Baby Gear the Parents of WIRED Reviews Can’t Live Without

This is the baby monitor I’m still using, even though my son is now 3 years old. It uses a closed-loop FHSS radio system, so you just turn it on and it’s ready to use. It works well across two-story homes and has a two-way microphone and a temperature sensor. It’s a trustworthy, simple monitor that’s proven itself over time. My only complaint is the parent unit’s battery doesn’t last all night long, but it has plenty of battery for me to move around the house for a few hours before I go to bed and plug it in.

If you’re looking for a good Wi-Fi based monitor, the best is Nanit Pro Baby Monitor. With a range of stands, a 1080p HD camera feed, and tons of accessories, you can do everything from track baby’s breathing (with an add-on accessory) to receive alerts about movement. The main downside is that it doesn’t come with a handheld monitor; your phone takes on that job—unless you opt for the display, below. Another downside is that you’ll want a subscription to get all of the data and features it offers. But if you can live without every speck of data, you’ll be happy with it for free.

Owlet’s claim to fame is the inclusion of a wearable sock that can track your baby’s vitals. I’ve been using Owlet’s stand-alone camera without it, though, and it’s also been a handy camera to use when I want to check on my son without finding my radio-based monitor or am away from the house. The Wi-Fi connectivity sometimes drops, though.

If your hang-up with Nanit is that it doesn’t come with its own display, you can one with the Nanit Home Display Companion. But for both this and Nanit in general, you will need a subscription to access all features.

The Hatch Rest is now the Hatch Baby, with a cuter design and updated app interface that matches the Hatch Restore 3 and makes it easier than ever to make routines for your little one. My son is 3 now and loves this sound machine, especially since there’s an easy nightlight button he can click on if he wants it.

This is a longtime favorite sound machine of ours, and we’ve tried it with both adults and children. It’s a simple, affordable model that’s often on sale, and it comes with a simple set of fan sounds or a spectrum of colored noise. It’s small enough to easily fit on any bedroom or nursery surface.

WIRED reviewer Ryan Waniata says the Snoo doesn’t work miracles—even if you might expect them with that price tag—but it does give you hope that your baby could go to sleep earlier or for a little longer, and that hope keeps his wife and him going on tough days. The device uses a built-in swaddle harness (more like a cuddly little straitjacket) that attaches to side handles, letting the interior securely rock your child at multiple speeds with various types of white noise. These are also available to rent from Happiest Baby, which makes using one more affordable.

The Cradlewise costs more than the Snoo, but it can be expanded to be both a bassinet and a crib, and it has a built-in baby monitor and sound machine, making it much more worth the price tag. It can bounce your baby, but since there’s no side-to-side movement, it doesn’t need the secure straitjacket-like setup of the Snoo. There is AI built into the app to sense if your baby is fussing and to log your baby’s sleep, but WIRED contributing reviewer Tyler Shane says it can be a little glitchy. Still, it’s a cool device that bundles many things you’d want into one.

While the popular Uppababy is great, the Mockingbird can do everything the Uppababy can while costing much less. It can convert to be a double stroller, has a great range of accessories, and sports a sizable storage basket for anything you might need on the road. You can also add on a bassinet for when your little one is extra little. The only downside is that it doesn’t fold as small as the Uppababy.

This travel stroller is the one I can’t live without. Since first trying the Nuna TRVL in 2023, it’s still the one I use the most when I’m not testing something else. It’s super lightweight, folds like magic right in front of your eyes, and has a nice-sized storage basket for a travel stroller. My favorite is now the TRVL LX, since my son is tall enough to be a 5-year-old, and he still fits very comfortably in it. While it doesn’t face inward, it is compatible with Nuna’s carseats, and I might just go Nuna only for my next kid since this stroller is so easy to fold and use.

If you’re looking for something sporty, Thule’s Chariot Cross 2 can do it all. It’s a jogging stroller and bike trailer and can even work for cross-country skiing with the ski kit. WIRED contributing reviewer Tyler Shane was impressed with the smooth ride, efficient design, and how easy it was to transition from bike trailer to stroller. It feels lightweight to push or pull, and the zippered cargo bag is a great feature to make sure you don’t lose any of your belongings on the go. It is a bulky stroller that doesn’t fold down as much as a regular stroller, but if you have space in your garage or home and love to bike and run, this is the stroller for you.

If we’re going somewhere with multiple friends or hitting the beach, the Veer Cruiser is a must-have. You can get this all-terrain wagon as a four- or two-seater, and the four-seater can comfortably fit four toddlers. The four seater is also a good size to fit my son and our insane myriad of beach gear, both in the wagon itself and hanging off the large handlebars. The only downside is that you can’t switch between pushing from the larger wheel or shorter wheel sides; the regular Cruiser has the big wheels in front, while the Cruiser City has the big wheels in back with a handlebar like a stroller. I use the Cruiser City and have been happy with it on streets and tough terrain.

