HELP, I need ideas for a present, what was the most useful present you received?

[Sushipaws]

My Step Brother and his wife had a baby boy last night. Since he was born in the States his birthday will be yesterday but it was after midnight here so we're going to give him 2 birthdays.

He arrived 4 weeks early as his mummy had pre-eclampsia, poor thing, but he was 8lbs, so if he'd gone full term he wouldv'e been huge.

His name is Sean.

I need ideas for a pressie, something small as I'm chipping in for a big family present for his christening too. I thought about a small Taggies blanket, but I think she might have bought one already.

What was the most useful present your dc received?

Apart from the larger items that close relatives bought, ds received tons of clothes, vouchers, money, teddy bears (11 in total), etc. I think the most useful gifts were clothes in a couple of sizes larger - e.g. 3-6 months and 6-12 months as he had so much newborn stuff that I don't think he wore most of it.

The most well-received gift was a bottle of champagne - for me obviously .

Bit tricky to send to the States, but the best pressie we had was a friend arriving with dinner all ready, and an afternoon of general helping out (incl vacuuming, washing dishes..)Brill.

We really appreciated champagne too.

Most useful... something small... bibs? Hat? Booties?

I would love to go and help them, but I can't afford to go over and visit.

I don't think I'll send champers, she is intending to bf and is very strict about drinking while bf'ing. She told me I was harming my dd when I had a wee Guiness while I was bf'ing.

So......clothes for a bit older it seems. May have to take a trip to Nippers.

the most useful thing we had when ds was little was a vibrating bouncy chair (they prob already have one) but the 2nd best thing was a black and white cloth book and a growbag. Have you considered buying something from amazon.com then you can have it shipped straight to them in the US. Though not as much fun as looking at all the lovely baby things in the shops

For the new Mum (and Dad!) a Baby Feed Wheel

an actual blanket (not a taggie)

Gap socks (they stay on where others fail)

THe most useful present I got was a huge wad of Mothercare vouchers - don't know if Mothercare is in the states but presumably there's some sort of equivalent. Otherwise, hats socks and mittens as these are the things that are forever dropping off and getting lost.

dh's sister got dd a wee cashmere hat which was used everyday and i adored.

i'm with madamez. boots vouchers, great for lotions, potions, car screens, hats or any other can't live without and have to have expense.

Best for baby was a steiff comforter and best for me decleor prolegene gel

My best present was groceries being delivered to my door! I would suggest vouchers...

A grobag?

I would agree with the Grobag idea. I've a feeling they don't have them in the US so this would be a great gift.

We got a small sheepskin thingey (I think there's a name for the ones designed for babies) - it might be a bit chunky to send to the states, but we used it so much - in the pram, in the cot, on holiday - and it's quite unusual.

Hmm, probably the best suggestion I can come up with are the Baby Gap socks, they really do stay on! And a Grobag to sleep in, the one that has the poppers under the arms so they can wear it straight away!

Sleepy Bear! Makes womb noises when it hears crying. Quite big the US - so she might already have one. Will try to find link - worked with both my boys and they still have them now - but wothout the noise thingy.

www.princelionheart.com/site/n_bc_0016.html

i always appreciated clothes for them to grow into ... seem to get lots of first born, but later clothes always appreciated more.

Wow, loads of good ideas.

I love the idea of a cashmear hat or a grobag.

Thanks all

check out the brora sale for cashmere hats! (so excited you liked my idea)

a nappy changing travel thing

as random as it sounds, i got a few packets of nappies as lil fillers along with a blanket or teddy etc for my son. so something to keep and something sooooooo useful. I know it sounds strange but in those early days using so many nappies it helped to know i had a few less packets to buy.

We received loads of lovely clothes, all next size up. 3-6 months, but no newborn stuff at all! Think everyone had the same idea, so we had to buy Max lots of newborn stuff just so he had something to wear! Be careful if buying stuff too big, as remember the weather will change. We had loads of winter stuff, but by the time it fitted it was the middle of summer x

The Raggytags on here are gorgeous and very light to post raggytags

Don't forget the mum - some nice handcream maybe?(remember the days of all that hand-washing?)