Best Baby Gifts

Many people have asked me what products and resources I really liked as a new mother or what I’d suggest as the best baby shower gift or unique baby gift for a new mom.  I’m not a product tester but there are some products I wouldn’t be without as a new mom. 

Gifts for Pregnancy       Newborn Gifts 

Baby Gift Ideas

Getting Pregnant and Being Pregnant

When we were ready to start trying to get pregnant, I was heading into my mid-thirties and fertility was a concern.  Of the books I read, my favorite was Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler.  This is a thorough and practical book that is great for women who either want to avoid pregnancy or want to increase their chances of conception.  We started trying as soon as we were married and were pregnant within 60 days.  For that I am grateful to God but think that our improved timing thanks to this book didn’t hurt either.

Our pregnancy found us living in a new state with my husband in a new job that took most of his time.  I read voraciously.  I’m guessing that I devoured thirty books or more.  Here are a few I really loved.

On the topic of being pregnant, the two books I used the most were Christine Harris’ Pregnancy Journal and Your Pregnancy Week by Week.  The Pregnancy Journal was a great way to record our pregnancy while learning all about what was happening in our bodies.  She clearly presents all the phases of development during pregnancy while being encouraging and offering lots of useful advice.  I also loved the quotes that she included at the bottom of each page.

Your Pregnancy Week by Week by Glade B. Curtis and Judith Schule is a great book, too.  I turned to it each week to see what was changing with our baby.  I loved the illustrations and great information.

A beautifully written book of letters from an older mother to a new mother is Great with Child: Letters to a New Mother by Beth Ann Fennelly.  It’s a wonderful view of pregnancy and mothering from an experienced mom.         

To prepare for the birth experience, my favorite book and CD is HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method by Marie F. Mongan.  I can not say enough about this course.  It gives you the tools to relax as much as possible during the process.  The basic concept it that the more relaxed you are, the less tension will be in your muscles which in turn minimizes, and in some cases eliminates, pain in a natural birth.

Tim and I listened to this CD together every evening for weeks.  It was a quiet time together that we both enjoyed.  It was wonderful to fall asleep each night listening to the affirmations with my husband.  We had no idea what was ahead.

Our plan was a natural delivery like my sister and most of our friends had had.  The best affirmation of all those on the CD was “I can handle whatever turn our birth takes.”  I know that our Hypnobirthing training helped during our emergency birth.

Thanks to my hypnobirthing training, and my surrender to God, I became very, very calm when things went very wrong.  That inner calm helped both Clayton and me retain as much strength as possible during our brush with disaster.  One nurse commented that she’d never seen anything like my response under those circumstances.

Today, Clayton is a happy and healthy little boy.  I thank both God and Hypnobirthing for preparing me for those critical moments.

Ina Mays Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin is a classic for a reason.  I loved reading this collection of natural birth stories and found them very empowering.  I read this book three times!  I also read her book Spiritual Midwifery but found it a bit too ‘60’s for me.

Birthing from Within by Pam England and Rob Horowitz is a beautifully written book that appealed to the artist and the art therapist in me.  It gave my husband and I lots to talk about.  It has great exercises and a unique perspective plus it’s a fantastic read.

Newborn Gifts

Breastfeeding can be a challenge when your baby is born early. Clayton was not strong enough to nurse in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) so we transferred him to breastmilk once he was home and stronger.  As I grappled with this issue, there were two resources that were especially helpful.

The first is the La Leche League.  The La Leche League is a group committed to supporting breastfeeding mothers.  They were a wonderful, compassionate, and comforting resource.  The leader in my town gave me several helpful suggestions and going to their groups was a great time out.  I also loved their magazine-New Beginnings.

For day to day small topic questions I relied on The Breastfeeding Book by Martha Sears and William Sears.  Of all my breastfeeding books, this was the one I turned to over and over again.  It was a comforting and thorough resource.

In Clayton’s infancy, we used a number of slings and things.  Of all the baby paraphernalia, there are several which really stood the test of time.  When he was an infant, I loved our BABY BJÖRN Baby Carrier.  I could carry Clayton easily and have both hands free.  It was wonderful for both chores and play and I’ll always remember our nightly “dancing before dinner” session.

Clayton slept with us for the first few months.  However, I got tired of going to sleep at 7pm.  We began tucking him in at night in an Amby Baby.

What a phenomenal baby bed this is!   It’s a hammock and, because of the hammock style, it is harder for babies to turn over onto their stomachs.  This reduces their risk for SIDS.  An added benefit is that their soft heads stay perfectly round instead of developing a flat spot on the back.

The construction is extremely sturdy and safe.  The hammock is suspended by a super strong spring that lets the babies bounce themselves.  Clayton loved to bounce himself in this bed.  We woke up to the sound of him bouncing in the morning.

As an added benefit the Amby is very easy to disassemble and packs down to a small size.  It was so easy to transport that we took it with us on trips, including air travel, so Clayton always had his own bed to sleep in.

There were many clothes I liked but one uniquely stands out. Zutano Booties. They stay on.  Need I say more?

If you can only get one book about teaching your baby, get Baby Signs, Third Edition by Linda Acredolo.  Clayton developed fast in many areas but talking wasn’t one of them.  He did not start to talk until he was two. 

However, we started signing in his first year and, thanks to this book, he developed a sign vocabulary of about 50 “words”.  I was so grateful that he had his signs!  He could tell me when he wanted a cookie or an apple or what he was seeing on our walks.  It made his babyhood so much more fun and interactive and I think it helped avoid meltdowns because he was able communicate instead of being frustrated.

