Christmas Gifts for Babies & Toddlers
Finding the perfect gift is one of the joys of the holiday season. There’s nothing like giving a gift that will make a difference in the life of your recipient. Baby and toddler gifts offer a unique opportunity to make an impact.
The key when thinking about baby gifts for Christmas or Hanukkah is to be mindful of what the child will need throughout the year to come. After all, the first 3 years of a child’s life can be expensive, so gifts that help relieve that burden and add to the health, harmony and happiness of home life are key.
When it comes to picking a Christmas or Hanukkah gift for baby, we look for the items that will make their everyday life better, presented in a way that’s fun and festive. Extra points if the gift makes their parents’ lives easier as well. Happy parents make for a happy baby.
Gifts for Babies and Toddlers
Book Gifts
Every child’s home should have lots of wonderful books. They fill a child’s world with language, feed their imagination and set the stage for a lifelong love of reading. Children who learn to turn to books to entertain themselves find greater success in school and in life. In fact, growing up in a book-rich environment from a very young age is one of the key indicators for later academic achievement. Plus, any reader will tell you that books just make life better.
Book gifts for Christmas and Hanukkah are a great way to give a gift that will have a real impact! How do you choose which books to give to a baby or toddler though? It’s hard to know what they might already have, what is right for their age and what will capture their interest.
Enter the IncrediBundles.com Book Subscription Gift. The unique redemption-style model of this gift offers recipients the important benefit of being able to select the books they redeem each month. This is a game-changer. Parents choose a fresh batch of books to redeem every month, allowing their child’s library to grow organically over time. Parents know their child’s unique interests and stage of development better than anyone. Sudden interest in animals? Time to stock up on some fun farm touch-and-feel books. Love the characters in the Duck & Goose book they redeemed in their last shipment? They can select another in the series this time.
Each Book Subscription Gift also includes the purchaser’s choice of announcement package featuring a classic board book and the corresponding book-based plush. So, it’s perfect for your recipient to open on the holiday itself. Then, long after the festivities are over, they’ll enjoy the gift that keeps on giving month after month.
Diaper Gifts
Is there anything a baby or toddler needs more than diapers? Diaper Gifts are the presents that you know will be used day in and day out. They’re also the gift that mom and dad will be thrilled to receive. The question however is, how to gift diapers in a way that’s a win-win for parents and baby? Give an IncrediBundles.com Diaper Subscription Gift!
It’s the easy way to gift diapers. Each Diaper Subscription Gift comes with an announcement package perfect for holiday gifting. It includes a beautiful plush teddy bear that will quickly become your young recipient’s favorite lovey. The best part, though, is that every month afterward, mom and dad will be able to choose the brand and size diapers they want to redeem. They’ll choose from every major brand – Pampers, Huggies, Luvs – and lots of boutique, organic brands as well. A dry, happy baby and the convenience of diapers delivered straight to their door for free is what every parent of a little one under two is wishing for this holiday season. To kick it up another notch, add a Baby Wipes Subscription as well!
Toy Gifts
Choosing toys to gift to a baby or toddler for Christmas? Disregard the hype around the “hot” toys of the season. Babies and toddlers aren’t aware of trends and often the frenzy around the must have toys is artificially created by carefully crafted marketing campaigns.
The best toys for babies are safe and responsibly made. They are the toys that children will play with again and again. A toy that simply repeats a phrase every time you squeeze it is novel for the first few uses but likely won’t stand the test of time and will soon be given away or thrown away. A set of high quality blocks or a play tea set will be used throughout multiple stages of development, offering a new level of play engagement at each. For the youngest gift recipients, we love soft blocks, stackable cups and musical instruments just right for babies and toddlers.
Be mindful of the family you’re gifting to as well. If they live in a small apartment, steer clear of anything oversized. If you stick with classic toys, you also don’t have to worry about duplicating something they already have. No child ever had too many building toys or toys for pretend play. Additional sets just expand on the fun!
Small Hanukkah Gifts & Stocking Stuffers for Babies and Toddlers
We love the little things. Giant toys can overwhelm a home and typically offer little flexibility of use. We have a special affinity for the small items that become cherished possessions, clutched in tiny hands on stroller rides and car trips. Smallish objects that offer endless amusement are our jam. So, if you’re looking for Christmas stocking stuffers for babies or toddlers, or if you’re in charge of finding 8 fun things to make for 8 happy nights, we have ideas.
Look for small musical instruments like egg shakers and maracas. Make sure they’re age appropriate, durable and colorful and that they actually produce a good sound. Baby dolls and plush don’t need to be huge. We love little Corolle dolls and Angel Dear plush that double as loveys. Board books are the best for babies and toddlers and come in so many shapes and sizes. Look for ones with simple stories or special features like flaps that lift and touch and feel panels to explore.
For the under 1 set, teethers and rattles are a must and, again, can be found in so many cute and safe forms today. For toddlers, hand puppets have loads of play value, as do tubes of play animals, small bags of building blocks, magnetic alphabet sets and bath toys that make getting clean as fun as getting dirty.
