Winter car seat cover

Feeding

Booster, bib, and plastic seat cover in action. Plus a large pillow behind him to block head bucking.
  • OXO Silicone Roll Up Bib. Once baby moves past purees, get. this. bib. Everything OXO makes is well-thought-out and quality made, and these bibs are no exception. They silicone bottom is sturdy and doesn’t collapse or flop open, leaving a reliable receptacle for all the missed bites. Clothe bibs are fine for drool, plastic bibs are fine for purees and quick wipes, but if you want to actually catch food and have a bib the holds up for YEARS, go for OXO.
  • Booster Feeding Seat (space-saver high chair). This route isn’t for everyone, but when we started out in a small apartment there wasn’t room to store a separate high chair. Even in a house, we love having a simple booster integrated into our dining set. For young babies/toddlers, we have this booster. We upgrade to this shorter version as they get older. We also use these plastic chair covers, since we have upholstered chairs. Yes, that was a bad move on our part.
  • Haakaa silicone breast pump. Super handy for catching extra milk or whatever pumping needs you have that don’t require a full electric pump.

Health & Safety

  • Navigate (baby gate). No hardware. Collapses into a bundle with carry case for traveling. And most notably, the sides ratchet closed individually, so this can block any weird/uneven openings you have (i.e. a staircase with banister on one side that sticks out at the bottom). We take this with us anytime we travel, especially to grandparent’s houses with stairs.
Crane cool mist humidifier
  • Crane Cool Mist humidifier. The first time my baby got a cold we were not prepared or educated on how to provide symptom relief. After a quick call to the pediatrician, I sent my husband directly to Target to purchase this cool mist humidifier. Don’t be like me. Be prepared.
  • Baby Badger sunscreen. We use a rotation of Baby Badger (very thick) and Blue Lizard to stick with mineral-only sunscreen. I have two redheads, so we go through a LOT of sunscreen. (Sunscreen is considered ok after baby turns 6 months)
  • Magnetic drawer locks. This is only lock that has outlasted our older toddler figuring out the other child locks. Yes, you have to keep track of the magnet “keys”. Yes, it’s worth it for certain drawers or cupboards with dangerous items (i.e. cleaning supplies)

Books

I just counted, and we have apparently amassed over 150 books in our home library. If you’re looking to start a collection for your little one, our most beloved books are:

Mama Care Items (Pregnany/maternity/post partum)

  • Nursing tanks. I lived in these exclusively for many, many months. My new mom uniform was maternity leggings (you didn’t think you’d stop wearing after the baby arrived, did you?!), nursing tank, and cardigan. I also loved H&M’s two-packs of nursing tanks.
  • Snoogle sleeping support pillow. It’s huge. It’s awesome. It’s even a great support post-birth, to coil up and sit on as extra cushion.
  • Boppy pregnancy wedge support. I didn’t need as much sleeping support with my second pregnancy, so this support was enough when side sleeping. Once your baby arrives, t doubles as a lower back support for long hours of sitting with a sleeping baby.
  • A soft, breathable robe. My husband purchased my Milkmaid robe as a push present. I love it. (Push presents are those things you scoff at as ridiculous until you push out a baby and then you say yes, I’ll absolutely take a buttery soft robe for all my troubles.)
  • Frida Mom Peri Bottle. You could use what the hospital gives you. Or upgrade. Postpartum care is no joke.

For more ideas…

For older kiddos, see also: Favorite Potty Training Items.

Important safety note: If you aren’t familiar with the most updated baby safety info, check out our favorite resources. There are tons of products out there that seem baby-friendly, look cool, or are marketed for certain activities, but unfortunately aren’t safe or in line with best practice recommendations. Lookin’ at you, baby walkers.

Any questions? Have a favorite item you’re family couldn’t live without? Pop them in the comments below!