The ergo baby carrier is by far our favorite. We both wore our 10motnh old all around Tokyo for 2 weeks in hot humid weather--she slept great and our backs didn't hurt. Now, at 17 mos, we still use it all the time and it makes a stroller seem ridiculous.

I have no idea who gave us this but it's our daughter's favorite toy by far at 6 mos and has been for at least since she was 3 mos old. She hardly plays with anything else.

These are some of the best cloth diaper covers. Soft and yet sturdy, they hold up well to washing. Use with the flushable liners on prefold diapers to make washing pooed out diapers easier.

Making your own diaper wipes is easy, economical, and environmentally friendly--just imagine all those diaper wipe tubs filling landfills. Get a few dozen flannel wipes, an empty wipe tub, and a recipe for the lotion (online somewhere, using essential oils) and you can quickly make up a few days' worth of wipes. You do have to wash them but I just toss them in with the diapers or baby clothes.

You'll want a mirror so you can see your rear-facing baby in the car. This is the best of the mirrors--it attaches to the back of the seat in front of baby and it's big enough so you can see easily if your baby's eyes are open, without your having to squint in the rearview mirror to make out the tiny reflection from the other, window-attached mirrors.

We have an older one of these and it's been great to keep her occupied at 4-6 mos old. Don't worry about getting one with bells and whistles--the plainer, the better. She spends long minutes each day playing with the "primitive" toys on our used one.

This book is not perfect--it's badly organized and I disagree with some of the advice about letting babies cry. However, it has very valuable information on babies of different ages' sleep cycles. I was amazed to see that our daughter fit the pattern he described for a 4 mos old--a baby who needs to go back to sleep about 1 hour after he/she wakes up. Good information, but don't use it as a Bible.