This popular car seat and stroller combo is incredibly handy, and I was impressed that it didn’t feel much heavier than a regular infant car seat even with the added wheels and handles. It takes some effort to get the transition from stroller to car seat down, but it’s a great option so that you don’t have to move baby from car seat to stroller for walks. You will eventually need a larger car seat and stroller, though.

This was my MVP of the infant days. Graco’s car seat is well made, with a nicer feel to the fabrics and sleeker look than other infant car seats. It’s easy enough to tote around, though it was quite heavy for me in my weak postpartum state. (I really should have been lifting weights before I gave birth.) Graco is also compatible with a nice variety of strollers, so you can often pop this car seat into other strollers that baby will grow into.

This rotatable car seat is a larger, convertible car seat that can work from the infant into toddlerhood and later; my massive 3-year-old still easily fits into it and will for a while. It also has a Bluetooth device built into the buckle that can alert your phone if your kid manages to unbuckle themselves, or remind you that they’re not buckled in yet. I also like that the straps work super smoothly and have never gotten stuck or tangled in the year I’ve been using it. The cover is nice, but it hasn’t held up great to my kid’s potty training accidents; I’d recommend getting a cover in general once you hit that phase, whether you get this car seat or another one.

This car seat is a more affordable convertible option, and it doesn’t have the rotating feature or the Bluetooth-powered buckle. Besides that, it’s been easy to use and install, and I’ve also been happy that the straps work well and don’t get stuck; a cheaper car seat I had from Graco used to make me crazy with how poor the straps were to use. There are two drink holders that you can choose to attach, but they stick out a lot, so I only installed one on the inner side of the car seat so that it wouldn’t obstruct my son’s entrance into the car.

Willow’s basic breast pump is a pretty perfect pump. The Willow Go‘s clear exterior made it easy to check how much I was pumping, the parts were big and easy to clean without worrying about something falling down the drain, and it was comfortable to wear. It is open at the top, so don’t bend over while wearing this; I liked wearing it while I sat at my desk or sat on the couch. You pair it with an app to control it, but there are also a few buttons on the device itself to control it.

Elvie has a few wearable pumps, but the Stride was by far my favorite from the brand. It consists of wearable cups that connect to a separate motor, so the cups aren’t as heavy as ones that have the motor built in. That makes this pump comfier to wear, and you can clip the motor onto your clothes to easily wear the whole thing. WIRED contributing reviewer Nicole Kinning tested the newest version, the Stride 2, and confirmed it’s still just as comfortable and convenient to use.

Our overall favorite is the Grownsy EaseClean. WIRED contributing reviewer Nicole Kinning found it had a deep cavity and wide tray that had room for plenty of bottle and pump parts. She liked that you can create customized cycles to suit your needs, and it’s quiet. You’ll need to place it next to the sink, since there’s a dirty-water output hose that will have water leaving it during the cycle.

This was the bottle washer to start it all, and it’s a popular model for a reason. It washes and sterilizes well, and it uses less water than its competitors, which is a great feature. It’s both large and noisy, however, and there’s a lot of steam that will come off the device, so don’t store it underneath any cabinetry that could get warped. It’s also easy to knock parts over when the washer is full and you’re taking the lid off.

This waterproof crib mattress has a super cool design. The polymer core looks like the inside of a complicated web, but formed into a mattress shape that gives firm support for your baby. It’s super breathable and washable, and the cover is also removable so you can throw it in the washing machine for inevitable accident nights.

This mattress has two sides to it for your growing kiddo. The firmer side is designed for ages 2 to 7, which is when their smaller bodies need more support, and then you can flip it for when they’re older and want a softer feel. As a firm bed fan myself, the firm side has been comfy to lay on while snuggling my 3-year-old.

This is another good kids’ mattress, but it’s on the softer side, so you might want to invest in this if you have an older kiddo rather than a younger one. It’s really comfortable but definitely on the plush end.

This pillow is my 3-year-old’s favorite. (Kids younger than 1 shouldn’t have a pillow!) It’s supportive, and he likes to rip his pillowcase off and lay directly on the cooling cover.

These earplugs let through just enough sound to let you tone baby down, whether that’s during screaming diaper changes or sleep murmurs, without fully tuning out. Their ear-tip shape fits well and feels comfy without excess pressure, even for side sleepers like me, and the little prongs at the end make it easy to remove them when you need to lock in. —Ryan Waniata

OK, everyone loves the manual snot remover, but it gives me the ick. I can’t bring myself to use it! This electric one is my preferred option. It was a must-have when my baby started daycare and kept getting colds. Heck, I’m still tempted to use it now on my 3-year-old son, because he’s still mastering actually blowing his nose.