50 Must Have Baby/Toddler Products (From a Dad's Perspective!)
- 50 Fathers Strong
- Apr 10
- 22 min read
** We love moms! But these kinds of lists are always from moms. Here's one from a dad! Hope you enjoy! **
When you have kids, the sheer amount of stuff that takes over your home is insane. Before we had kids, I’d look at the neighbor’s garage, packed to the brim with wagons, kiddie pools, beat-up playhouses, and all sorts of random things. I thought they were borderline hoarders, but then I had kids, and I realized they were merely victims.
Like many parents, we bought a ton of stuff. And over half of that stuff got used a few times and then made its way to the garage to join the museum of barely used baby gear. But when you find things that actually get used, give you your money’s worth, keep your kids preoccupied and out of your hair, keep you safe and healthy, or simply make your life easier – those are the good ones. I('m a cheapskate, these things matter to me...)
If I had to give a list of things for new parents to have, this would be it. From toys to totes, carriers to books – even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich maker. This list includes all the good stuff that was worth every penny.
(*50 Fathers Strong may collect a commission if items are purchased via the links in this article.)
Toys that let kids imitate everyday life -- and play alongside you -- are always a win. When it comes to tools, it must be noted that I know my way around a toolbox like I know my way around the female anatomy -- which is to say, not very well. But on the rare occasion I do break out the toolbox (usually to hammer a nail into the wall to hang a picture—one of my few handy skills), my daughter races to grab her own and joins right in. Watching her tap a plastic hammer against the door to “fix it” while I’m actually fixing something is beyond adorable. It makes her feel like she’s helping, and it’s one of those little dad moments that feels really special—especially when it doesn’t involve tea parties or princess dresses.
When you put a baby in the car backseat they've got to be facing the back of the seat, for safety reasons. This is a big step up from being a baby in the 70's when they just placed you on top of the dashboard and hoped for the best. This mirror ensures you can see your kid's face in the event you accidentally give your child even a fraction of privacy away from all forty video cameras you have set up around your house to monitor them. However, it is always good to see what your toddler is up to in the backseat because God knows what they're about to put into their mouth.
If sucking the snot out of someone’s nose is your jam, you’re gonna lose your mind over this. There are two things in my house that my wife is in charge of: killing roaches and snot sucking. I’ll handle everything else. The thing about babies and toddlers is they're a magnet for germs, and their immune system isn't built up yet so they're constantly getting sick, which means you're constantly getting sick. Kids don't have the wherwithall to know how to blow their nose, so it's up to you to do it for them. I think there is a certain satisfaction my wife derives from this, though she'd never admit it. But she always seems a little too excited to break this thing out.
Toddler Ball Pit and Balls)
If you like having ten thousand multi-colored balls scattered throughout your house ready to trip you up at any moment and cause you severe bodily injury, you're going to absolutely love these! When my wife suggested getting a ball pit for our home, I thought she was joking. I thought these things were just at birthday partie and local festivals. But yu can have your very own ballpit too. But, man, does Olivia love playing in this thing. Anytime your kid spends a period of time out of your hair is a good thing and this thing preoccuipes them great. So as long as nobody breaks an ankle, it's a win.
** Highly Recommended **
If I had to pick only one toy, this would be it. Olivia made flower gardens every single morning for eight straight months. It became part of her daily routine. She’d wake up at 6 am, march downstairs, demand her bottle of milk, and then hunker to build her garden. Every. Single. Morning. She'd make flowers for everyone -- mommy, daddy, baby brother -- she even made a flower for the mailman. This is the gift that keeps them happily occupied and brings out their creativity -- it's truly the gift that keeps on giving.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Maker Out of all the gear you can get for your kids this one rules. This is one of those items where I was like "You gotta be kidding me, this exists?!" I mean, who thinks of this stuff? My wife brought one home one day – nonchalantly, like she didn’t just bring one of the greatest inventions since the light bulb into our homer. It’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cutter, sealer and de-cruster.
** Highly Recommended **
Not sure why the kid in the product photo looks like she just poisoned someone’s ice cream, but don’t let that sway you. This one is also part of Olivia’s morning routine—usually right after the garden planting set. She scoops different flavor ice cream cones and hands them out to everyone in the room. One of my absolute favorite things in the world is waking up to a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone on my nightstand that she left there while I was sleeping.
