practical presents for newborn

[normanthehairdresser]

As my beautiful son parachuted into my life as a toddler I am very clueless about the baby stage.

However a close friend of mine is having a baby on March 16th. Sex unknown. They are short of money so I would like to buy a really useful present rather than the frivolous stuff that takes my fancy in the shops.

Another friend has suggested babygros but I can't find anything that isn't either blue or pink, and lots of weird garments labelled 'all in ones' or 'sleepsuits'.

So what would you have found a real practical godsend for a spring baby? Thoughts much appreciated!

My best friend made me a little basket with really practical things like nappy cream, infacol, cotton wool, wipes, first aid kit etc. It was great and I thought it was really thoughtful too.

I have done the basket thing too with practical things. I know its boring but a bag of nappy's always come in useful if you short of cash. Again a bit boring but you could ask them what they need, rather than duplicating something they may have loads of

What Feedthegoat said. Nappies are probably the most expensive thing she'll need most. You could sound her out re washable nappies too. What's the budget?? Supermarkets usually have great neutral babygrows, but she either might already have them or get them from other people.
Books and toys are 2 things I wish I'd got and went out and bought myself when most people bought baby clothes.
Baby blanket..gets used every day. In fact DS now 2.8 uses his still.

A V feeding cushion. Invaluable.

My favourite presents for my newborn were all of the edible variety... mostly chocolatey and for me .

or sleeping bags of different sizes. They needn't be the expensive Grobag ones, supermarkets do perfectly adequate ones too.

a voucher for Boots or Mothercare? A bit dull but you do need to go there a lot!

What about food/meals? Vouchers for the local takeaway? Saves valuable time in the chaos of the early days, one less thing to worry about. We got a big basket of lovely cheese and breads, all the cheeses I'd wanted but been unable to have while preg! Mmmm brie...

and a few Tiny Love toys - not perfect for absolute newborns, but great for diverting a few weeks on.
Depending on money, a baby bouncer?
Baby blankets I found really handy - I'd wrap dd up when I sat outside enjoying sunny days in Spring, to keep her warm and the sun off her skin.

if it helps babygros are now called sleepsuits for some bizarre reason . Maybe to guilt trip as into buying ridiculous outfits as well.

Taggie blanket/cuski, food for the parents, you can buy very cheap babygrows in all the supermarkets so not a great present IMO, toys a good bet.

If you can afford it, a baby gym is fab when they are a few weeks older and will lie in it for hours ten minutes while you put the tea on.

For clothes, Boots have nice ones which are not blue or pink.

It sounds very frivolous, but when I had DD one of the nicest things was that everyone brought us flowers and chocolates and it really made things festive and almost Christmassy (even though it was March!). So a nice bunch of daffs and a box of supermarket chocs would not go amiss as a pressie for your friend.

Light cotton shaped swaddling blanket, Grobag do them, invaluble with DD2. Just used a sheet with DD1 but the Grobag one was ace.

My DS was born March 16th

Things I found most useful were my wrap sling, little cardigans for the unpredictable spring/summer period, rompers suits for the very hot summer days and we couldn't really have too many lightweight blankets.

Nicest present I got was a pack of Champneys pampering goodies for me

a bouncy chair would be top of my list. I'd go for the most basic one possible (no vibrating, tunes to annoy everyone) and make sure it's easy to wash! It'll make the first 6 months so much easier for the parents.

The most useful and used thing we were given was 4 white towels. Not baby towels with hoods, but just ordinary white towels. We've used them for dd's bath every night for the last 4 years!

Have got a 4 week old myself

In terms of practical gifts,

• plain white vests and babygros with feet and ideally in-built scratch mitts - John Lewis do multipacks

• socks

• nappies (Huggies are best IMO)

• Cotton cellular blankets (felt wierd putting our newborn in a sleeping bag plus our hospital and MW recommended these type of blankets over sleeping bags). For the daytime naps though our newborn settles much better with a snuggly fleece blanket, although I don't use this for night time as natural fibres are best for regulating temperature.

You can't have too many blankets either as they get sicked on or grubby etc just like everything else and you just want to pull a fresh one out. Same for towels.

• Agree about the flowers and chocs, I got a box of Dairy Milk and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed getting proper chocs!

Next do some neutral babygros - and I like theirs best as they have the built-in scratch mitts that flip over their hands. Incredibly useful for my DS who has eczema so scratches till he bleeds if we're not careful, and of course has normal mitts off in seconds. We have dozens of babygros and yet just rotate the three Next ones we have and don't touch the others!

Sleeping bags are also great, though I don't think you can use them until the baby is 10lb.

Muslins I thought looked really expensive when pregnant so didn't buy any, just had a three-pack that was a present. Immediately after DS was born I realised my mistake, and was constantly washing those three until I could get hold of more, so that's a must-have!

Thank you everyone - am sure I will be able to choose some great gifts from all these ideas.

Glad I am not going mad re babygros/sleepsuits. I ended up in M&S with an armful of wriggling toddler chuntering 'Mummy ... mummy', asking the assistant what babygros were like!

Thanks again and I hope to be able to give my friend a happy March 16th now

Totally second Rhian's post re muslins. We went through loads of muslins with our dc and my mum still uses the ones she used when I was a kid now, for mopping up spillages around the house. If you're desperate and out of nappies and have a few liners/nappy pins (or nippas) lying about they can also double up as an impromtu nappy.

What does your friend think about washable nappies? If they can be bothered washing them it does make life much cheaper!!

Can I also say what a lovely friend you sound - so thoughtful for you to be putting this much effort into your friend's birth present.

You need to know what they already have really.

Nothing is a bargain if thy already have it.

Do you know where they shop? Tesco / Sainsburys vouchers would be useful as they could buy anything baby related there (nappies, clothes, nappy rash cream or whatever).

Also I would highly recommend taking them a meal. There is nothing nicer than a home cooked meal that you have not had to prepare in the early days and weeks of having a baby.

I usually buy clothes for 3-6 or 6-9 months. Plain practical stuff (and usually a party dress if it a little girl as I only have sons).