What’s the loveliest present you’ve received as a new parent?

[Olderandboulder]

I’m very excited about the imminent arrival of my DS and his DP’s first baby. We are going to do the decent thing and stay away until they’re ready for visitors, but when we do go, I’d like to take something special for the new mum. She’s been so brilliant through quite a stressful pregnancy, and deserves something lovely. They’ve already got a stack of baby stuff from various friends and family, so I don’t want to add anything else to that.
Does anyone have anything, practical or frivolous, that they were given as a first time parent that really hit the spot? TIA

A batch of homemade oatmeal and raisin cookies. I raved about them so much I got another batch for Christmas 😁

Also, homemade meals and restaurant/just eat vouchers.

A lasagne ready to stick in the oven . Meant i had an evening of not worrying about dinner.

A large bottle of Malibu and Coke

Homemade scones, accompanied by homemade jam and clotted cream.

The theme here seems to be delicious food that the new mum likes

My friend brought me some pate which I had gone on and on about missing during pregnancy.

Chocolate was also a hit and we got given a Cook voucher so it was nice to get some of the meals for easy dinners.

I will say I found flowers overwhelming as you have to put effort in to them so personally I would say not flowers

Thanks. This is great, because I’ve already batch cooked quite a few meals.
I'd like to get something more personal, really, but it’s so long since I had DC that I can’t think what would be best.

My dad gave me a bottle of pink champagne (I had a girl) and my MIL gave me some very expensive hand cream.

A bottle of Moet and a dozen red roses, because everyone else bought for the baby!

Somebody gave me a box of chocolates when I had ds3. Was so lovely to get a present for me rather than the baby. Although i think the best thing was I got home from the hospital with ds2 and my inlaws had brought round one of those chinese meal for 2 from Sainsbury's. Mil also cuddled ds2 so I could eat it hands free which was lovely. It was 3pm and I hadn't eaten anything all day so it tasted amazing.

I agree with the no flowers, too much admin to sort them out. I loved receiving food gifts too. Nice tins of biscuits for the inevitable visitors.

What about a lovely blanket for Mum? I spent a lot of time dozing on the sofa while baby napped and that would have been a really nice new gift to enjoy.

I really only wanted things for the baby at that point, I remember someone giving us champagne and us thinking when on earth are we going to drink that, the last thing you want with a new baby is a hangover. Also someone gave us babysitting vouchers, nice thought but I didn't want to leave baby for a good few months. Nice food definitely the best option IMO.

Lovely coffee, teas, and snacks. Dried fruit, nuts, luxury brownies (a box from Gimmee Brownies will forever ruin other brownies for them), chocolates.

Maybe a lovely dressing gown that she can throw on if she's up through the night feeding. Vouchers for local/favourite takeaway places. Some luxury bubble bath/body lotion.

Great idea from @LiftyLift a lovely blanket / throw.
As a side note whenever I buy a gift for a new baby I always get toys & they are very well received - everyone seems to buy clothes but they are outgrown so quickly & you end up with loads of stuff that baby can’t possibly wear it all.

Honestly a box of maltesers!

Really nice handcream - my hands were like sandpaper after washing them a dozen times a day.

A little emergency pack of: paracetamol, nipple cream, some pretty knickers, nappy rash cream, chocolate, plasters, gripe water, calpol.

If you can stretch to it, a nice easy access top.

On call baby sitting vouchers for when the new mum needs tongo to the doctor, dentist, have her hair done, etc.

Something I still love now is a necklace that has my DC name on it. Obviously this depends on budget but I really love it and wear it all the time.

£150 of cook vouchers from work. Such a winner!!

So thoughtful of you, @Olderandboulder. With ours I really appreciated others looking out for the basics - particularly food, e.g. easy oven meals (lasagne, quiche etc.) with a reasonable shelf life so we could bung them in the fridge/freezer and have whenever. It sounds like you've got that covered, which is great.

I also remember a friend making sure my water bottle was to hand and filled up whilst she was visiting. She said it drove her mad when she was stuck on the sofa desperate for a drink!

As to something more personal/special it's difficult to say. It's often enough if someone just asks how you are and means it. I didn't want a massive fuss after mine but it felt a bit odd in the early days when some close family members didn't even ask in passing if I was ok, when I was actually feeling pretty ropey.

Congratulations - I hope you have a wonderful time as a grandparent!

M&S Afternoon Tea gift box, with all the cakes & biscuits!

I bought my dd a nice coffee machine and a selection of pods. It was supposed to be a bit of a joke present seeing as she’d now be getting less sleep and probably need a good coffee, but she’s loved it and I regularly send her new coffees to try x

These are all great suggestions - I’m thinking about cherry picking lots of them for a hamper!

A big bag of various healthy snacks.

My favourite gifts were framed home made cross stitch samplers with name, dob and weight on etc. I did them for my DB and DSIL too.
Prob too late for that now!

One of the things my sister loved was a voucher to get a luxury pedicure