Newborn gifts for baby and Mum

[TheActualQueen]

What were your most appreciated gifts?

A delivery through the letterbox of traybakes from a local bakery. They were delicious and from a mum with a small baby and understood need for sugar fix!

The most appreciated gift I GAVE was a baby medical kit. Teething powder, nose snorter, saline sprat, tiny newborn nail clippers, sudocrem, thermometer, Vicks vapour rub, Calpol (from 2 months only). Probably lots more but it was a few years ago. All in a nice zip up bag. I had a 9 month old myself at the time so knew all the stuff that I used.

Perhaps not the cutest gift but you know it's getting used!

My most appreciated gifts were baby baths and creams which at the time would have been out of my price range and I considered a luxury. I was genuinely so happy.I have just given a close friend a necklace with the birthstone of her baby . I hope this was well received because she cried!

Not clothes or soft toys, not pamper products and not anything that creates work for the mother. The baby medical kit sounds great.

If you give clothes, make sure they're practical and what you found useful.

I give things that are practical and will be used up quite quickly.

When my first niece was born, I bought the usual clothes, but I also got them an braun ear thermometer and a first aid box filled with all the things from the chemist they could potentially need such as gripe water, calpol, baby suncream, sudocream, teething powders, and added things for my twin sister including nipple cream, relaxing bubblebath and a new mum pamper set. I also added a gift voucher for their favourite takeaway that would cover 4 meals for both her and my bil.
My sister said it was the best present because everything was to hand if they needed it.

Ask, some great ideas but you only need one of some things like baby thermometer so buying is always hard. A voucher sounds a cop out but at least you won’t be duplicating. I actually preferred getting larger clothes eg 3-6 months

My friend made me a quiche so I didn’t have to cook for a few meals. It was a brilliant present (if you like quiche!).

If you buy clothes, buy ones that will fit the baby in the season when he or she will fit into them. That age 6-12 months winter outfit is unlikely to be worn in the summer.

https://amzn.eu/d/00pPFMi1

A changing mat MAY seem like a random gift but it is hands down the best thing I’ve ever bought baby related, we bought several after we realised how much difference it made!

Our newborn would scream so much because the normal changing matts are so cold. Also, when a baby wees or poos during a nappy change all the mess pools under their backs and makes clean ups SO HARD 🤢 if using a standard mat - some even have creases and seams that the mess flows into (nightmare to deal with on zero sleep.)

This one is warm touch so newborns find it more comfortable to lay on and they are smooth and sloped so any mess runs away from the baby and gets caught by the big lip at the bottom. Honestly a life saver!

We now buy one for all our friends when they announce their pregnancies 💕

A friend bought me a set of 3 matching oven dishes and filled them with a shepherd's pie, a fish pie and a lasagne to put into the freezer for when needed. The meals were very much appreciated in those first few weeks and I used the oven dishes for years afterwards. I only have 1 left now but I always think of my lovely friend everytime I use it.

Someone sent me a cheese hamper of delicious soft and unpasteurised cheeses! Totally lovely 🥰

The gifts I appreciated most were either genuinely useful in the foggy first weeks or small enough to feel special without adding more clutter.

For the mum, soft pyjamas, a really good water bottle, easy food, or anything that makes recovery a bit gentler is lovely because people do focus on the baby and forget she has just done something enormous. For the baby, I always think a few genuinely useful basics beat novelty gifts.

If you want one sentimental thing as well, I would keep it simple: a nice photo album, a baby book that leaves room for short notes, or even a folder/box for the first cards and hospital bits. That feels thoughtful without giving them another big project.

Travel mug and some tea and coffee, with a few packs of biscuits and cakes for extra joy. One of my colleagues gave me this, best gift ever with a newborn. I am very easily pleased.

Anything edible! I really appreciated Cook vouchers so I could have a healthy meal with zero effort.

Definitely avoid flowers - the last thing you want to be doing with a newborn is arranging flowers!

For the baby I’d recommend a tuppence and crumble star blanket (saw it on one of these threads previously and have adored them for my baby) or a manhattan toy company sqwish rattle/teether - by far the most played-with baby toy for both DCs as babies.

Lots of amazing suggestions on here - a nice gift for the baby, and what I would have died for was a prepared meal! Which several lucky PP did receive.

https://www.cookfood.net/products/7-nights-of-meals

This wss 100% the best gift we got!

Vouchers for takeaway.
That special teddy.
Homemade gifts.

Not given nor received as a gift, but the thing that I needed for a baby that I wasn't expecting was a thousand additional pegs for hanging washing on the line.
A bit of a silly gift, but seriously needed.

My favourite gift was some neals yard products - particularly the women’s balance shower oil for me which felt totally luxurious and was a moment of joy each day, and some barrier cream for baby which worked wonders and lasted forever. It was more expensive than I’d have ever justified spending on myself so felt like a real treat.

Our neighbours made a huge lasagna which was wonderful. If we’d lived in an area with lots of choice I’d have loved a deliveroo voucher - either for takeaways or for last minute shopping. We live rurally though so wasn’t an option!

Luxury hand cream for mom - constant hand washing (especially if bottle feeding so washing bottles too) meant I’d had awful sore hands for months.

A box of Gower Cottage brownies
Giant muslins that are still used now as blankets by our 4 and 6 year olds
the offer to sit with baby when DH had gone back to work so I could nap or shower
coming round and bringing a few groceries - cake, milk, bread, treats from M&S

For mum: A really good thermal travel mug. This is for every drink made at home, not only travel, and means that the new mum has half a chance of having a warm drink three hours after she made it for herself. And handcream - the bodyshop does a really good hemp one.

For baby: A couple of home-made meals for the freezer and some fruit. These are of course for parent(s) to consume, which gives baby happier, less pressured parent(s).

Someone bought me a very pretty giant muslin and it was brilliant for breastfeeding out and about, as a light blanket for the baby, etc.

The second best gift for dc2 was a gigantic bag of almost new second-hand clothes through the age ranges. My friend said she’d been excited for me to have a winter baby boy like her, and it all fit so well. The best thing was having several dozen pairs of tiny baby socks in different sizes. I never worried about losing a sock as my friend found tiny socks so cute she had bought loads!

The best thing I was given for dd1 was a very pretty summer outfit for when she was 3-6 months. It had a little sunhat and was made of pure cotton which turned out to be a blessing as dd1 had troublesome skin as a baby.

What a thoughtful gift.

I always gift a voucher for their chosen shop. Boring but at least I know it will enable them to choose what they want or need.

Decent water bottle
Handcream for all the hand-washing after nappy changes.

For baby: clothes for 9m+. Stacking cups. My 5yo still plays with them.