Emergency Forster care - no gifts for baby

[BLUESEAPARADISE]

Hello all,

I have an emergency foster care placement , she is 6 months old and I have nothing for her for Christmas!

What would you recommend for a 6 month old that I can get easily .. slightly considered as it's so late In the month and We can't go out shopping, so something that we can get delivered before Xmas 😩

She arrived with nothing so it's extremely overwhelming looking at possibly things to get the little pumpkin... my truly amazing family have already gone out and got clothes for her but really need " fun" toy ideas that will make her feel involved , but not over whelming!

I am normally be very calm about this sort of thing but I think this current foster placement has caught me off guard so need someone to give me ideas!

Thankyou

No point getting a 6 month old gifts. Is there anything practical you need?

Emergency silver blanket and some light scarves for sensory play? Our DC loved those at that age.

Do you have amazon prime? If so I would just order some fun looking books, stacking rings, maybe a ball and ball pit if you can fit it? We got our ball pit and balls from Argos for about £15 when DD was that age.

Could you order a 'first Christmas 2017' bauble? You could make her a treasure basket with any baby proof items you have knocking around. There are some nice 'thats not my santa/reindeer' books too.

I would get her a cuddle day for Christmas and a nice warm pram sleeping bag so she isn't cold when you take her for a walk. Does she have hats and gloves for outdoors?

Just hold her tight and give her lots and lots of love. At this stage attachment is the best gift you can give.

Oh bless you OP. Thank goodness you’re there for her.

I would keep it simple so stuff like

• stacking cups
• a shape sorter of some kind
• a foil blanket
• something “musical” - a simple drum or xylophone

Do you have other children or can you keep Christmas very calm and low key? I expect it will be very overwhelming for her.

A baby gym or one of those sensory mats?

For my dd's first Xmas at a similar age, I got her a little fleece taggy blanket with her name embroidered on it.

marcine is right, a 6 month baby has no clue about Cristmas, and all she needs to "feel involved" is plenty of interaction.

Where are you op? I have a light up ball thingy that encourages crawling. I bought it for dd last year but she was given one just before.
If you are anywhere near us you are welcome to it. It’s too heavy to post.

@Marcine we have amazing family who rushed out to the local 24hour super market and stocked up on the essentials ( clothes, formula etc ) so at the moment I think we have everything we need as such and if we are missing anything it obviously isn't important and can wait until after Christmas...

We have our son however he really doesn't cope well with Christmas so will be low key anyway and using the time as an opportunity to try and bond with the LO, it won't be a huge Christmas but just want to get her a few things to "open" as she literally arrived with nothing and would love for her to have her " own things"

Thankyou so much for the ideas! I am going to get searching!

A taggie blanket. Will help with transition further down the line?

Some boxes covered with wrapping paper with a spoon in them is fine. It’s the unwrapping, the boxes..., and if you have a large box she can get in and out of ( make sure there are air holes) you will have bliss...

Cuddly toy (machine washable)
Touchy feel book
Bangy drum.

Amazon delivery is your friend x

The Tomy Hide 'n Squeak eggs get very good reviews. I've got a det for DD (9 months). The box says suitable from 6 months.
www.amazon.co.uk/Toomies-Hide-Squeak-Eggs-Preschool/dp/B00068Q7LC/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=tomy+hide+and+squeak+eggs&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1513690923&sr=8-1

I don't know how much you want to spend but the Morrck blankets are fantastic. I've just ordered the next size up for DD as a Christmas present. It is definitely in my top 5 of best baby buys (gutted they weren't around when I had DS!!). Saves all the faff of blanksts being kicked of in the pram etc.
www.morrck.co.uk/shop/all-season-baby-hoodie-size-2.html

This John Lewis baby blanket is lovely. It's so soft (and stays soft after washing) and dries really quickly.
www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-knitted-heart-pram-baby-blanket-pink/p230446199

A bath toy
www.amazon.co.uk/Nuby-Octopus-Floating-Bath-Multi-Coloured/dp/B008CDR7LW/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=bath+toys&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1513691324&sr=8-1

Most of all, have a lovely Christmas and thank you to you and your family for offering this little one a safe and secure home in which to spend her first Christmas.

Thankyou so much for all your lovely ideas!

We have decided to go with a teddy, a couple of books and a taggie .. some might not arrive in time but that's fine!

Like posters have said we really want to go careful not to overwhelm her but at the same time she is part of the family now .. Christmas will involve lots of interaction and quality time together!

Thankyou so much everyone .. Merry Christmas :D

I've got my three month old
Building Blocks
A dress
Dressing gown
Books
A rattle
Squeaky Eggs
A shape sorter
And some pink bottles

Hi OP, my baby loved stacking cups, mainly to knock over! and rattles she could chew on

Weaning bits - plates, bowls and bibs and a lovely blanket and Christmas outfit for when baby goes to contact / will really help you develop a good relatiinship with birth mum too!

If anyone can go to the shops for you then I would send them to Wilko as they have a lovely range of toys eg stacking cups, musical instruments, safari book etc.

Or get on amazon prime a buy a couple of books, stacking cups and look at galt toys.

The ‘That’s not my...’ books are really good at that age. My DS loves them!

Lovely thing your doing op, I'd get

Sophie the giraffe
Stacking cups
Stacking rings
Touchy feely books
Maybe a sensory basket with household things in

I would definitely say a ball pit. My DD loves a ball pit, she spent the whole first day we got it giggling
Sounds lovely, I hope you all have a great Christmas!

I have taught lots of LAC and the one thing I've always found they have in common is a lack of memories, photos, mementos etc. I would take photographs and make an album of baby's first Christmas. Perhaps a casting of their hand and foot? It will mean so much when they are older.