Christmas Gifts for a Newborn (0-3 months)

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I am a bit of a minimalist. Spending time with my daughter sounds way more fun than maintaining a bunch of stuff that doesn’t get used. And like many of you, the budget is tight.

Even so, you still want to get the baby things for Christmas. So what do you get?

My strategy for the very young is to get toys they will use or need over the course of the year. They may not need the toys or items now, but they will before their next birthday. doing this allows me to get the baby things for Christmas, and still saves me money over the course of the year. It also reduces toy clutter.

You may already have some of the items I suggest buying. Don’t buy them again. In fact, don’t buy everything on this list. It’s too much. Babies don’t need much. You would be surprised how far a toy (or a used plastic milk jug) can go.

All of the pictures below are links to the product. Having played with a number of each item, the ones represented are our family’s favorites.

Ring Stacker

This is a pretty standard toy, and you will be playing with it for a long time. If you don’t have one yet, consider picking one up. You can start using it right now and the baby will still be playing with it when they are two.

My favorite ring stacker for this age has a lot of colors, textures and densities. If your baby is very new, the rings can be dangled above them on a string. My newborn really liked to just hold onto the rings. Sometimes she would wave them around, but mostly she liked holding them. Because they were all different textures and colors, they were very interesting.

Shape Sorter

Another classic, and a must for any family. At this stage, the baby will enjoy holding the different shapes and looking at them during tummy time. Then they will enjoy dumping the shapes out of the sorter. Dumping things out is an important developmental milestone.

When my daughter was 2 or 3 months old she would spend hours just dumping things out of cups. The shape sorter will help with that. Our favorite is the bucket shape sorter/ stacking cups all in one. The cups/ bucket are big enough to play with beyond shape sorting. They can build sand castles or serve as tea cups. Tons of fun!

Stacking Cups

Knocking down a tower of cups will be great fun for years. Eventually, they will learn to stack the towers themselves and then knock them down to start over. Literally hours and hours of fun.

When they get older the cups can be used for other things as well (I’ll be doing a post about that soon).

We actually have two sets of stacking cups. One set is the stacking cups/ shape sorter combo, and the other is a set very similar to the one depicted. It has been nice having the two sets. We keep half of the smaller set in the bath to practice pouring and dumping water. The larger cups of the second set are used for playing in places that aren’t our play area. She really enjoys knocking down cups.

Shape or Number Eggs

I ran across these just before my daughter’s first Christmas. I thought “eh, why not?” and threw them in the cart, not knowing really what they were, how to play with them, or if my daughter would even use them this year.

They are currently one of her favorite toys. Just taking the eggs out of the carton and putting them back can be fun. But we have found a ton of ways to play with them, enough so they will have their own post soon.

Ball Drop

There are a number of versions of this activity, and both are great for a young baby’s Christmas gift. One drops the ball with no resistance, helping the baby understand object permanence; while the other lets the child bang the ball through a tighter hole.

Obviously, the baby won’t do either of these activities as intended right now, but most small babies like holding the smaller wooden balls. They will often learn to roll wooden balls before other types and tend to like to hold them while crawling. Then when they get a little older, they will drop or push the ball through the holes. They will get full use of this toy before the next Christmas, so it is generally a good buy.

Activity Cube

These cube-like toys have an activity on every side of the cube (except the bottom). Very young babies will initially not get too much out of the activity center, but as they get older it becomes one of the funnest toys to play with.

If you are getting this for a newborn, I would look for one with something like gears that spin. The baby will be able to spin the gears and enjoy that side the day they receive it.

It is important to get a good quality one made out of solid wood. As the child begins learning how to stand, they will pull up on the activity center and use it to balance. A lower quality activity center will often unbalance or break when children pull up on them for an extended period of time.

Quiet books/ Crinkle Books

These are soft, sensory books. Some have different textured animal tails, other small activities. And all of them crinkle. Babies love them, and they are great to give the little one when traveling or in the car. Make sure whatever book you get is machine washable, and the ones with teething corners are fantastic.

Board Books

We all want to read books to our child, and at this age the best way to do that is through board books. In short order the baby will want to help you read by turning the pages. Board books help facilitate this curiosity. Then, when they are getting past the “must chew through the book” phase, these are great to put down on their level. Then the baby can bring you a book when they want to read.