Poop belongs in two places: butts and toilets—unless you have a baby, in which case it also goes in diapers. Dirty diapers (aka “poopy diapers”) don't go in your regular garbage, they go in the Diaper Genie, a safe space for poopy diapers so they don’t stink up the house. We also have a UBBI Diaper Pail that was handed down to us that I like better because it uses regular garbage bags. We keep one on each floor and now we're in poop heaven!
** Highly Recommended **
If you have a crying baby and nothing will stop them, and you’ve tried everything under the sun to soothe them, and nothing works -- just place them in this and gently bounce it back and forth and I promise not only will your kid stop crying, but they'll fall asleep. Praise Jesus! (Note: This thing is wicked expensive, we got it as gift from a very generous friend. If you're in a better tax bracket than me, have at it. I did a little digging and found one that looks similar, but much cheaper.)
If somebody would’ve told me my kids were going to take over the TV and I’d never be able to watch anything I ever wanted again, I wouldn’t have had them. But with a tablet it lets them watch what they want to watch, and you can watch what you want. (But f you think you’re getting the big screen and they’re getting the tablet, think again.) And, I know, “screen time is bad,” but it’s really not. Science has proven that putting a kid in front of a TV for two straight hours and helping a parent gain valuable “me time” is much healthier for the kid than the alternative of the parent saying they're going out for milk and never coming back.
The full product name for this on Amazon is: "Montessori Toys for 1 2 3 Year Old Boys Girls Toddlers, Wooden Sensory Toys for Ages 2-4 0-2, 1 2 Year Old Boy Girl Birthday Gifts, Educational Toddler Learning Puzzles Toys," instead of just "Toy Shapes." In a world filled with flashy gadgets, gizmos, and PAW Patrol, Olivia keeps returning to this, it's got that kind of mojo. (Also, if you're like us and have to budget $5k a year for double AA batteries, you'll love that this doesn't require any.)
As a parent there have been times where I've thought, "Hey, where'd I put the baby?" Then I remember, I put them in this thing, I just hadn't heard a peep from them for like twenty minutes (or maybe three hours, I don't know... be a better parent than me.) As soon as their butt hits this their eyelids go heavy.
One time I was in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store, singing a line to myself from one of the many extremely catchy songs from this thing: ‘Maybe you... could be...” A lady within earshot sang the next line with me, “…a purple monkey in a bubble gum tree.” Parents around the world know what I’m talking about. The songs on this thing rock, and the vocalist -- whoever/wherever she is -- deserves a Grammy for Best Musical Performance in a Fisher-Price Toy.
Olivia spent so much time in this thing having the absolute time of her life. The built-in platform lets little ones who aren’t quite tall enough to reach the play table get there. As a spokesperson for the vertically challenged, I can tell you I could use one of these to catch a bartender’s attention. Buy with confidence and check out this video of Olivia crushing it.
The basic human needs are fight and flight, but sometimes you just want to chill. Look, your kid lives in a world where you've constantly got eyes on them -- baby cams, baby car mirrors, etc. -- they need time away from you -- my poor 3-year old tells me I smell like eggs, I don't even know what that means. Anyway, this cozy little chair is their comfort zone away from you. It can only seat one, and they like it that way. For Olivia, it also makes for a low key house banger, as seen here.
Our main floor is kind of laid out like a racing track. Watching Olivia pedal this thing in circles around the house is awesome -- that is until it starts to feel like the kid in The Shining. Then I make her stop.
I was hesitant to buy this because it claims to blow "1,000 bubbles per minute" and I wondered where I was going to fit 10,000 bubbles after ten minutes. How about these dad jokes?! Kids love bubbles. Livy loves this pop thing.
Every red-blooded American kid should have a Jolly Jumper. In fact, they shouldn’t let you leave the hospital without providing proof that you'll have one within six months. Don’t deny your child. Take it out of their college fund if you have to. Watching your little one jump and swing in this thing is a riot. Here's Livy having the time of her life in it.
