What to put in a box for new parents-to-be?

[FlukeSkyeRunner]

I'm going to make up a box of goodies for a friend whose baby is due in the next few weeks. It's seems such as long time ago that I had my children - what shall I put in the box? I thought muslin squares, hand sanitizer, breast pads, hot chocolate, an insulated mug... What else would be nice? Thanks in advance

Wet wipes.

Depending your budget this works does a power nap pillow spray maybe that and an eye mask for catching those precious moments of sleep

A good water bottle , the Joseph Joseph dot doesn't leak

Bamboo breast pads are lovely and so much more comfortable than the sticky plasticy disposible ones, you can easily find them on ebay. I know reusable are not for everyone but given that breast milk doesn't have the yuck factor I'd assume most people would be happy with them.

Chocolate or biscuits will always be a hit.

Bibs... I seem to have to constantly wash mine so I have some ready for the next day!
Nappies but size 2, DD seemed to grow overnight and I wasn’t prepared.
A bit random, but my friend bought me a mini watering can for the bath and I’ve found it invaluable, definitely helped with the hair washing when she was tiny and I didn’t have enough hands. Now she’s 4 months we still use it for washing but it’s become a toy as well.

thermos mug that doesn't leak. baby medicines : Calpol, Nurofen, metanium nappy cream, Calpol vapour plug ins.

Waitrose Bum Butter if they still do it...? It's great for Mum and baby and smells delicious.
Chocolate
A tiny hat - not sure of budget but the tiny hats I had from people really got used and we keep them in a memory box now.
Stroop Waffles - for when the other yummy mummies come to visit - for some reason we all seemed to eat these on baby meet ups?!😆

Several tubes of nice handcream. All that obsessive 'parents of a newborn' handwashing/sanitising is really harsh.

Good hand cream, chocolate, decaf coffee.

Baby nail files....new parents don't realise how sharp nails can be. You can get ones that go on your thumb

Nice anti bac hand wash

A written little voucher to baby sit, so they can have a day/night off..while you get to snuggle a lovely little baby ❤
It's a win win 😊

Mini white noise machine, marpac hush was a good one.

A homemade lasagne or similar for the fridge / freezer

Babysitting / watching voucher if you are comfortable with that, my sis in law made me five hold the baby vouchers, very sweet idea, as just coming round in those early days for an hour and watching the baby while I took a shower was very helpful.

Some of those throw away nappy changing pads, very useful for going out with.

Eye drops to soothe parents tired eyes.

Why not Google Scottish baby boxes? There'll be some good ideas there I'm sure.

My friend went to a charity shop and bought me loads of books. Crime ones for me, random rhyming ones for DS, funny ones, parenting ones (one was a 1960s parenting book which was just funny), and some light romcom type books. I'm not a big talker and I had been panicking that DS would never learn to speak because there were some days I swear I only realised in the afternoon that I hadn't said a word to him all day! I thought everything in my head but never vocalised it. The books were so I could read them out loud to DS, the crime ones were for when he was napping (usually on me) so I had something to do without disturbing him.
It was such a random gift but so, so valuable to me. I'm going to do this for all my friends

Great ideas, thank you, keep them coming!

Posh moisturising shower gel.
Colab dry hair shampoo.
Just cook vouchers or homemade dinner.

Oh the little plaster cast kits..can get then really cheap, and they always have castings of how small the babies feet and hands were ❤ two little mugs, one for mummy and one for daddy..
Sorry I'm thinking more sentimental, than practical!!

You seem like such a nice thoughtful friend, I hope you are appreciated ❤

Someone made us a box of essentials such as baby Johnston's wash items, size 2 nappies, nappy creams, nasal drops, teething powders. All practical stuff for baby which we have used! Along with socks, teddy and blanket for baby. Was a really brilliant gift and probably cost a fortune!

Maybe a just eat/ deliveroo voucher print out?

Chocolate. So much chocolate!

Maybe something like the New Dad's Survival Guide by Rob Kemp for dad?

Some ear plugs for whoever is managing to get a few hours sleep at any point.

Absolutely the best thing we bought was a light projector. We got the "moredig" one from Amazon (and have bought all our friends with newborns one as a gift ever since!)

Pressed send too soon.

Baby loved (loves!) the light projector. It rotates too and when he's having an unholy shit fit (teething and sleep regression going on currently) it calms him right down. We also have it on non-rotate at night with the red light, it's just enough light to be able to see him to check on him but as it's red light it's not intrusive when you're sleeping

Oh and the Wonder Weeks book. That's a sanity saver!

Sock on’s have probably been our most used baby gift! We also had baby milestone cards which have been nice to do photos/section photo albums.
Pain killers (paracetamol and ibuprofen) you can’t have enough and maybe maternity towels as an emergency back up. I found I’d not realise I’d ran out and have to send someone to get some

A good lip balm and some nipple cream.