I love babies (especially my babies!), and I love gear, but I don’t particularly like Baby Gear (TM). Especially if your friend is a first-time parent, a lot of baby gear is specifically designed to trip the paranoia trigger in their lizard brain. It’s cute, and what if your baby really needs it? “Yes, a wipe warmer!” they think, only to find it in their closet years later.

But parenting a new baby comes with a bunch of logistical problems, like stuffed-up noses and sleepless nights. If you’re gifting for a new parent, these are some of our favorite innovative solutions to make the gross, grueling parts of parenthood just a little easier. Members of our Gear Team have tried them all. And yes, some of them are pretty cute.

If you’re shopping for older kids, check out our guides to the Best Stem Toys or the Best Tools for Distance Learning.

Updated for November 2023: We’ve updated this guide with new picks, including the FridaBaby Electric Nose Aspirator, Aura Carver digital photo frame, Beis Diaper Pack, and more.

Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you’d like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.

Jeffrey Van Camp and Nena Farrell contributed to this guide.

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