20 Practical Gift Ideas for Exhausted New Parents

I adored this diaper bag for my early parenting days. For the first year, everything is small (like your baby!) and I found the Béis Diaper Pack was the perfect companion. The bag is perfect for errands and short outings and can fit plenty of diapers, wipes, extra onesies, a couple of soft toys, and a 5-ounce bottle. It also comes with a changing pad, which sits in its own pocket. It's too big to truly wear as a comfortable hip pack, but it's the perfect size for any parent to sling across their back before scooping up their infant. —Nena Farrell

When I was a new parent, meal prepping may have actually saved my life. My mom prepped a bunch of freezer meals in individual portions before my fussy, colicky-to-the-extreme son was born, and if it weren't for those, my husband and I would have lived on Coke Zero and pretzels for months, risking malnutrition and daily menty b's. (OK, those may have been totally eliminated.) These portioned silicone freezer trays would have been a game changer for both me and for anyone helping me. They can be used for fully portioned lunches, precooked vegetables, and baby food. There are trays for 2-cup, 1-cup, ½-cup, and 2-tablespoon portions, each with lids so they’re stackable.

You’ve probably seen cheaper versions of these elsewhere, but the brand-name Souper Cube ones are worth it, as they're stain-resistant, odor-resistant, microwave-safe, and fine for the dishwasher, and the sides are slightly rigid, so the contents aren’t easily spilled or knocked over. Souper Cube also makes a set of four stoneware dishes that accept the 1-cup rectangles perfectly, for defrosting and then baking in one go. I like to pre-freeze pot pie filling and then add a crust to the top for a quick dinner. —Kat Merck

The first time we clipped my baby’s nails, my husband accidentally nicked her tiny finger. Safe to say, it was traumatic for all involved. After, I panic-ordered this electric nail trimmer and haven’t looked back. It’s easy and reliable, and the best part is that my daughter doesn’t flinch when I’m trimming her nails. It comes with different file grits that grow with your baby’s nail needs, and there’s even a built-in light if you do your best mani work while baby is sleeping. —Nicole Kinning

What surprised me most about new parenthood wasn’t the lack of sleep, but how much gear you suddenly need. A good carrier quickly proved essential to free up my hands, calm my baby, and save my back. The Wildbird Aerial is the one I reach for most. It’s sturdy and stylish (mine’s in Desert Lark, an earthy taupe color), and is super-comfortably made from breathable linen with a padded waistband and crisscross straps. The setup takes practice, but once you nail it, it feels secure and easy to share between caregivers. —Nicole Kinning

When it comes to underrated nursery items, this one takes the cake. The Oxo Perfect Pull Wipes Dispenser’s magic is in its weighted plate, which holds the rest of the wipes down while you pull. If you’ve ever had to frantically tug wipes out of their flimsy plastic packaging with a squirming, dirty baby, you know why this matters. The dispenser’s spring-loaded lid is easy to flip open with one hand, and the tight seal keeps wipes from drying out between changes. —Nicole Kinning

Postpartum had me trapped on the couch pinned underneath a sleeping newborn for what felt like hours on end. The Owala FreeSip was my bestie during this time. The lid seals shut, so I could toss the vessel beside me without worrying about leaks, and it flips back open with a simple one-handed button push. The built-in straw made quenching my breastfeeding thirst easy, and the stainless steel makeup kept the water ice cold throughout long nights. —Nicole Kinning

This is one of my favorite gifts we got that wasn't on any registry or list we had. Our best friend gifted us the Rockit after seeing that we could attach it to any stroller and use it to lull our baby to sleep. And it worked! It was handy to turn on whenever we took a long pause on a walk, like at a farmers' market booth or chatting with a neighbor, to keep my son from waking up due to the lack of movement. It can't full-on move the stroller back and forth like the Cybex e-Gazelle S (Read our review), but it's the next best thing. —Nena Farrell

OK, the thermostat itself doesn't go in the nursery—it'll still go on your regular thermostat spot, wherever that is in your home—but the Google Nest Learning Thermostat (4th Gen) (Read our full review here) comes with a temperature sensor that you can place in any room in your house, and then have the thermostat turn on the AC or heater based on that room's temperature instead of whatever room the thermostat is in. It's super handy, since keeping everything nice and temperate for a little one can be the difference between a good night's sleep and a bad night's sleep. It can be a safety factor, too, if you live somewhere that gets especially hot or cold. It's easy to control in the app to set up schedules, and the thermostat will learn schedules over time and suggest things too. —Nena Farrell

Being a new parent is an onslaught of exhaustion combined with a lot of noise, especially if you have a fussy baby. There are some days where babies just need to cry it out; some kiddos are just colicky and tend to cry more than others. If your parent friend is talking about how much they can't handle the crying anymore, get them a pair of Loop Experience 2s.

