This time last year, I was pregnant with my first child and extremely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of decisions to make. Should we buy a rocking chair or a glider? Which bassinet should we get? What how-to book, white noise machine, or magical schedule would make a newborn sleep? I spent a lot of time asking friends, searching Reddit, and reading blogs to try to figure out what things I would actually need — and then which specific products to buy.
I did not exhaustively test every product against the competition (having a baby is very all-consuming), but I can tell you what gear I frequently use and love with my son, who is now eight months old. A lot of these products get nice discounts on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so it’s a...