Being a parent isn't about raising high-functioning, well-adjusted people that will go out into the world and do wonderful things, it's about trying to squeeze in some TV time for yourself. That means you need to find ways to keep your kids busy so you can watch more of it. I love these things not only because they're cheap and I'm a cheapskate, but they will keep a kid busy for just enough time to watch an entire episode of Ted Lasso. Here's Olivia demonstrating how to use window clings -- in case it's not obvious enough.
Nothing toddlers love more than joining in on the family fun at Target! And a big part of that fun is the many adventures there is to have with the shopping cart! But who says that shopping carts are only for shopping outside of the home? Now the Toy Gods are making tiny shopping carts for tiny people, and Olivia absolutely loves playing with hers! Although, when we purchased it, we thought she would like to pretend play like she was grocery shopping, but then she turned into “shopping cart lady.”
** Highly Recommended **
Every morning my wife sits down with Olivia at the kitchen table to "plan their day." It’s their special way of starting the day, syncing up, and getting on the same page. They go through everything—what day of the week it is, what month it is, what the weather will be, etc. It’s such a simple yet meaningful routine, and it sets such a positive tone for their day and is such a sweet way for them to bond every morning. When I wake up with her? It’s me asleep on the couch and Olivia watching Blippi. Be more like my wife.
When we were doing IVF they let us choose the sex of the child. My wife and I agreed on a girl. My reasoning was that I’d much rather have tea parties than sword fights. (Not that little girls don't want to sword fight, but we watched "Kill Bill" with Olivia and she had absolutely zero interest.) Livy is obsessed with this tea set. When I'm working from home and shew walks into my office and hands me a tea cup, my heart melts. We take our daddy-daughter tea parties to the next level.
When I was a kid my neighbors had the old school kind of trampoline that rusted easy and had sharp edges to it. It had one mission: to send children to the emergency room. But no they're made out of safe, bumper type material. Olivia's been jumping on it since two and still loves it. Just be sure to secure it to the ground or it will become your neighbor's on a windy day.
There are a few toys I seem to enjoy playing with even more than our three-year old does. We’ll start playing together, and the next thing I know, I’m completely absorbed in this toy -- so much so that one time, I got a call from my wife at work asking why she just got a Ring notification of Olivia roaming the front yard all alone. (Really, when you think about it, you shouldn't be taking any parenting advice from me.)
There is absolutely no sane reason to make things any louder than they already are at your home with children under the age of four around, but if you're an idiot, like me, who thinks there's a prodigal musician hidden under the six layers of clothing your 3-year old daughter likes to wear, then these might be just the things to help tap into their talent. One of our dope jam sessions.
The best kind of toys are the ones that won't cause you or anyone in your family any kind of bodily harm whatsoever. With just about every other toy I bet you could think of at least one way to impale or inflict injury: except for foam. You've got to be a colossal idiot to hurt yourself with foam. That, and the fact that it's super fun -- and doesn't take eight Double-A batteries like every other toy -- makes it a win. Livy truly loves building towers with these guys.
Just like wild animals, you want to keep kids contained as much as possible. Fortunately, our neighbor gifted us this after they had their fourth child and came to the logical conclusion that the last thing in the world they would ever do is have another one, so we became the recipient of all the kids stuff they wanted to get rid of. Hopefully you have neighbors as generous -- ours is also an award winning beer brewer so we pretty much hit the jackpot. Here's Liv being adorable in ours.
Your kids are going to ruin a lot of things in addition to your life, but for God's sake, man, don't let them ruin your hardwoods too. I'm so glad my wife had the foresight to get this. I thought it was a little ridiculous -- just let the kid play on the floor, I thought. Then I quickly learned that the objective of any kid under the age of three is to destroy everything within their reach.
Before parenthood, you were fine, law-abiding citizens, but then you had kids and you quickly mastered the art of bribery. You’re constantly looking for ways to get your kid to do things, like get in the bathtub. We went through a phase where Olivia refused to enter a bathtub, and getting her in one was like trying to catch a rabid monkey and shove it into a pet carrier. But now she loves taking baths so she can play with these glow sticks. The downside is you’re spending an extra $.78 per bath.
A surefire way to not lose pacifiers is if you attach large objects to it -- like when you go to the john at an old, rundown gas station and they give you the bathroom key with a two-by-four attached to it. Same concept, except in this case it's a cute little fury animal. There was a time when we lose twenty pacifiers on average per week, but with these, we're down to seven. Here's one in action on our walk the other day.