Wrapping
Holiday wrapping can create a host of problems for everyone involved. There’s nothing like hauling out a metric ton of unrecyclable wrapping paper after the holiday is over. There are alternatives to wrapping paper that will make your gift festive and appealing without the expense and waste. In fact, by getting a little creative with presentation, you can take the gift itself to another, more thoughtful level.
Reusable Storage with a Festive Twist
With all the “stuff” that comes with the holidays, it’s only fair to give parents a way to keep it all organized and contained. We love lidded storage boxes that can be used again and again. They’re perfect for hiding the mess from grown-up eyes while still keeping the fun accessible to little hands. They’re also a great way to teach kids how to clean up and stay organized from a young age – play animals go in this box, play food go in this one at clean up time.
Every IncrediBundles.com Gift Subscription comes with a sweet announcement package featuring one of our colorful reusable, lidded storage containers – no wrapping needed! Parents can go on to use these boxes to corral and store books, toys and accessories, keeping them in full view because they’re as fun to look at as they are practical.
Other ideas for diy gift presentation? We love cloth storage bins that will then go on to grace playrooms and bedrooms or canvas bags that will find themselves on trips to the beach, library and grocery store. For an added dose of thoughtfulness you can have the child’s or family’s name embroidered onto the bag or tote.
Do you have an item you’re gifting where only paper wrapping will do? Stick with eco-friendly papers that are not waxed or embellished in a way that will prohibit them from being recycled. Try using plain craft paper and tie it with some pretty twine. For a child’s gift, tape a small set of crayons or markers to the top with a note letting them know to turn the paper into a masterpiece after they’ve opened their gift!
How to Make a Holiday Gift for a Baby or Toddler Extra Special
Mark that it is Baby’s First Holiday Season
We love to commemorate a child’s young experiences of the holidays in a way that they will be reminded of year after year. It’s a special feeling for an older child – or adult – to hang a Baby’s First Christmas ornament that was gifted to them that first Christmas or to watch their own child spin a dreidel that was their first.
When choosing that perfect holiday gift, think ahead to the traditions you think the family you are gifting to will likely carry on. Tie a commemorative Christmas tree ornament to the ribbon on your gift, tuck in a copy of The Story of Hanukkah or The Night Before Christmas and inscribe it with the date and a special message. Include a set of dreidels or holiday cookie cutters. These are all small touches that will likely be your recipient’s favorite part of your gift.
Don’t Forget the Necessities
If you do gift a toy that requires batteries, be sure to include them. If you gift a coloring book, gift the crayons too! The holidays are a busy time for everyone so the easier you can make your gift for the parents to use the better.
Choose Quality over Quantity
Not all toys are created equal. The toy market is glutted with cheap toys made from questionable materials. Parents are rightly careful about what they will give a very young child. After all, anything you hand to a baby or toddler will surely find its way into their mouth. Gift-givers are always better off choosing to give one well-made item instead of five cheaper products. In addition to knowing where the product comes from and what it is made of, a higher quality children’s toy will usually offer up more play value.
Hosting Holidays with Baby or Toddler Guests
As fun as gifts are, celebrating Christmas or Hannukah with the people we love is the best part of all. So, if you are hosting families with children this year we have some tips for making it special for your youngest guests.
A Little Thoughtfulness Goes a Long Way
Babies and toddlers have different needs when it comes to celebrations. Ask if there are any simple favorite foods you can have ready for them to nosh on before the meal is served and at the meal itself. Diced apples? Buttered pasta? Holiday meals can be overwhelming to a young child with a basic palate and seeing a few foods they’re comfortable with can inspire them to try the ones they don’t yet know.
Likewise, have some kid friendly dinnerware on hand – a plastic cup or smaller glasses. We love orange juice glasses for tiny hands. Special holiday paper napkins can also make a toddler’s place setting extra fun.
Keep Little Ones Occupied so Mom and Dad can Relax
Some of the best memories of childhood include spending time with extended family during the holidays. Take advantage of this time. Know that in order for young children to feel comfortable with you, it helps to get down on their level and play in the way they like to be played with. For some, that might mean pushing play cars around on the floor, for others it might be acting silly to get the laugh.
Respect Boundaries and Personalities
Every child is different. Some will engage with strangers in an instant and some take hours to warm up even if they have met you before. Children can’t be rushed and respecting their space and pace makes being together at the holidays better for everyone. Don’t take it personally if a toddler hides behind mom’s legs instead of running into your outstretched arms. It can be stressful for parents and children to hear blanket statements like “Oh, he’s so shy” or “Such a picky eater.” Holidays are about everyone enjoying their time together as family and friends. So, let’s remember what it was like to be little and be that person that makes the holidays a joy to experience!
At the end of the day, remember that the best gift you can give a child is your love and attention. The rest is just a fun bonus!
IncrediBundles.com is the home of the bestselling Diapers, Wipes and Book Subscription Gifts. These are the gifts that keep families stocked up on the essentials they need in a child's first three years.
