If you have a new baby coming in 2012, or if you just received an invitation to a baby shower, here are some great tools for the new parents.

Amazon Mom and Subscribe & Save

There are two tools from Amazon that are great for parents. The Amazon Mom subscription is a free service that allows primary care providers to receive discount free returns on products from the baby store, and free two-day shipping benefits from Amazon Prime. This service is otherwise known as the Amazon Primary Caregiver subscription because a mom, dad, grandparent, or caregiver can sign up for the service. When signing up, users just need to answer a few questions about their family, so they can receive the best discounts.

Subscribe & Save is a service that anyone can use, but is especially helpful for parents that buy diapers. You will receive a new shipment of a product at selected intervals, free shipping, and a discount on items that you use a lot. You will find the Subscribe & Save button on eligible product pages.

iPad and Apps

The iPad is great for anyone, but it makes sense for new parents because of its ease to hold and use. A mom who is nursing or a dad who is rocking a baby to sleep can scroll with one hand.

Apps make it easy to have fun and also keep track of important information. Two apps are particularly useful.

The LaborMate iPhone app is a contraction stopwatch that allows moms in labor to simply tap to start and stop the timer. It keeps track of the duration, the time between contractions, and the time of the contractions. You can email the contraction log to healthcare providers and even post updates to Twitter and Facebook.

Total Baby is an app that helps you keep track of important information that healthcare professionals will ask, like how often has your baby eaten, slept, and used their diaper. This app will be helpful both when you and the baby are still in the hospital, and when you go home. You can print the information if you need it for your own records or for doctors’ appointments.

Cleanwater Infant Tub

This tub fits in a single or double basin sink, and has features that no other tub has. It has a color-coded digital thermometer that will let you know if the bathwater is cold, hot, or just right. There is a hold in the side of the tub that allows dirty water to drain out when fresh water flows in. It also has a fresh water reservoir, a rinse cup holder, and a rinse cup that you can use to make sure your baby is being rinsed with clean water. When your baby is too big for the birth-to-six-months tub, there is a digital spout cover for bath time for older children.