Even though my wife had to give me a Masterclass on how to close the lid, these lunch boxes are the best way to go. The inside comes out making it super easy to clean, but putting it back in is still somewhat of a challenge for me - but I also had to take the SAT three times to crack 900, so don’t put too much stock into that. While I like this, it will never take the place of my Scooby Doo lunchbox in grade school.
There’s a good chance your wife knows about this already, but in case she doesn’t, get this for her and she’ll love you forever (if that’s something you desire.) When nursing, she wraps it around herself to keep the baby propped up so her arms don’t get tired. You need for her arms to not get tired so she can continue to do the all the motherly things you can't do because you're too ill-equipped to handle anything except microwaves.
Yet another item with smartphone functionality, this popular hybrid noise machine/night light can be controlled at the push of a button. Its app will take its place among the 300 other baby-related apps on your iPhone that you downloaded and now have no idea what they do. Some people use this to program a green light to go on to alert their kids its time to get up. We tried that but it only gave our kid license to start annoying us earlier in the morning. We use it as a light and sound machine.
The one thing I hate doing when I'm sitting in a seat is having to get out of it because that usually means I have to go and do something I really don't want to do. You want things to control from your seat, like smart bulbs in your kid's room. Olivia loves pushing all the different colors on my iPhone to see the light change from color to color. Although, once she figured out she could drag her finger across the color wheel and make all the colors dance around like a Pink Floyd laser light show, she'd want to stay up another two hours. So, you know, buyer beware.
Somewhere in another dimension lies millions upon millions of lost pacifiers -- and 25,000 of them are ours. Once I discovered these paci clips, I attached them to everything. My wife put her foot down when I mentioned attaching it to the child's earlobe. Apparently, that was crossing the line.
Back in my day there were only two places a thermometer could go, and the forehead wasn't one of them. But it never failed. I am shocked that we live in a world where so many modern thermometers don't do the one job assigned. We went through 37 of them, and this one actually worked. But don’t take my word on it, like twenty gajillion Amazon reviewers agree (and we know how reliable those are.)
Most of these things have a little annoying light on it that illuminates the entire f'ing room of the very toddler you've been trying to get asleep and out of your hair for the last two hours. We loved this one because it didn't light up the room like Cinco de Mayo in Tijuana.
On those hot summer day strolls, clip this to the stroller handle to help keep your baby inside cool. Or forget the baby and use it on yourself because you get hot too. Not that I ever did that or am recommending that, I'm just saying it's like what they say on the airplane how you should put the oxygen mask on yourself before you put it on your baby. There's good reason for it.
Liv has crazy curly hair and she's always twisting it in knots, so when she wakes up it's like a bird's nest -- but with peanut butter in it. My wife went through a few detanglers before settling on this one. She pours it into a mist spray bottle to get even coverage. It's smart reasons like this why she's in charge of the big things and I just drive the vehicles. Just don't put the spray bottle in an area your two-year old can get to it, like in this video.
All the time: that's how often your kids will get you sick. This is preventative maintenance. But, really, who are we kidding, you’re gonna get sick either way. This supposedly cuts your cold time in half. I’m not buying it, but my wife’s a nurse, and she’s the one that buys it. So you can take my word on it -- the guy who took the SAT three times to crack 900 -- or the nurse.
*** Hard Pass ***
My only "gripe" about this potion that supposedly stops your baby from making weird noises that you'll attribute to stomach pain, is that it does absolutely nothing. I'm only listing it because if you absolutely must buy it, use my link so I can earn a commission to start recouping the money I wasted on it.
You'll probably get this at your baby shower, but if you don't, get it. There's a magical rhythm and cadence when you're reading this book to your child that’s almost hypnotic. There have been times I’ve almost fallen asleep while reading it. No home should be without this book. They’re about to release the 50th anniversary edition that will include a quiet old lady and a bowl of mush. (Dad jokes!)
Plush Cloud and Pink Deer (aka Pinky and The Cloud)
Every kid needs a Pinky and The Cloud. You’d have to buy them separately, but they go together like ham and eggs. Pinky never goes anywhere without Cloud, and vice versa. There's something about having them together as a team that's magical. Here's Livy unwinding with them...
