To ask what you found really useful and what was complete shit when you had a baby?

[lunalunalooney]

Trying to think of a baby shower present for best friend.

Dont want to buy the usual clothes/nappy cakes etc as everyone buys them and want to spend a bit more as she is my best friend.

So- what useful things did you all get for baby? Any baby books worth reading?

Most useful:
Wine and chocolate
Least useful:
Other people's advice

I'm another one who agrees with muslins. The bigger the better! John Lewis and Anais & Aiden ones are big and so lovely to use.

Sophie the giraffe is great as well

Hand cream. My hands are dry and quite sore with the amount of hand washing

A big fluffy hooded towel :)

Definitely no feeding stuff. If bf doesn't work out she will feel bad seeing bf things around, and if she plans to bf won't find formula stuff useful!

How about a Cook voucher? It's not cheap, but their ready meals are lovely & you can order online for home delivery. Years before I had kids, my boss referred to the baby phase as "the year of fishfingers".

Things like an ironing service or a supermarket delivery pass would also be good (though I secretly enjoyed wafting around the supermarket alone late in the evening sans baby in those early days - it felt like a taste of normality & freedom).

I have 3 children, with my third I bought my friends Perfect Prep machine from her.

IT IS THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD!!!

No good if she breast feeds though!!!

It might be worth waiting until the baby is here and telling her you will buy whatever she really wants once she's had a couple of weeks with him or her. For example she may have a velcro baby and really want a sling etc etc

Lamaze toys are ace. Of my two little ones one LOVED Ewan the Dream Sheep and the other reacted like a wooly Freddie Krueger had been attached to his cot. Baby grows and stuff are always good and we especially loved (and kept) ones that were particularly special / apt for us - a Back to the Future one, a Wonder Woman one, a Dave Grohl one. eBay is a great place to find stuff like that. We also loved the Rockabye Baby CDs - we're given the Foo Fighters and Beatles albums and they were great, they're lullaby versions of pretty much every genre of music, you can get everything from Bowie to Queen, Led Zepellin to Pink Floyd.

As for gifts for mum, it sounds really lame but the loveliest gift I got around giving birth was a care package of pate, cheese, biscuits and a small bottle of port (all of which I'd missed during my pregnancy), some lovely slipper socks for hospital and an iTunes voucher (for playing on my phone during night feeds). It felt very much like a gift for me that wasn't about me being pregnant or being a mum - I got a few sets of maternity toiletry type bits but while I appreciated the thought of it it was a bit tough to get excited about nipple cream, no matter how lovely it smelled.

A baby sling and a fruit basket, no clothes got millions given, a shepards pie for the freezer, a take away gift card, sweet confectionary.

I second takeaway vouchers!
I'm not sure you can buy justeat vouchers are something like that but it would be a good idea

My useful things:

Kari me stretchy wrap sling for newborn
Tights
Socks (someone bought ex pensive funky socks, I'd never have bought myself but my favourite baby present)
Baby play gym
Legwarmers
Booties
Grobag sleeping bag

Useless:

Sit me up cosy (it collapses and they just slump)
Snowsuit (can't be worn in a sling and it's something I wanted to choose myself anyway)
A coat for a tiny baby (too bulky, legs ended up cold too)
A liquidiser (really lovely thought but completely wasted as we never did purees)
A swaddling blanket (I don't like swaddling them so never used it)
Newborn size clothes (I had big babies and they never wore them).

Oh, nothing personalised with baby's name. Makes it hard to use for siblings.

A stretchy wrap is great for a newborn if you think she'd like the idea (I do and DS loves being wrapped still so I am biased!) the photo shoot is a great idea, baby book/journal (I'd second a pp who said to look first). DS loves the jumperoo at the minute, he's 7 months now.

I agree with some PP to avoid anything to do with feeding. I'm sure that the Perfect Prep would be amazing if she's bottle-feeding, and nipple stuff would be if she's breastfeeding; but right now you don't know which she'll be doing - and I doubt she does.

We got a million hats which were sadly unusable as DD has a massive head & they don't fit.

You can never go wrong with muslins as you can't have enough, but if you want something more personal I'd go for Ewan the Dream Sheep, some activity toys (e.g. Lamaze) as while stuffed toys are cute the baby won't appreciate them yet, or if you want splash out go for a baby gym.

A friend aid my Mum's sent me a pamper set (bubble bath, moisturiser etc) with a card saying "the baby will have plenty of presents, this is for you". I was really touched by that, and she had a point. I was blown away by how generous people were with gifts for DD, but, without wanting to sound really selfish, it was lovely get something for me

Cheeky wipes- washable small flannels to use as wet wipes. One or two wipes replaces 10+ disposables which just spread and smear. My youngest is now mostly through toilet training and they're still in use as flannels and hankies.

