Thoughtful newborn baby gift thats something you don’t know you need

[Stressedout1980]

My daughter has a brilliant worker that we’ve just found out is pregnant and in her last trimester (recent sessions have been virtual so this wasn’t visible before) we would like to buy her something for her first baby that’s a little different but particularly something she might not know she needed/is helpful/unique /special, etc

Budget is about £50 -£60. Thanks in advance x

I am going to be a bit of a buzzkill and say that you can't really predict this sort of thing and you might get it wrong if you try too hard to be different...

Things I liked getting were bath towels, sleeping bags, babygros, nappies (we used cloth nappies with dc2), baby classes paid for.

If she is in any way likely to want to useckoth wipes or nappies you could get her a voucher for cheeky wipes or the nappy lady, but it's quite niche and you wouldn't want to assume that

The best gift I received was a voucher for a meal delivery service. We ordered a few dinners and a lunch with it which was priceless in those first few days when even cooking can be too stressful.

Sock -ons were the most useful thing we got. Little things to put over socks to stop them falling off!!!

Things i really liked as gifts:
New parents meal box from Cook Food
Tuppence and Crumble star wrap
John Lewis vouchers so i could buy some bits for myself (especially as i had a very tiny baby so everything i had bought in advance was miles too big)

These were the most useless thing we got! So fiddly and easy to get lost. Our baby didn’t wear socks until a few months old as had babygros before then and never lost her socks anyway

a reallt nice sleeping bag would get my vote

Just get vouchers!

John Lewis vouchers!

Aiden & Anais muslins
Nice baby grows/outfit from Jojo Maman Bebe or Boden
Hooded bath towels
Baby blankets with name/DOB embroidered
Voucher for a keepsake bear

Yep get vouchers.

I hated sock ons, didn’t use grow bags with the youngest, had a star wrap, all ready has towels.

Best gift I got was a beautiful, new, fluffy warm robe. You wear a robe a lot when you're a new mum.

My best friend got me an ear thermometer (a decent one) & a voucher for M&S that said must be spent on me! I still need se the thermometer now & my DD is 7!

Vouchers for baby gear or for pre made meals. Potentially a pregnancy massage, but that might be a hit or miss. A cozy fleece blanket for her shoulders during the chilly night feeds (fleece washes easily!).

*use

My fav gift (and one I subsequently gave to others who also loved it) was breastfeeding snacks ! Trail mix, dried dates, M&S choc coated toffee popcorn (personal fav!). All the things that keep a new mum going through the night. Plus some hypoallergenic moisturiser. - Things for the mum, rather than the baby. 🙂

Hey OP, also not wanting to be a buzzkill....

But, depending on the workers role / employer they might not be able to accept a gift of that high a value. When I was pregnant I was allowed to accept a gift of a baby grow / small items from service users. Someone did try to give me a £50 voucher and I had to return it to them. It was such a sweet gesture and I felt terrible but it's against the policies of my work.

Obviously, none of this might be relevant and if so, I would have appreciated gifts for a bit further down the line. Like some bamboo bamboo bowls / plates / cutlery!

Meal voucher, blanket or muslins (large ones, really can't have too many).

Large soft blanket to snuggle under during night feeds was my favourite gift.

Sockons were rubbish. Best small item i got was a munchkin duck temperature thingy. It doesnt have a hole in so water cant get in and nearly 9 years on it still looks like new. We never used ot to check the temperature but DD loves playing with her ducks.

I also think vouchers. But if you don't want to get vouchers, I would say maybe clothes in a larger size (3-6 or 6-9 months, and adjust for what the weather will be when the baby hits that age). We got a lot of newborn and 0-3 month stuff, we didn't need it all.

If you want to go down the slightly boring but useful route, a friend got me a box of things you probably need but might not buy in advance so it had a baby thermometer, nappy cream (sudocrem and metanium), calpol (obviously newborns can't have this but it meant we had it to hand the first time it was actually needed), nipple cream (my friend knew I was breastfeeding), baby nail clippers, one of those snot sucker thingies, a bath thermometer. I think that was everything.

What about some nice weaning things. Bamboo bamboo plates/bowls are gorgeous and the ones we have are very well used. Coverall bibs are always used too. A friend of mine was recently raving about a baby weaning book she had bought, can't remember the name but it had a step by step guide. These are things that probably aren't thought of straight away but 6 months comes around very quickly.
There are some really lovely black and white sensory muslins that would be a nice gift or any baby sensory type toys. Some places do special gift boxes/bags of sensory toys.
Not practical but one of the nicest gifts I got for my eldest was one of those personalised pictures that show the map of the stars the night they were born. For my youngest we got a really lovely personalised Beatrix Potter money box.
I'd stay clear of blankets, towels and teddies.

Another vote for tuppence and crumble

Another vote for cook vouchers.Best gift.

Vouchers are boring but the best gift really. You never know what the person has or what their taste is. I remember DHs lovely work colleagues buying some lovely ornamental musical figures for DS and at that time I already had a DD in a tiny 2 bed house and I had to be practical with my space so no room for displaying unnecessary stuff and I felt awful. You could give a voucher but also give some flowers or chocolates

Tuppence and crumble 💯 - use ours every day

Don't do vouchers as often people working in childcare have to declare high value gifts.
Things like muslin/sleeping bags/nice treats for the mum are always good. I found things like a forehead thermometer amazingly handy.

Came on to say Tuppence and Crumble star wrap and can see it’s already been mentioned a few times! Perfect for days where it’s not quite chilly enough for a full on suit. And they’re super cute.