When my wife first brought one of these home I thought it was a dog toy. I found that peculiar because we didn’t have a dog. But they’re actually little security blanket cuddly toys for babies. We’ve got like twenty of these little guys around the house. Once Olivia outgrows them we'll donate them to the animal shelter.
Toddler Bed Rails When Olivia was about two, she fell out of bed... twice. I actually saw it happen on the baby monitor — it was like in slow motion. She was sleeping gently in one second, then THUD! Watching her sit up in the dark, crying and confused about what just happened and why she was on the floor, traumatized me for life. I was on Amazon the next day ordering these.
Burt's Bees is like Melissa & Doug: they make awesome stuff made to look artisan-made but are really owned by Elon Musk or Walmart. We went through what seemed liked hundreds of different sleep sack wearable blanket thingy's until we finally landed on these -- they’re soft, comfy and they have great designs. They're basically the baby version of the Snuggie.
We kept hearing about this swaddle and how awesome it was -- easy to swaddle, comfortable, sleek design. But we refrained from buying one, because they're almost double the cost of other swaddles. Finally, we broke down and bought one because at some point you start to realize some thing's are worth the money if they work really, really well and it means you might get more than four hours of sleep at night. We bought it figuring we would return it if we didn't get the results everybody went on and on about, but turns out we loved it, just like the rest of the herd.
Hello Baby Monitor Personally, when it comes to whether the baby is sleeping or not, I prefer to live by the philosophy that "what you don’t know won’t hurt you" -- unless you're swimming in shark-infested waters, or about to walk into a beehive, or about to step on a rake hidden in the grass -- actually, that saying makes no sense. My wife, on the other hand, needs to be always be watching the baby sleep for reasons still unknown to me. Cavemen raised their kids just fine without these, and look how good they turned out.
As an adult when you feel like hitting, you have the option whether or not you are in an appropriate situation to incite a little violence -- like at a tow truck driver. But you really shouldn't be teaching your kids to assault people who are just trying to do their job even if it is making your life miserable. Your children also have no problem assaulting you, mostly because you're the closest one around - and as humans it's in our nature to hurt the ones who love us most. When your kid assaults you, you’ll be like “Hey! Stop hitting me! WTF did I do to you?!” My wife is great during these times, she’ll say “Do we need to go get the ‘no hitting’ book?” Olivia excitedly runs off, gets this book and they sit down together and read it as if they didn’t just literally end each other. It's freaking magical.
This little book was always lying around the house somewhere. It’s a black-and-white board book designed for younger babies. I was always perplexed by how such a simple book could hold so much of Olivia’s attention. (Another book with some hidden mojo that kids can sense.) Apparently, the black-and-white high-contrast visuals do something science-y to their eyes or brain.
Before having kids you’d think teaching someone how to pee and poop is easy – just stand or sit there and let nature work it’s magic. But somehow it’s more complicated than that. My wife got this book and read it to her repeatedly as we went through it, and it really helped. One of my favorite things is walking by the bathroom and seeing my two year old daughter sitting on the john reading this book, like a little old man reading the New York Times.
This is a book about a hungry caterpillar that eats it's weight in food. I mean this guy can eat. But it's healthy stuff like strawberries, pears, blueberries, apples, etc., so it will also make you feel guilty for feeding your kid fish sticks just about every night of the week. Kids really love this caterpillar series; it's got that magical mojo. Livy's read it 1001 times.
Look, we all understand how important moms are. I mean, they're the most important thing... ever. There are kids books that have mommy and daddy characters as a couple, and gazillions of books with just mommy as a character, like these classics -- I love You Mommy, Mommy and Me, etc. But books with just daddy as the character? Not as many. Look how much Livy loves this book!
Toddler Step Up Tower A lot of times when you’re cooking your kid wants to butt in -- like they do with everything else. If you give them this, then they can be level and get in on the action -- which sometimes is a bad idea like if you're rushing to get dinner going. She mostly uses it at the kitchen table to eat. This video will show you the kinds of really fun interaction you can expect!
