Help! New baby gifts

[WombatStewForTea]

I need to buy a new baby gift for close friends who've just had their second little girl. What do people actually appreciate as presents? I don't want to buy something totally useless or inappropriate and as I'm currently expecting my first I don't have any experience!

[moreismore]

Vouchers! I know it seems impersonal but they are a godsend when all the initial wave of clothes run out! M&S are good as they can also be used for emergency ready meals

[CoffeeAndCakeEssentials]

A gro-bag. Lamaze toys. Shop Vouchers. Gift voucher to make a soft toy from old babygrows. Vouchers for baby hand prints. Anything but clothes! Everyone buys clothes and baby hardly wears them in the end. A gift for the new mum always goes down well too just something small - some fancy bubble bath, some wine etc (or if breastfeeding, Sainsbury's sell "nosecco" which is alcohol free but tastes like Prosecco!)

[firstimemamma]

I think anything from my first Year’s is a lovely gift.

[hormonesorDHbeingadick]

Gift for baby or Mum.

For baby I would ask as one person’s necessity or want will be someone else’s hate or give some money for the baby’s saving account.

For Mum - posh shower gel, offer to do housework, just cook vouchers or alcohol is fine when breast feeding but she maybe too tired.

[BikeRunSki]

Food

Nice ready meals - M&S, supermarket Finest, Charlie Bingham, Cook etc - with preprepped vegs/sides; puddings; snacks; same for the older child. Not vouchers, the actual food, in their actual house, with minimal input required.

I couldn’t tell you anymore what we/dd got when she was born, other than 48 hours worth of good food.

[spugzbunny]

Alcohol! If she's breastfeeding she can drink. It's all perfectly safe.

This explains it well:

“Alcohol passes easily and quickly from the mother’s blood into her milk, and vice versa, so that the concentration in both liquids is the same.”

It’s easy to read this and make the quick assumption that if a mother is drinking 15 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, her milk is of a similar strength, but of course, that’s not how it works. Gonzalez goes on:

“The legal driving limit in the UK is 0.08 per cent. If your alcohol level is higher than 0.15 per cent you are unmistakably drunk. If it goes above 0.55 per cent you simply drop dead. Therefore, it’s absolutely impossible for breastmilk to contain more than 0.55 per cent alcohol.”

However, as Gonzalez points out: “Alcohol-free beer can legally contain nearly double this level - up to 1 per cent alcohol. Consequently, even the breastmilk of a completely inebriated mother could be bottled and labelled ‘alcohol free’.”

orange juice naturally has up to 0.5% alcohol. your breast milk has the same amount of alcohol as your blood. three times the legal limit is 0.24%. that’s less than half the amount of naturally occurring alcohol in many orange juices.

[spugzbunny]

I also really appreciated clothes in larger sizes. Sleepsuits in a 3-6 or 6-9 for example. A nice winter suit in a 6-12

[BlamesFartsOnTheNeighbour]

A personalised lullaby: www.etsy.com/fr/shop/BabbleSong

[BikeRunSki]

Glad you explained @spugzbunny, I thought you meant larger clothes for post partun mother!

[Ambydex]

A baby safe mirror. Little ones love them and they are the sort of thing you can use multiple ones of - in car, on playmat, in cot etc.

[Parker231]

Cook vouchers have always been appreciated when I’ve gifted them.

[DappledThings]

Tuppence and Crumble starwrap. And sock-ons.

[spugzbunny]

@BikeRunSki 😂

Here is your post partum tent dress and prestained leggings! Enjoy!

[WombatStewForTea]

Thanks all. Probably after a gift for baby, mum and big sister!
When they had their first we did the whole food thing which was appreciated but now grandma lives round the corner not needed as much!

[ExpletiveDelighted]

She might not want alcohol, it was the absolute last thing I wanted on top of being shattered all the time anyway, 15 years later and I still barely touch a drop. I'd say vouchers for online food shopping too, better than actual food as they may well have fully stocked fridge and freezer, we did (and both were small).

Baby - we got loads of clothes most of which were worn but they were virtually all given in 0-3 month size, we needed newborn size and ended up with a glut a few weeks later. Check for the right season if buying ahead, we had a really warm snuggly snowsuit which only fitted during the height of summer.

The things we kept and treasured the most were small cuddly toys. Also appreciated very early toys such as a crinkly textured octopus and coloured things to attach to the car seat.

[Ragwort]

Definitely something personal for the mum.

I think a small financial gift for the baby’s saving account is honestly better than clothes/toys/books etc. My DS is now 18 & having put (most) of his financial gifts away over the years he has a nice lump sum of around £3.5k which could buy a small car or something else (note - he has not just been handed this money, it is still in savings).

[hormonesorDHbeingadick]

How old is the big sister?

[WombatStewForTea]

Big sister has just turned 3

[hormonesorDHbeingadick]

How much do you want to spend? My three year old would be over the moon with a Ceebies magazine.

[Jarjarblinks]

Most important thing is the gift for the big sis! How about a little babygrow saying 'little sister' on it?

For DD I found it hard to find clothes that were girly but not pink. I know it's not necessary to demonstrate that she is a girl but it's annoying when people assume that because shes in unisex clothes she is a boy.