Buying Christmas gifts for a newborn can be tricky. They can’t tell you what they want and there’s a huge risk they’ll outgrow the lovingly-wrapped item by the time the tree is taken down. That’s why the most useful gifts for this age group are things that help them develop physically and mentally.
Ideally, you want to buy them something that will help fire up the connections in their rapidly growing brains to help with all the crawling, walking and talking milestones they’ll hit over the year. Look for gifts that stimulate the senses of touch, hearing and sight as babies learn through feel as well as through noise and pictures.
The more attention-grabbing the toy is, the more likely it is to keep a baby distracted long enough for a parent or carer to to make a hot drink. And there are some brilliant chairs and playmats that are both safe and fun for babies in our round-up.
It’s never too early to start to learn language skills either. Toys that emit real sounds will help babies remember patterns and the more they hear a word, the more chance they have of repeating it.
Of course gifts that are well-made and built to last are the best to get as they can be passed down to future siblings or donated when your baby has outgrown them.
Read more: Best baby shower gifts
How we tested
With the aid of a group of babies in West London, we tested the toys on ages between six weeks and six months. We put the toys in front of babies to test if there was any kind of reaction or if they ignored it in favour of the lights on the Christmas tree. The babies and their parents tested the feel of the product to assess it for both softness and quality. These are the ones that really shone.
The best gifts for babies and newborns for 2022 are:
- Best overall – Baby Einstein kicking tunes play gym: £40.49, Amazon.co.uk
- Best for tummy time – JoJo Maman Bebe rabbit play mat: £42, Jojomamanbebe.co.uk
- Best for giggles and laughter – Skip Hop zoo dino phone: £15, Fenwick.co.uk
- Best for sounds and music – Little Tykes my buddy triumphant: £26, Argos.co.uk
- Best for lifelong cuddles – The Brompton Fountain I’m a Brompton bear: £5, Thebromptonfountain.shop
- Best for developing sitting skills – Mamas and Papas snug floor seat with activity tray: £59, Mamasandpapas.com
- Best for lulling babies to sleep – Bababing automatic baby swing with Bluetooth: £112.49, Boots.com
- Best for enhancing fine motor skills – Aldi nuby blue and silver ball pit: £49.99, Aldi.co.uk
- Best for animal fun – Funtime pop-up animal friends: £11.94, Amazon.co.uk
- Best for developing colour recognition – Tomy toomies hide and squeak eggs: £9, Amazon.co.uk
- Best for developing sitting skills – Mamas and Papas snug floor seat with activity tray: £59, Mamasandpapas.com
Baby Einstein kicking tunes play gym
This play mat will last your baby an entire year, much longer than other play gyms. This is because there are multiple elements that can be put to different uses as the baby grows. For example, the piano starts off on the floor so that the littlest ones can kick it, but as they learn how to sit up, the piano can be propped on legs so they sit underneath it.
There’s a v-shaped prop cushion to help with tummy time and six other accessories to reach and grab including a crinkle medallion, triangle rattle, BPA-free textured music note, flashcards, self-discovery mirror and the multi-purpose piano toy. These all ensure that babies can lay on this for a decent amount of time without crying from boredom.
Buy now £40.49, Amazon.co.uk
JoJo Maman Bebe rabbit play mat
This is a gorgeous plush mat that’s soft to rest on, whether baby is on their back or trying a spot of tummy time. There’s even the option to personalise it with delicate embroidery with the name of the baby, it makes an extra special gift for them to cherish for years to come. As your baby grows into a child, they can still use it to curl up on to read a book or lay on it to watch TV in comfort.
Buy now £42.00, Jojomamanbebe.co.uk
Skip Hop zoo dino phone
This toy generated a lot of laughter. The handle is the perfect size for tiny hands and they enjoy waving it in the air like a rattle. Often this causes a button to be accidentally pressed, making a sound or a light or both and this makes them laugh out loud in surprise. As they get older, they’ll remember the buttons to press to make the noises and this helps them develop those valuable early cognitive skills.