DS1 was bought a lovely velour newborn Christmas babygrow. He was born just before Christmas and went straight into 0-3 so never wore it. DS2 was then born in the spring and only wore newborn for two weeks- DH was sent to the supermarket for a couple of packs of vests and babygrows and that was all we needed in newborn.

We got lots of clothes as presents for DS, which are lovely and useful but don't really stand out as a gift.
Fav gifts were a baby first aid kit - stuff I didn't know I needed, thermometer, colic medicine, calpol, teething stuff, etc. Also a beautiful silver box with a picture frame lid (John Lewis) where I am keeping momentos, like his hospital tags and a lock of his hair sappy I know!

Best buys - baby bjorn bouncer, baby Einstein play gym, sleepyhead, changing table. Pointless - baby bjorn sling (he screams every time we try to put him in)

Most useful- bouncy chair/jumperoo/play mat for keeping baby amused while you eat/wash/do things around the house. You can't go wrong with muslins or vests either.
I was grateful for anything my dc's received but a lot of lovely clothes ended up being sent to the charity shop as most people bought things in bigger sizes without taking changing seasons into consideration, so i'd end up with snow suits that wouldn't fit dc until summer, or short rompers in winter etc

Oh and agree about getting your friend a gift, maybe a bottle of her favorite perfume, wine or chocs or whatever she's into. She will appreciate it

Yes to nice bamboo wipes. My youngest DC is ten and our set of cotton ones have been in constant use all that time, in fact I have just replaced them with lovely soft bamboo ones, we all use them all the time for face washing and general mop-ups.

Sleeping bags were also very useful, and blankets, I disagree about personalising though, I like it and think it makes them special keepsakes and not to be handed down but kept by that child.

Don't know if you can still get them, but Baby Einstein CDs and DVDs were brilliant.

I bought bubbles and body lotion for my friend and noticed a year or so later they were still on her bathroom shelf unopened. Then when I had my first DC people gave me similar and I understood why, I felt the same, completely uninterested in stuff for me, I really did just want baby things.

Best present i had was a spa voucher for me!

Actually, the one thing I regret not doing with dd is a cast of her feet. They are quite expensive for a decent one, if you fancy splashing out.

Best thing I was given was a jar of nuts and dried fruit.

There are only so many clothes a baby can wear and everything else is too personal. If I had been given a perfect prep machine it would have either been returned to the shop or sat in the garage.

The sheer waste of money was pretty upsetting with stuff you didn't want/ can't use.

Any everyone forgets the mother. But her something nice but not more bubble bath- super posh shampoo and shower gel - a quick wash in something fabulous makes you feel much better when your life is falling about your eyes and your body is following suit.

The most pointless baby item I brought multipul times when dd was little and stupidly have again with ds a parasol for pram or pushchair. Impossible to keep in just the right place and quite frankly just annoying. Just brought a playshoe sunshade that ties on which is amazing fits on my big tank of a pram and on the tiny stroller and folds up impossibly small to fit in change bag.

I also have a handbag organiser which turns any bag into a changing bag. Fits enough nappies in for a day out, pack of wipes in a huggies to go pouch and a change of clothes for both ds and dd. Really useful for grab and go changes out and about.

I love muslin squares the bigger the better although also have tiny top and tail ones for drying bottoms at nappy changes. I adore my slings but wouldn't have wanted someone else to chose them for me.

Best presents for me were dressing gowns both times. No time or inclination to enjoy creams or bubble baths.

Oh the other amazing thing I was given was really lovely socks so I could pad around the house with cosy toes.

Tip her off about mumsnet

I think so much depends on the personality of the baby and hopefully she will appreciate the thought in whatever you get her.

I really liked when people bought clothes for 3-6 or 6-9 months as I got tons of newborn items. A 7 pack of mamas and papas vests was really handy and they were cute but also it was great when people brought pretty little dresses that I would never have bought as not really practical but were super cute.

One friend got us a night light that played music and made pictures on ceiling. Did not help DD sleep but it was entertaining for me!

Also stuff for me a winner. Lip gloss as someone else said, nice shower gel, herbal tea, fruitcake. Just stuff that makes you feel a little bit better when you are not getting enough sleep or showering as much as you'd like.

Useful stuff is boring IMO. I always loved beautiful clothes I'd never have bought myself (someone mentioned baby cashmere), magnolia baby/kissy kissy onesies, petit bateau stuff, Aden & Anais Muslins and swaddles are gorgeous. Really don't buy bottles or breastfeeding items - these are pedestrian and boring. I guess everyone likes different though...