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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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DEVINDRA HARDAWAR:
The road to parenthood

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is paved with endless
anxiety and preparation.

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You've got countless
choices to make,

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and in the heat of the
moment, they all seem

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like life or death decisions.

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That makes would-be
parents an easy target

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for the baby gear industry,
which is expected to surpass

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$100 billion by 2025.

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If you thought buying a new
phone or laptop is hard,

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just wait until
you're confronted

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with countless smart baby
gadgets that promise to prevent

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things like SIDS or Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome,

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track every bowel movement, and
basically make sure your child

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isn't screwed up for life.

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That's been the life I've
been living for the past year.

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But now that my daughter Sophie
is nearly six months old,

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I have a better sense of the
gear she actually wants to use,

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and what's just
a waste of money.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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First, there's the stroller.

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My wife and I agonized over
choosing one for months.

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We read every baby blog,
review site, and Wirecutter

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recommendation we could find.

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Ultimately, we settled on the
Doona, a relatively new entry

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that has one killer feature.

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At the touch of a button,
the wheels fold down

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and it doubles as a car seat.

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Many parents end up buying
a seat for their cars

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and the stroller separately,
but that didn't really

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make sense for my family.

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We live in Brooklyn,
don't have a car,

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and we wanted to bring the
baby on the subway regularly.

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But we also want to
easily hop into a cab.

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The Doona ended up being
the perfect solution for us.

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It's compact, so it
doesn't overwhelm

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sidewalks and store aisles
like so many other strollers.

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Our baby fits in its
snugly, and she doesn't have

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any trouble sleeping in it.

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The Doona's also a
lightweight at 14.3 pounds,

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and it's easy to
lift one-handed,

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which is a huge help when going
up and down subway stairs.

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Another plus, it's incredibly
simple to travel with.

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There's a base you can
install in your car

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that it just snaps into.

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Or you could just secure
it with a regular seat

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belt, which is the method
we've relied on mostly in cabs.

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The Doona's also approved
for use on planes,

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allowing you to simply
roll it down the jetway

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and into your seats.

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It's not perfect, but
as I've come to realize,

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few baby products are.

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At $500, the Doona's more than
double the price of mainstream

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strollers, but let's be honest.

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There are plenty of fashionable
models that cost much more,

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and they're a lot
less functional.

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After we settled
on our stroller,

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we started to plan
out our nursery

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gear, which is an entirely
new level of parenting hell.

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To make things simple, we
focused on the must-haves.

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First, a baby monitor
and a soothing device.

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We knew from the
start that we didn't

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want a Wi-Fi smart monitor.

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They're prone to
security risks, and we're

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mainly interested in keeping an
eye on the baby in the house.

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At first, we
settled on the tried

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and true Infant Optics DXR-8.

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It worked well,
but I grew to hate

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staring at the low
resolution monitor screen

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night after night.

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Then Eufy released the Space
View, which was an improvement

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in almost every way.

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Has a sleeker monitor
with a gorgeous HD screen

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and 15 hours of battery life.

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The Space View also
boasts a much longer range

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than the Infant Optics,
as well as a camera

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that can pan up to 330 degrees.

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The only real downside is that
the camera takes a bit of work

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to mount.

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And the monitor's kickstand
feels a bit flimsy.

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Otherwise, it was exactly
what I was looking for.

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A truly modern
spin on a classic.

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On the opposite end of the
tech spectrum is the Baby

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Einstein Sea Dream Soother.

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It's a huge plastic
toy that lights up

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with colorful characters
and plays music.

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That's it.

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But it turns out, that's
the perfect combination

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to distract a shrieking infant.

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It was invaluable
during our first month

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with Sophia, when
seemingly every diaper

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change led to crying fit.

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At first, she was just
entranced by the Soother.

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But as time went
on, Sophia started

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interacting with the
characters, almost like they

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were characters on a TV show.

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She also loves hitting
the huge button

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on the front of a Soother,
which turns it on and off.

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Early on she would
just hate it for fun,

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but now she has a
ball controlling

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the show on her own.

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Even though the Sea Dream
Soother is pretty low tech

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and has been around
forever, there's

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a reason it's still popular.

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It works.

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Just be sure to keep plenty
of C batteries on hand,

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or get some rechargeables.

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The Soother needs
four of them, and it

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chews through them like crazy.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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As we built out our
nursery, my wife and I

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also knew that we wanted some
sort of digital baby scale

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around.

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It might seem like a luxury, but
we heard from plenty of friends

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that they're useful for
keeping track of baby weight

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early on, when it's
hard to measure how much

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breast milk they're drinking.

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We settled on the
Hatch Baby Grow,

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one of the more expensive
options out there,

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but also one of the most useful.

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It can measure a baby's
weight in a few seconds.

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And it had no trouble dealing
with our very squirmy infant.

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The Grow is also a great
surface as a changing pad.

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It's soft and cleans easily.

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And it didn't get too
cold during winter nights.

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We also grew to love
Hatch's mobile app

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for tracking feedings,
diaper changes and sleep.

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Few people tell you
this ahead of time,

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but you'll be doing a lot of
data tracking as a new parent.

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And you get really invested
in counting poopy diapers.

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Hatch's app is easy to use, and
it does a great job of laying

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out trends, so you can
easily tell if your baby's

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eating less than usual.

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The app is also completely free.

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So you don't have to shell
out for the Grow to use it.

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That's a smart move by
Hatch, since it's another way

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to coax new parents
into its ecosystem,

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which also includes the Rest
Night Light and Sound Machine.

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Something like that
is less of a necessity

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though, especially if
you have a smart speaker.

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That's why I also recommend
picking up an Amazon

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Echo for your nursery.

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It's built for hands-free use
and voice commands, which makes

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it perfect for when you're
elbow deep in diapers

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and trying to rock a
fussy baby to sleep.

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And I really can't
stress this enough.

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Being able to do
anything hands-free

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is a godsend when you
have a baby around.

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The sound quality is
good enough for piping

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in some tunes or a podcast
when you're nursing.

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And you can also
use it to control

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smart lights in your nursery.

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It's ideal for dimming
the room as you're trying

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to put your baby to sleep.

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Perhaps most
importantly, you can tap

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into a huge ecosystem
of Alexa apps,

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which includes Hatch Baby's.

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So instead of logging feedings
and diaper changes by hand,

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I just have to say,
Alexa, log a wet diaper.

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Logged a wet diaper.

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And it instantly gets
added to Sofia's profile.

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It might not sound like
much, but this feature

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has been life-changing
for my wife

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and I. Now we rarely
miss logging anything.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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My final recommendation
is something

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I stumbled across by accident.

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The SmartNoggin Light-Up Rattle.

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At first I figured we'd
just pick up any old rattle,

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but a saleswoman at a
baby store in Brooklyn

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really sold us on this one.

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In addition to making
noise, it lights up,

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which helps to keep
Sophia's attention

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when she's having a crying fit.

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Its eyes and goofy expression
also helps newborns learn

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to recognize faces early on.

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And finally, it has
enriched handle,

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which makes it easy for
babies to grab early on.

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And there's a mirror
at the bottom,

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so they can learn to
recognize themselves.

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Basically, it's a rattle that
does the work of several toys.

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And for the first few
months, we couldn't

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really leave home without it.

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At this point, it's also become
an automatic gift for any

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of my new parent friends.

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One thing you'll need to
remember when buying any baby

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gear, every kid is different.

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You'll definitely have your
own must-have list of gadgets

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after you learn what
your kid actually likes.

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But I'm hoping my list can
at least get you started.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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