Christmas gifts for a baby in the first year, the splurge picks.

Impossibly soft bamboo that regulates temperature better than cotton. The gift a tired parent will quietly thank you for at 3am.

Fifteen minutes of pure joyful bouncing is worth a lot to a parent making dinner. A classic for a reason.

The 3-to-4-month kit — a batting toy, a mirror, the good wooden bits. If you're doing the subscription, this is a lovely single gift too.

A powered swing with real motion settings — the thing that buys a new parent two free hands for twenty minutes. A splurge, and a sanity-saver.

A gentle plug-in swing for the fussy hour. Not every baby takes to one — but the ones who do hand their parents dinner back.

The high chair that becomes a big-kid chair that becomes an adult chair. You buy it once. Grandparents: this is the one to go in on.

The bouncer that rocks from the baby's own kicks — no batteries, no motor, and it lasts to toddlerhood. A worthy splurge.

A structured carrier that actually spreads the weight, front or back, newborn to toddler. The one I'd point a new parent toward for the long haul.

The tiny shoes that actually stay on. A splurge, yes — but they photograph like a dream and get handed down.

A quiet cool-mist humidifier you don't mind seeing on the shelf. Small comfort that earns its keep all winter long.

Sound machine, night light, and eventually a toddler time-to-wake clock. It earns its keep for years, not months.