Another great book for new moms is The Baby Book:  Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two by William Sears, Martha Sears, Robert Sears, and James Sears.  This was the first place I went for answers to medical questions or developmental questions.  It was really the only book I needed.  They also have a fantastic website and parenting resource at Ask Dr. Sears.

There were times during Clayton’s infancy that I thought I was losing my mind.  I couldn’t figure out what I’d accomplished some days or I was haunted by “mommy brain” which manifested itself as an inability to speak in complete sentences. What Mothers Do Especially When it Looks like Nothing by Naomi Standlen was a life saver.  It is a true comfort and guide for new mothers.  When I hit low spots, I turned to this book.

I was hard pressed to find an interesting and fun book for my husband.   Be Prepared- a Practical Handbook for New Dads by Gary Greenberg and Jeannie Hayden fit the bill nicely.  Tim loved it.  It is both funny and informative and it has become our standard gift for new dads.

A book I reread every year is Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky A. Bailey.  I really appreciate the approach this book takes.  It helps parents phrase things in a constructive way.  Becky gives meaningful examples in this practical and useful guide.

There is a wide ranging discussion around TV exposure and children.  Some of the biggest concerns are that exposure to TV can cause sleep problems and cuts down on reading time.  With that said, we did let Clayton see 15 minutes per day once he was able to sign because he would make the sign for birds.  This was his way of asking for one of Tim’s favorite movies Winged Migration by Jacques Perrin.

This is a documentary film about migrating birds.  The bulk of the film is some fantastic photography of migrating birds.  It includes some narration and just two scenes we avoided; one of a flying duck being shot and another of a goose wading in industrial waste.  Otherwise, it is some of the most amazing images from around the world that you can imagine.  Clayton loved a scene where galloping wild horses cause a Canadian goose to take off and we played that scene for him when he asked.

Baby Gifts

And finally, my all time favorite product is our ERGO baby carrier.   It was recommended to me by a friend and this baby carrier was the best for me.  I tried many other carriers and slings on the market and got rid of all the others once I found this one.

During the walking seasons, Clayton and I used to go out most mornings.  I used the Ergo baby carrier from the time Clayton was 10 months until he was almost three.  The carrier was so comfortable for him that he’d fall asleep in it.  For me, I had both hands free and was very comfortable. I have so many great memories!

In our yard in Maine, blackberries grow wild and one day we were out picking.  The Ergo kept Clayton out of the brambles and whenever Clayton wanted a berry, this little hand would reach forward and I’d hand him one.  A couple of minutes later, here came that little hand again past my ear.  We had a ball.  The Ergo is lightweight, goes anywhere easily, and it is sturdy.  I was too large chested to use it as a front carrier (I used the baby Bjorn as a front carrier until Clayton could sit up).  However, if that is not an issue for you, you could use this from the time your baby is tiny through to at least age 2.

As a family, there are a number of books that we enjoyed together.  As an infant, Clayton loved Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathman.  This is a great little board book for new babies.  Babies can find the balloon on each page and learn the signs for the animals involved.  Fun!  We also read the Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown over and over.  From it, he learned the signs for the different farm animals and delighted in finding them on each page.  It was a great learning tool.  Another favorite was HUG by Jez Alborough.  It is such a happy ending book!  And it is another book that was great for Clayton’s signing as he learned the jungle animals.

While Clayton has outgrown those board books, the following books are still being read often.  You Are My I Love You by Maryann Cusimano is awesome.  I adore this book.  It is a beautifully written rhyme that will melt your heart and send a strong positive message to your child.  The Bear Snores On was an instant hit in our family of snorers.  It rhymes beautifully and is very entertaining. At night time, we still love Hush Little Baby by Sylvia Long.  It is absolutely one of my favorite books.

My sister gave it to me as a shower gift and now I give it to other new moms.  Ms. Long has taken the traditional song and replaced lyrics about getting material things with lyrics about the wonders of what we are given.  For example she celebrates hummingbirds, stories told, and lightening bugs rather than horses and carts and diamond rings.  Her illustrations are warm and charming.  It also provides a great opportunity to sing with your baby.

We are big fans of P.K. Hallinan and our favorite book is IAm Thankful Each Day which teaches gratitude and recognizes our many blessings.  We also like Let’s Be Kind and Let’s Be Polite once kids are about two.  Our family is also especially fond of A Father’s Song by Janet Lawler which is a great read about a father’s love and enjoyment of his child.

Our favorite book to introduce potty training was A Potty for Me by Karen Katz.  Clayton really enjoyed the book and we were grateful for his interest!  We are all very glad that we’ve passed over that hurdle

If you can find a copy, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star illustrated by Michael Hague is another wonderful book.  This book includes all seven verses to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and has breathtaking illustrations.  It is truly enchanting and we’re still reading it over and over. You can usually find a copy on Abe books or some other used bookstore online.

Our recommendations would not be complete without a mention of Clayton’s favorite author, Richard Scarry.  What People Do All Day and Cars and Trucks and Things That Go became huge favorites.  The amount going on in these books is an unending fascination.  Clayton enjoyed these books starting at about a year and still turns to their love worn pages at three and a half.

Now Clayton is starting preschool and we love the Waldorf approach to education.  I heartily recommend checking out the Waldorf schools in your area.

That concludes my list of the best of the best!  Any questions?  Send me an email!

Blessings on your journey,

Amy

P.S.  Check out the Transformational Mothering Video Pages for more information about why this book makes a wonderful gift.

__________________________________________

Disclaimer:  Many of the links above go to sources for a product.  Some of those sources pay me a sales commission if you decide to buy from them.  With that said, I would never recommend anything that I didn't believe in.  Blessings.