What to Get Blue Ivy, Beyonce and Jay-Z's New Baby?

I wonder if Beyonce and Jay-Z will go with the Bloom Zen stroller for their new daughter, Blue Ivy Carter. The baby buggy du jour comes with a solar lighting system that activates for after-dark strolls and has an option for battery-operated, flashing hazard lights.

I only know this because I’ve been browsing online baby sites to find a gift for a family friend who’s expecting her first child any minute. In fact, as I write this, I’m simultaneously checking Facebook for updates. That’s how it’s done these days, you know. 

I first got the news that she was pregnant, along with a copy of baby’s first ultrasound, via email. That was back in the spring, and I’ve been following photos of her growing baby bump (did I really just use that term?) on Facebook ever since.

My youngest child is 10, but in the world of baby trends, gear and gurus, a decade is light-years. Sure, some things never change, like being dumbfounded trying to remember what you used to do with all your free time. Or being so exhausted that you think about wearing your bathrobe to the grocery store, just like the Dude in The Big Lebowski.

But then you see an ad for the hottest must-have, electronic bouncy seat, the mamaRoo, and feel like you’ve been in a time warp. Shaped like an egg–simulating mom’s cradling embrace, the mamaRoo doesn’t just bounce.  It offers five motions from “car ride" figure eights to “ocean wave” circles, all while playing a selection of nature sounds.   

Today’s new parents can also download apps that turn smartphones into baby monitors, use eco-friendly bamboo cloth diapers (more absorbent than cotton) and fuss-free onesies that fasten with magnets instead of snaps. Moms breast-feeding in public can take cover under the Hooter Hider, a collapsible nursing cover that offers generous yet stylish coverage in a palette of chic fabrics.

They may also follow the advice of Dr. Karp, the best-selling pediatrician and author whose fans include Madonna and Michelle Pfeiffer. Karp advocates lulling colicky babies to sleep with his specially engineered white noise CD that simulates sounds babies hear for nine months in the womb.

No doubt, some of the latest inventions will prove lifesavers, others not so much. I remember this adorable plastic splat mat I bought to catch the mess underneath my son’s highchair. A lot of spills landed on the floor anyway, and the mat wasn’t all that easy to clean, either. Then we visited my mother-in-law, who used an old bed sheet for the same purpose. After lunch, she shook the sheet out in the backyard then tossed it in the washing machine. Some things, like common sense, just don’t come in an app.