These earplugs are designed to protect your ears at concerts, but I found them handy to grab on meltdown days. I could still hear my kid, but I didn't want to rip off my skin anymore at the sound of screaming. This helps me stay calm, which in turn, helps baby calm down, too. Plus they come in fun colors and have a tiny case you can easily attach to your keys (it's where I keep mine!) so it's handy for sudden loud locations. —Nena Farrell

If you want to buy a new parent something they might not get for themselves, consider a baby-food maker. Many new parents might think it's a luxury, especially with critical grandparents shouting, “In my day, we mashed food with forks!” But for a year, the Babycook helped me feed a hungry baby who was just too grouchy and impatient to gum down cut-up pieces of cooked carrot.

Whenever WIRED reviewer Adrienne So was cooking dinner for the rest of her family, she simply threw a couple pieces of food into the Babycook. You can steam and mash with single servings or multiple ones, in an appliance that takes up very little room on the counter and is easy to clean. She could cook several days' worth of food at a time and either freeze it or store it in the fridge. —Nena Farrell

There's a new Kindle on the block, and even though I'm not a new parent anymore, I'd love to given one this holiday season. (Mom, if you're reading this, I'd like the Matcha Green color.) Getting a Kindle for my birthday when my son was 3 months old was the best gift I could have hoped for, and I recommend it to all my fellow parent readers.

It's handy to grab and easy on the eyes for those 2 am feedings you're trying to stay awake for, and it was so nice to grab a book instead of scrolling through the internet during those wee hours of the morning or during another short daytime contact nap. I grabbed a library card and started getting books through Libby to send to my Kindle, but you could add a Kindle gift card. (Or give a gift card if you know they already have a Kindle!) —Nena Farrell

Smart lights are great. You can use them to achieve all kinds of things. For new parents, they're great for having gentle lighting for the nursery at the touch of a button, or creating mood lighting for their bedroom to help them wind down at night or wake up in the morning. Smart lights can be set on a schedule or activated by voice or motion sensors, so your favorite sleepy new parents can change the lights without having to get up and reach the light switch.

And if you've ever been trapped under a sleeping baby you don't want to disturb, you know how convenient that can be. Philips Hue's starter kits are a great bundle to give, since they include the Philips Hue Bridge to connect the lights to, a couple of bulbs, and sometimes other handy accessories to pair with their new light bulbs. —Nena Farrell

New babies mean little hands that you have to keep safe from hot surfaces. If the parents in your life are obsessive tea drinkers like I am, or pour-over coffee fans, get them our favorite electric kettle as a gift. Not only is it beautiful on the eyes and easy on the wallet, but it has a ton of preset temperatures for their tired brains to quickly tap the one they need, and it's double-walled, so swinging baby hands (and eventually rambunctious toddler hands) won't get burned if they accidentally touch it. —Nena Farrell

This is a fact: Newly born humans are so small that they can't blow their own noses. Amazing! Through the first year and especially into a cold-infested toddlerhood, this handy electric nasal aspirator has been worth its weight in gold. It's been much easier to get this aspirator into my son's nostril and hit the On button rather than wrangle both him and a tube, then manually sucking the snot out before he rips his head away from the contraption.

Frida has a whole line of attractive, no-nonsense solutions to other common baby issues, like passing gas and cradle cap, but the nasal aspirators are our favorite (though I'm also a fan of the cheaper, manual nasal aspirator). Every parent needs a fast, effective way of giving their little disease vector some nasal relief. —Nena Farrell

This video monitor looks nice and will serve a parent even after their child can start crawling, moving around more, or getting out of bed. An easy choice is the affordable (in the world of baby monitors) Eufy SpaceView. It doesn’t require Wi-Fi and instead uses a more reliable FHSS radio connection. It's simpler to set up and more secure than using Wi-Fi. Check out our guide to the Best Baby Monitors for more suggestions. —Nena Farrell

Another place to put those thousands of photos on your phone is onto a digital photo frame. I love using Aura's frames since you can add photos easily through the Aura app, or just connect it to a folder in Google Photos. Little ones change so much in their early months (and all the years after), so it's such a treat to see a photo pop up with how small your child was just a few months ago.

It's easy for family members to add to, and easy to add to other digital photo frames that might be at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They want to see the photos too, after all! —Nena Farrell

In some ways, traveling when your baby is little is easier than wrangling them during the toddler years (less need for entertaining!).

For those parents who you know love to travel, or can't avoid plane trips even though they've got a little one, No Reception Club's duffel bag is supremely handy. It has an included organizing insert, multiple ways to carry it, and several pockets to keep everything—including, perhaps most important, an insulated pocket in the front. It's perfect for baby bottles, pumped milk, or even toddler snacks that need to stay cool. —Nena Farrell

If your giftee plans on transporting babies—and, later, kids—in their vehicle, they should know right away that fabric is not their friend. Not on the seats, and certainly not on the floor, where it will absorb all manner of spills, food, and bodily fluids.

I have two of the same make and similar model vehicles, one with the pricey “real” rubber mats from the dealership, and one with these aftermarket 3W rubber mats. Honestly, I like the 3W mats better. They’re a tighter fit, with a lip so yhat food, leaves, and dirt don't get underneath them, and they’re easy to spray down if they get muddy. Your recipient might think this is kind of a weird gift at first if they’re a brand-new parent, but trust me—they will thank you. Prices vary by model, but seem to start at around $130. —Kat Merck