Play Kitchen Sink It’s hard to recommend anything involving water—for obvious reasons: the mess you’ll have to deal with afterward. But if you’re the type who caves because the neighbor kid has it and your kid suddenly needs it too, well, you’re buying it. Like I did. At least I got my money’s worth—Olivia freaking loves it. Just whatever you do, don't tell her how to use it, like my wife tried to do, or else.
Glass Rinser I hated the whole process of washing bottles, because you do it all the time. Then I was at a tavern one night and I saw the bartender using one of these to clean the glasses. How cool would that be to have at home, I thought. Found one on Amazon, it was super easy to install, now I wash bottles like a ninja. Can’t nobody touch my bottle cleaning game.
Garlic Chopper This has nothing to do with babies, but if you’re Italian (like me), use a lot of garlic (also like me), and hate chopping it — do yourself a favor and get this.
Silicon Baby Bibs Kids are gross. They eat like animals, and food ends up everywhere. We started with regular bibs, but they only catch half the mess. The rest—crumbs and shredded cheese—ends up on their lap, the floor, and in your life. Here’s the thing: if you can clean one less thing, you take it. Before I knew these existed, I said, “There needs to be a bib with a moat to catch crumbs!” Like in this extreme use. I spoke it into the universe, and Amazon answered. Amen.
Burt's Bees Baby Boys 2-Piece Bodysuit Burt's Bees jammies are the bomb. Their pajamas have the best patterns, plus they're soft and affordable. In a drawer full of PJ's I always grab the BB's first. Be like me. I especially love these striped ones; they’re adorable and make her look like a tiny jailbird.
Toddler Shoes Every once in a while I see a two-year-old in an elevator wearing Nikes, and I think to myself, Am I the cheap parent who gets my kid off-brand clothes, or is this just Cardi B.'s kid? You’d think finding toddler shoes would be easy, but it’s not. These were our go-to—we’d buy them every couple of months. They wwre Liv's favorite shoes too. Here they are in action.
Activity Playpen One of the great things about friends who've hit their limit with kids, get their tubes tied and have vasectomies is they like to give all their kid's stuff away, like this playpen gifted to use from our neighbors. One of the things we wouldn't have thought to buy. It's not cheap, but you'll getr your moent out of it, for sure. It keeps your kid "in bounds" and safe. Except for this one time...
Diaper Bag Backpack The moment my wife pulled this out, I was sold. It’s sleek, made from some cool material I can’t name, but they call it an “innovative combo of soft fabric and sleek structure.” I can’t imagine other diaper bags looking this good—it’s unisex, so when I carry it, I don’t feel like I’m holding a diaper bag. The design’s sporty, with plenty of pockets, including bonus ones for water bottles, your phone, or whatever. Three years later, it’s still just as durable and sleek as when we got it.
Lily Miles Baby Diaper Caddy My wife keeps this caddy stocked with all the essentials. The removable dividers make organizing diapers, wipes, lotions, etc, a breeze. It’s flexible enough to serve as a changing table organizer or just a go-to station for diapering essentials. Without it, I’d have no idea where to find anything when it’s my turn for diaper duty -- it makes things so much easier, plus, it looks great in the baby’s room.
Toddler Zoo Backpack When I was a kid in the 80’s nobody knew what a narwhal was, to this day I’m not sure it’s a real animal. I know there’s one in Elf, but that’s about it. Or sloths, those weren’t around back then either. Back in my day you had two choices: lion or tiger. That was it. This is Livy’s pre-school backpack. Few things in life are cuter than a tiny person wearing a tiny backpack.
Baby K’Tan Baby Carrier Two things in life are certain: taxes and the never-ending quest to find the perfect baby carrier. After what felt like trying every option under the sun, we landed on two favorites—and the Baby K’Tan is one of them. This one’s made of super-thin, soft material, so when you’re wearing it, your baby feels snuggled right up against you, like you’re one cozy unit. It’s not your “hit the trails for a hike” kind of carrier, but it’s perfect for impromptu kitchen dance parties.
Ergobaby Embrace Cozy Baby Carrier We had two ErgoBaby carriers, and this was our go-to. It’s ridiculously easy to put on, super comfortable, and made of this soft, flexible material that’s thin but still sturdy. (“Ponte Knit” it’s called.) When you strap it on, it feels like it contours perfectly to your body. Here’s a video of it in real, every-day use with me carrying Olivia returning a shopping cart.
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