Board books can also be used for tummy time and to help babies learn to focus. Just prop them up where baby can see and let them look at the pictures. The books do not have to be black and white, but look for books with simple shapes and pictures (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom comes to mind).

Some of our favorite board books are textured. Touch and feel type books are great for sensory exploration. My favorite is That’s Not my Pirate.

Rattles

Shaking things builds arm strength, and the sounds of rattles are super fun. Look for something that is easy for small hands to grab. You could also go for a functional rattle, like a car that makes noise when shaken or rolled.

Ball Pit

If you combine a tiny blow up pool and 50-100 balls, you have a ball pit for under $25. It is super easy, and can be fun for baby, though they will appreciate it more when they are older.

Teethers

Babies start teething in their first year. There are teethers of all sizes and shapes available to help. I would get a couple of sets of teethers: one smaller and one larger. When baby starts teething their mouth may not be large enough for a standard teether, so getting something thinner or smaller is helpful.

By far my favorite is the banana teether. It has a tooth brush end that is easy to hold. Younger babies will chew on the leaves or the end of the banana without the brush, where older babies will chew on every part of the banana brush. Our little one will even brush her teeth unassisted with it. We just show her how and she mimics.

Spoons

Chances are the baby will be starting on solids at some point over the course of the year. Even if you choose to do baby led weaning, good quality baby spoons are still a must. Introducing the baby to spoons can happen now as a toy. Just be sure to get high quality spoons that won’t hurt their gums as they chew on them.

I recommend getting some bamboo spoons with silicone spoon heads. Baby can chew and play with them without risk of injury and they are easy to clean. My recommendation would be to start with a 5 pack.

Sippy Cup

It is recommended to begin phasing out bottles when baby starts getting teeth. Switching to cups can be a long process. Our 15 month old still gets a bottle or two at night (yeah, I’m not making a solid meal at 3 am… sorry), but is otherwise on sippy cups.

There is all kinds of advice on what kind of sippy cup to get the baby. Some suggest getting one with a straw so they learn how to do that. I advocate for the sippy cups that act like regular cups. We started her with those and at 15 months she can easily drink from a regular cup with some assistance (just to make sure she doesn’t break it). I can’t think of a use case where a young child would need to drink from a straw (Juice boxes are not for 15 month olds), but I can’t think of an instance where they wouldn’t drink from a cup.

Even if you do decide to start from a more traditional sippy cup, the child will eventually graduate into something closer to a regular cup. These make great and useful gifts.

High Chair/ Bumbo

My parents got us a high chair for our daughter’s first Christmas. We were not expecting it, and they went for something really high end and well made that we could never have afforded. Our high chair converts to a rocking horse and a desk. It is the perfect height for eating at the table and is easy to move. It is by far one of the highest quality pieces we have for the baby.

Not everyone will be lucky enough to live in Amish country with access to people who make chairs like this, but a high quality (or just the right) high chair can be a godsend.

If you are short on space, a Bumbo seat is an amazing solution. We have one in the kitchen tied to a bar stool (it has a back, promise). The bumbo is very supportive and the baby can start using it to sit up soon after they have head control. And it is great to bring to restarunts so the baby can sit at the table with everyone. If my parents had not gotten us a high chair, we likely would have only had the bumbo… and that would be just fine for our family.

Swing

You likely already have a bouncer/ rocker/ swing for the baby to rest indoors. If you don’t, they are brilliant. But that is not the type of swing I’m talking about here.

Swinging is important for equilibrium development. It mimics the way our equilibrium has to compensate when we walk and so fosters walking development in babies. If you have some outdoor space, getting a simple outdoor baby swing is really nice. We go out and swing most days. The baby loves it. She loves the wind, the sights and sounds, and the swinging motion. It is a simple thing, but you will be glad you have it.

Baby-Proofing Items

For young families with not yet mobile babies, baby proofing might have been put on the back burner. Maybe they were too busy during the pregnancy and they put it off. Maybe they didn’t know how or what they might need. Either way, the house will eventually need to be baby proofed.

Some of the most important baby proofing items are furniture anchors, outlet covers, and cabinet locks. They aren’t glamouous or fun, but they are super helpful and the parents will thank you.

Bringing it all together

Infants and small babies don’t really understand Christmas yet. At this point Christmas is an excuse to get together with family and start new traditions. Use the opportunity to give or receive gifts that will be used for as long as possible.

What do you plan on getting your newborn for Christmas?