Buy now £15.00, Fenwick.co.uk
Little Tykes my buddy Triumphant
If you’re looking for a toy that’s cute, educational and can grow with your baby, this is a truly multi-functional elephant. With fun, lights, sounds and hands-on activities, Triumphant helps infants develop physically, socially and intellectually. It’s bigger than you expect, so it’s a substantial size to occupy a baby’s attention. We also like how it has over 240 songs, sounds and phases to start encouraging babies’ vocal skills from a young age.
Buy now £26.00, Argos.co.uk
The Brompton Fountain I’m a Brompton bear
The Brompton Fountain support children suffering from heart and respiratory problems at The Brompton hospital in London and help their families cope during the time of hospital admission and beyond. By purchasing a bear, you’re supporting the work of this charity that puts smiles on the faces of critically ill children and £5 is a small price to pay for a teddy this cute. It’s a classic bear that is squishy for children to grab and cuddle up close. Once your child feels how soft it is, they may never want to let go. There’s also the option of paying an extra £5 to donate a teddy bear to a child currently in hospital – ‘tis the season for giving after all.
Buy now £5.00, Thebromptonfountain.shop
Mamas and Papas snug floor seat with activity tray
Treat your baby to a new view of the world with this chair that enables them to sit up and watch what you are doing. At around 12 weeks, babies often get bored of lying on their backs with the occasional bit of tummy time and want to look at what’s going on around them.
This chair enables you to take them around the house with you so you can get on with cooking, laundry and whatever else you have to do with both hands and they can feel part of the action. The removable activity tray is also good for developing fine motor skills and our mini tester spent ages giggling at their reflection in the mirror too.
Buy now £59.00, Mamasandpapas.com
Bababing automatic baby swing with Bluetooth
Designed to mimic the rocking of a parent’s arms, the Baba Bing chair is an instant soother. It’s a chair that grows with your baby as the youngest ones enjoy the movement while older ones will reach for the stars, literally, grabbing the soft toy stars to help their hand-eye coordination. Strapped inside the chair they’re completely safe, making this a gift for parents just as much as it is for babies.
Buy now £112.49, Boots.com
Aldi nuby blue and silver ball pit
If you’re looking for a gift that will entertain babies daily, this is a must-buy. Excellent value at under £50, considering how much they’ll use it, this plush ball pit allows you to put baby down and know that they’ll be contained in one area and occupied at the same time. Picking up the balls will help them to develop their fine motor skills while reaching for new ones helps them work on gross motor skills.
Buy now £49.99, Aldi.co.uk
Funtime pop-up farmyard friends
This game is brilliant for teaching young children about cause and effect. Turn the wheel and a farmyard animal pops up, bash a different button for a different animal. It’s bright, cheerful and colourful, which means kids are drawn to it like a magnet. For them, pushing the animals down and making them pop up again does not seem to ever get boring so it will occupy them for ages.
Buy now £11.94, Amazon.co.uk
Tomy toomies hide and squeak eggs
This is the best gift for under £10 that you’ll ever buy. Start by cracking open the eggs and encouraging the baby to match the colours to put them back together. Then press each egg to hear a little cheep-cheep sound. Put the eggs back in the yellow container to encourage shape sorting and problem-solving from a young age.
Buy now £9.00, Amazon.co.uk
The verdict: Christmas gifts for babies and newborns
We love the Baby Einstein kicking tunes play gym for helping babies reach, sit, crawl and learn about sounds and music at a young age. The piano part can be converted into both a table and a carry case to grow with your child and we expect it to provide at least three years of use for less than £50.
We’re also giving special recognition to the Nuby ball pit, which will help with gross motor skills and building muscles now and for the next couple of years. The most affordable gift is the I’m a Brompton bear which is extraordinarily good value at £5.
For more children’s gift ideas, read our guide to the best wooden and plastic-free toys
