To think thank you cards for every baby gift a bit much?

[likeacrow]

I might be. Or lazy. But we've had loads of little token gifts already and baby clothes, which is so lovely and generous but do we then do a thank you card for everybody? We've done them for our respective parents who've bought big items for us but do we include every colleague who has, for instance, given a cute jumper reduced in the sale or a pair of booties on offer?
I've never expected a thank you card when I've given little token presents like baby clothes to friends and I'm not just saying that to justify me not doing it! I've just always found a verbal thank you sufficient
Especially from sleep deprived new parents.
One of my best friends however thinks I should do personalised thank you cards for everyone who's given anything. She doesn't have kids. She's made it very clear she wants a card with a photo of the baby (when born) to say thank you for the outfit she bought us plus personalised message.

We've not even had (our first) baby yet btw!
Genuinely interested in opinions and approaches here as personally I think thank you cards for every last token gift is a bit much.

I'm a big believer in thank you cards but I would never expect one ftom new parents. Especially if there has been a verbal thank you

Thank you letters are less expensive and less extra work than personalised baby-picture cards (or endless prints of baby, going back yor more when an unexpected present comes in). Best of all, no-one can be rude enough to sniff at getting "only" a hand-written letter!

I am happy to receive a verbal thank you, or a text. That would be my preferred reaction tbh. What really, really pisses me off is when you send gift to someone you don't phone or exchange texts with, and they don't even acknowledge the (often expensive, always carefully considered) gift. DH is "really close" to his cousins, so we have always sent nice gifts. One branch of the family in particular never even pass a message back via granny/auntie that they have received it. Taking weeks or month to get round to it is always understandable though. And completely forgivable if the thank you comes with a photo of the DC (not necessarily wearing any clothing you may have given them!).

As an aside, I remember being given loads of hideous frilly dresses when DD was born. We put her in them, photographed them, sent a thank you with the photo, and donated the frills to the (really brilliant and popular) children and baby charity shop.

I photocopied a b/w pic of ds asleep (an unbelievably cute pic!) and glued it to a bit of card. Quick thanks, sign, DH posted them as I was stuck to the sofa.

We do something similar for birthdays/Christmas: cardstock, stamping kit, big X from DS. Takes 20 minutes.

I agree ijustwannadance.

I would not be bothered if I did not get a thank you card for a baby gift, in fact I don't think I've ever received one. Verbal thanks if given in person or over text is fine in my book. Obviously a written card is a bonus but I would never expect one.

I find it very rude if there is no acknowledgment of wedding gifts as once the honeymoon is over it's generally back to normal life. There's enough to cope with a newborn baby in the house without thinking about writing dozens of thank you cards.

I'm amazed that your friend is demanding a thank you card - that's not what you give gifts for!

I did it. I got some cards printed with pictures of her on and wrote a few words. I was on mat leave so had the time! I didn't do it immediately though. Baby was in NICU for a few weeks and I was understandably a bit busy then.

When any of my friends or colleagues have a baby I make them a blanket (they aren't pushed into it and they get to choose which one etc) and I have never had more than a vague verbal thank you despite it costing me a lot in time and materials

And actually the comment about the reduced price items was ungrateful - just because something is reduced in the sale, not sure why you would be so dismissive

I didn't but then I've never sent or received thank you notes in 40 years, I do always thank people verbally though and am happy enough to be thanked verbally for presents I send.

I didn't realise notes were still a done thing until a neighbour knitted dd2 a cardigan when she was a newborn, I thanked her very much and we had a long conversation about hand knitted being much nicer than shop bought etc however about a month later she collared me on the driveway and said "I take it you didn't like the cardigan?", I told her that I loved it and reminded her about our conversation and she added "well you didn't send me a thank you card".
I told her dd had worn it many times and she asked for a photo!!!

I wouldn't expect thank you cards from parents of newborns. Do people not remember what having a newborn is like? Don't give gifts if you can't stand not being thanked.

It took a while but we did. People were so generous and we were really surprised and touched. The least we could do was send a card. Especially as many wouldn't meet our wee one for a while as we live far from family. We did as well for christmas and will do for her first birthday. It might take a while but it is good manners and really shows the gift and thought are appreciated. When our wee ones are bigger they will write them (or draw a picture) themselves.

