****WHAT PRESENT TO GET A NEW MUM***

[Tiddler]

A friend of mine from work has just had her first child. I would like to buy something just for her, any ideas?

take her round a home cooked meal, a good book, some lovely smelly stuff for the bath and some expensive chocolates.

not what you meant??? erm ok how about a footspa thingy or a relaxation cd?

footspa id say... id have killed for one of those sitting for hours BFing DS!

She's never going to have time to use a footspa and the noise of the cd playing might wake the child especially if it's her first baby, nobody was allowed to breathe in my house when I had my first baby

I agree with the home cooked meal and book! She can read the book whilst feeding baby. How about doing some housework for her? putting a load of washing in even, or hanging some out.. oh that would have helped me loads in the first few weeks when I was snowed under with stuff!

Yeh, I hadn't thought of using the footspa whilst feeding!

deffo chocolates and bubbly stuff for the bath! maybe some candles to go with it if she likes that sort of thing!
one thing i really appreciated from my mum was a couple of new t-shirts, it was nice to have something new to wear that was'nt maternity clothes!

When i had my first child over 8 years ago, my parents got me one of those V pillows from john lewis.
It cost about £25 but is still in shape and has been used for all three children.
I also used it when the kids were learning to sit up, and it was used while feeding them.
One thing i really would've liked is for someone to sit and hold my baby (he was awful, cried all the time) so i could have a bath and a good sleep!!!!

We found that when people visited they wanted to hold the baby, leaving us to scurry round and entertain, and what I really wanted was time just to sit and hold him and bond. So....... the visitors who were the most welcome were those who brought a cake or something (so that we had something ready to offer them and then subsequent visitors), made their own tea (and one for me while they were at it) and then flicked the hoover around the living room. One friend sneaked upstairs and cleaned the bathroom and MIL, bless her, took the baby's washing home with her one night that first week and washed and ironed it all overnight ready to bring back the next day. Now THAT was a fab present!

If she's not a close enough friend that you feel comfortable doing any of that, I'd say definitely some chockies and some nice smellies.

Go and tidy her house up and do her pots.

what about this?

chocolate. Green and blacks for choice.

Or a lasagne you've made.

yes agree with kitbit, go round and tidy up/wash pots/hang washign on line, make your cuppa.

If you know her well enough that is.

My favourite guest (still, and my youngest is 3) is a pal who, after she and her chldren have been here for tea, washes up and even puts stuff away! I love it!

Good handcream. I was bought some as a new mum and it was invaluable; I hadn't thought about how often I'd have to wash my hands, and how dry and itchy they'd get as a consequence. If you can afford it, splash out on one she wouldn't buy herself, but if not, any would be lovely

Bets gift I had was a tin of cakes from a bakery. It had cup cakes, brownies etc and I could just give them to guests as they arrived. Brilliant!

Fab idea's ladies.. much appreciated.. Trouble with doing washing, cleaning etc, im actually 36wks myself, so that little bit hard at mo, can't even do my own.. .. ive decided on choc's and some good smellies..thanks again. !!

TBH I got fed up with fancy smellies. When does a new mum have the time to indulge in them, even if she doesn't have sore bits that don't allow her to use chemicals?

Good stuff to eat, whether home-made or bought, a good feeding cushion (my parents bought me a huge foam wedge cushion), a few hours cleaning, all far better than fancy smellies. Friends of my parents gave us a tiny silver tooth box, just big enough for a £1 coin. I've kept it safe and am looking forward to using it when our children start losing their milk teeth.

When ds was new a couple of friends came round with a 3-course home-made meal, dished it up, ate it with us and washed up afterwards. A wonderful gift!

this
If she lives around London you can get a basket, otherwise they'll send a tin. I got some from my (otherwise useless, but in a nice way !) SIL for DS1 and they were a life-saver. We didn't have time to sit and eat properly so it was great to get a quick and easy sugar rush!! PLUS it meant that when people popped in I had something to give them. AND you can freeze them, and they only take about 30mins to defrost!!!
I send them to all my new mum friends!
Mmmmmm.....can taste them now....yum yum!

When I was a new mum I got some aromatherapy revitalising shower yell I think by Tisserand. It was the one thing I had to do for myself (shower that is) and I could make it seem a bit indulgent and wake myself up in the process, the good thing was that the oils had anti-depressant qualities and helped fight the baby blues, nice lavender or teatree soap was also good (great healing properties for stitches) and I agree handcream is also a nice present.