To ask what your favourite baby/pregnancy gifts were?

[Jesusweptagain]

I am attending a close friends baby shower in a few weeks and want to avoid getting her anything useless or impractical. I know her sense of style & have bought an outfit for once the baby arrives however I would like to get her something practical or for herself for the baby shower. All the big things I.e. playmats have been purchased already. She is a close friend so I dont mind spending up to £50 on this gift. Any suggestions? I was thinking of a Ewan the dream sheep but open to ideas!

Do you know if she is planning on breastfeeding? If she is, a bottle for water and flask for hot drinks, loads of treat snacks and a tray to keep these things next to her on the sofa or in bed will be much appreciated. Along with a tube of lansinoh.

A basket - ensure the actual basket can be reused as storage - of little things. You can put in a mixture of stuff for the baby and herself.

A flask is a good one to put in as even if she doesn't use it for hot drinks, it can used to keep water hot in to warm up breast milk/make formula.

Ask anyone you know who has a kid in the last few years what other stuff they found useful.

Was coming on to say Lansinoh and someone has beaten me to it!

Food delivery voucher

Tuppence and crumble star wrap

Clarins Extra Relaxing bath gel and treatment oil (to rub on my bump). Used every last drop - couldn't have justified splashing out for myself. Absolutely loved it.

Seconding the star wrap. Try and size it for winter though, obviously, don't just get newborn if they're due in the warm weather.

One of my cousins rocked up with a big box of waterwipes, which was genius. Another one got me two of the cotton duster cardigans from Gap which were great for wearing with the wrap carrier over the summer.

Also, socks. My aunt gave him socks which I thought was mad, but when it got hot and he was in vest and shirts and somehow still had cold toes it was a godsend.

Some really good suggestions on here. A food delivery voucher, snacks, drinks containers etc are all fantastic gifts for the early days when you don't have time to do everything you'd normally do. Also a 'voucher' for babysitting if you're comfortable looking after young babies, getting a chance to catch up on sleep is a priceless gift to most new parents.

Babywise I'd not get Ewan. The baby may be a great sleeper without help and there are a number of free whitenoise type apps available so no need to pay for Ewan. I plan to buy a Sophie the giraffe teether for the next person I know who has a baby because it's a really good teether. I also plan to buy a few sleepsuits in different sizes because most people seem to not dress the baby in outfits until they're at least 3 months or older. So lots of outfits end up going wasted... Or rather they're put in the outfit purely so you can take a picture to thank the person who gave it to you.

Definitely food delivery voucher. The best present when I had my babies is my parents delivered loads of food for the fridge and freezer. We didn't need to think about food for the first couple of weeks which are always crazy. It's years later and we still remember what a huge help it was.

Food delivery voucher

Tuppence and crumble star blanket

Breastfeeding accessories like reuseable breast pads, lanisoh cream etc (if applicable).

You could get some weaning bits for down the line: baby food cookbook, cutlery, cup, pots, bibs etc. Someone did that for me and it was so useful as lots of people just born newborn stuff!

A few "boring" things like vests, plain sleepsuits and muslins- you can never have enough with a newborn!

Nappies
Tuppence and Crumble star wrap
Kindle voucher
Snacks (biscuits/flapjack/dried fruit)
Yellow metanium cream
Calpol

I've just been looking at sensory boxes and thought it would make a lovely gift 🙂

My best friend arranged for a Hello Fresh box to be delivered to us for the first two weeks after DS was born. It was amazing not to have to even think about dinners for 2 weeks
Hands down one of the best presents we received and I've done the same for other friends and family who have had babies. They've all raved about it as well.

Tuppence & Crumble star wrap
A Chilly bottle (keeps cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot)
An insulated cup for hot drinks
A changing mat for downstairs (my most used gift!)

I've recently found out my cousin is pregnant so I made her up a little felt caddy with loads of stuff that you use on a daily basis:
Muslins
A hooded baby towel
Sudocrem
Lansinoh cream
Nappy bags
Spritz for bits
Maternity pads
Child's Farm bath stuff
A bath thermometer
Lavender essential oil

@BrogerMaylor

I've just been looking at sensory boxes and thought it would make a lovely gift 🙂

I want one of these for baby #2 arriving this week www.thelittlesensorybox.com/collections/baby-subscription-boxes

Euan the Dream Sheep is the best gift I can think of for new parents. I also liked the multi striped blankets from Mamas and papas we had several. Sadly, they have changed the colours now.

A treat basket for me. Every time I use a certain mug make to make hot chocolate it reminds me of being pregnant.

Euan the dream sheep, a penguin night light, a nice grow bag in a bigger size, or a love to dream swaddle - all made life so much easier!

For me my friends all bought me a hot chocolatier machine and a year subscription which I love!

Vouchers for LoveKeepCreate - they make some lovely things out of baby clothes - I had a bear made and also a quilt for DD all from her baby clothes. I couldn't part with them and when it was clear she probably wouldn't have any siblings to hand them down I thought it would be something nice to keep and pass on hopefully one day. She's 4 and loves going through her baby photos and pointing out what is now in her quilt

Cook vouchers

Also costs you nothing but a voucher to cuddle the baby for a couple of hours while she has a nap is a nice idea!

Honestly, the best present I received was some Aesop hand cream & some really nice loungewear - something luxury that made me feel like a human being again and not just a milk machine/sleep-deprived mess. All the practical stuff will be purchased by others / she'll figure out as she goes along what she needs (and online shop all night long!), but as a close friend you can buy her something that's really personalised to her and helps her feel special and reclaim a sense of self

An enormous bar of Swiss chocolate was my favourite prezzie Also a hamper of vitamins and supplements including magnesium and breastfeeding teas which was fantastic and much appreciated. We did get a Ewan too and love it, still use it every day. My favourite present to myself was a Cheeky Chompers multimuslin and a Love to Dream sleeping bag. We did get about half a dozen comforters and various teddies but no toys so next time I’m buying a baby gift I will definitely include a nice rattle or similar.

An enormous muslin cloth with bees on. Could use to cover up while feeding , lay the baby on if you were out somewhere , sunshade etc
I loved that
Or a sub to mother and baby magazine

I found baby sleeping bags a really useful gift. They’re actually quite expensive to buy and you need at least two, ideally three and everyone assumes you already have them.

I also found that everyone bought me lovely newborn clothes which was so nice but he grew out of them in a fortnight. I wished I’d had multipacks of vests and babygros in 0-3 and 3-6 months. Oh and muslins muslins muslins. I got a pack of two and thought that would be enough 🤣 and we had the sickiest baby known to man!

I don’t know if she’s into eco/reusable stuff but one of our best gifts was a Cheeky Wipes kit. Also a lovely brightly coloured activity gym.

Someone also got me a really large soft nice quality pair of PJs which made me feel a bit more human.