We only sent them to people who had sent things in the post- if they had come and seen the baby and given a gift and we had said loads of thank yous we didn't send a card later

I think if you've had a terrible birth etc then people will know that and not expect anything beyond a verbal thank you. I think it's nice to send a thank you card. As others have said, just go on one of the photo card companies and print off a pic of baby with thank you printed on the front. You can then personalise as you see fit. Between you and your partner it needn't take that long, doing 2 or 3 a day.

I think every person deserves a thank you card. These people have taken the time and effort to choose you a gift and spend their money to help celebrate the birth of your little one.

A quick card or photo postcard (you could order online) is not much effort to show your gratitude.

I did. I took a picture of DC with every present and sent moonpig cards to everyone. There were nearly 100 in the end, it cost a sodding fortune.

Can you tell she was a PFB and I had nothing better to do whilst breastfeeding for hours?!?

I've always been happy with just an email or text from other people to say it arrived safely. Notes are lovely but not essential.

We sent for naming day presents instead. I thanked everyone else in person so figured it wasn't necessary.

I wrote 40 of the bastards, each with a message referencing what the present was and how DD would use it. I had a ghastly EMCS and a slow recovery. I'm a glutton for punishment, even as I was writing them I was thinking a text message would be easier. Of course it was the right thing to do and I'd do it again, but MAN what a faff.

Like others we did a postcard off vistaprint with a picture of DD on and a blanket statement of "thank you for all the lovely presents and cards" DH has a large family so we had to send out 70 of the things...

However we then got a phone call from DH's gran to say that his great aunt was complaining that she hadn't received one (despite the face we had sent one) so people definitely still expect them.

We sent thank you texts or emails attaching a picture of DS wearing or using the present and talking about how much he was enjoying it. Where the item might not be used for a while and I hadn't seen the giver in person I sent an email with another pic and something about how lovely the pressie was and how he would enjoy it in the future. Some sort of ack is needed for stuff that comes by post so that the sender knows it hasn't got lost but cards are overkill imho. We get so much junk through our letterbox that if I am a giver I really don't want even more paper that has to go into the recycling. However an emailed pic will be saved on my phone/cloud and I probably will enjoy looking at it again from time to time when browsing my photo library. I often don't have postal addresses for people anyway.

LiviaDrusillaAugusta I gave my also expectant friend some Ted Baker baby tights I picked up reduced and told her they were in the sale. Didn't want her to think I'd spent loads. The last thing I'd expect is a thank you card. Nor did I get one. Her verbal thank you was enough for me to know age appreciated it. A thank you card would have been ott imo. So I suppose I'm just basing it on what I would expect.

Oh Livia that's a shame. That sounds like a lovely present. I'd have loved something like that. :)

Ps a tip- keep a log somewhere of who sent what- I am ashamed to admit that I have a couple of things that I can't match to a sender as we were in such a fug when opening everything.

And yes I do consider babygros etc a token gift. It's what I'd usually buy for friends' new babies and they cost a few quid. So a token gift.
Well if you tell people this then you'll probably not have many cards to write

Where I live no one sends thank you notes for Christmas or birthday presents, I have never come across that in my life. But baby presents always get a written thank you. I have never given someone so much as a wee set of vests or socks and not had a written thank you note.

It seems to be 'the rules' here. Written thank you notes for wedding presents and baby presents. No written thank you notes for anything else.

I think everyone should be sent a thank you - we did the picture ones and people seemed to like having a picture of the DT's. If I was one of your friends or family I wouldn't appreciate your comments about a jumper bought on sale or booties on offer ! You wouldn't be getting any further gifts from me if that is your attitude to people spending their money on you.
DH and I kept a spreadsheet of gifts and every couple of days we'd each do a few more cards. It's not a lot of effort to thank people for buying for your children.

A verbal thanks is fine with a new baby. Cards are nice but surely to god everyone knows they're not always feasible?

I always made sure DP was holding the baby when I opened stuff then updated the list on my phone with what they'd got. Then about a month later rattled off some cards while they slept. It was getting to the bloody post office and getting them out that was the hard part!