newborn gift for second time mum

[pigleychez]

My friend has just had her second baby. Another girl.

What can I get her as a gift? She has tons of stuff from her 2yr old daughter so im stuck for ideas.

Anything that would be useful as a mum with 2?
Any experiences?

As a mom with 2 girls and as someone who received very few things for baby no 2 as people thought well you have everything so why bother - I would have appreciated something special that the baby can keep - a lovely photo frame or something - not useful - something pretty and special.

I suggest that you get something small and cheap for the two year old as well as something for the baby. It will help to reduce jelousy from the two year old.

Are the girls exactly two years apart or are they born at different times of year? My son is a winter baby and my daughter is a spring baby. Many of the baby gros we had for my son are no use to my daughter because my son was in summer clothes at six months where as my daughter is going into winter clothes at 6 months. In fact we have had to buy quite a few baby clothes.

Babysitting voucher so she can have a nap? I would have loved that, far more than even more clothes which I don't need IYSWIM?

Flowers. No one bought me flowers second time round. First time round loads of flowers, so I got very upset that no one thought I needed flowers. I was very postnatal at the time and I would have got upset at almost anything, but I only had to think "No one bought me flowers" to make me howl.

Ditch the clothes. I really didn't need baby clothes. I needed a hug (and some bl**dy flowers).

a beautiful nappy cake?

lots practical goodies and some yummy things for mum too.

i got a beautiful (hand) knitted blanket - v useful and i didn;t get a million of them

another nice gift was a grobag (again only got one)

plus a dressing gown for DD when she is a year old

(DD born 5 weeks ago)

also, agree with reallytired - DS (3.5) got some pressies too and that was hugely appreciated by him and me

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I'm hoping someone gets us something like a baby book for our second - we filled one in for DD and I don't want DC2 to be left out. I figure things like stuffed toys might be good too so that DC2 has some nice things of their own.

When I had my second someone gave me a voucher for the local beautician, and I had a blissful facial.

When I had my second I still loved the little outfits. Even though I have 2 of the same sex they are in different seasons! There is nothing like putting your newborn is a cute new outfit or a cardie that someone has knitted!!!

what i get mums of girls is a pair of baby gap socks with matching chanel nailvarnish

A baby blanket is a good baby present as they tend to get old and knackered / beloved of the older child / get sicked on so having several is good. Washable cotton is best, mamas and papas have good ones or a brand called blabla that you can get online.

Chocs or bath soak for the mum.

I've just had my scan and found out we're expecting DD2. We're thrilled as there will be an 18 month age gap and our house is full of pink. (would have been equally as thrilled with a ds fwiw).

I sat last night and went through DD1's old clothes, 5 bin bags!! DD1 was autumn/winter baby, DD2 will be spring/summer baby. So from 5 bin bags I haven't even filled a bin bag with stuff we'll be keeping.

I'm hoping for some clothes then...

Interrupting kid, I love your idea!

Oh and I love the cleaner idea, my sister has a wee lady who does her ironing, I may hint for her to send her round. TBH I'm dreading ironing two lots of girls clothes, arghhh the frills!!!

I second the idea of blankets/grobags as they got used till they were threadbare in our house.

If they haven't already got one, how about a baby sling/carrier. Makes it easier to go to park etc and still run around with DD1 without having to worry about a pram?

Cake

I'm pregnant with no.2 and tbh I'd appreciate really nice babygros as we probably won't buy much ourselves seeing as we've got it all from ds - but I love new tiny clothes :)
also, a really lovely blanket is something I'll be buying for this one.

Haven't got DC2 yet but thinking about it and as I'm doing a major declutter it's leading to me to think about what I really want or need for a second. For me, it's more good quality muslins and burp cloths (current ones have seen a lot of use! but the upfront cost of these can actually be quite a lot), a nice blanket, sleeping bags, and a new sling/carrier (dreaming of Caboo atm). I'm also thinking about the toy thing - DS doesn't have lots, we didn't get many toys as gifts so everything has been chosen by us and he likes all of his stuff, so I would like a new toy for him or something similar to reduce jealousy over new things for baby/baby using his old toys.

What will be most valuable for me however, I think, would be to have someone close (maybe DGPs, if possible) to take DS out for the day every so often in the early days, so that DH and I can recover and spend some time with new DC alone and for DS to also get some one-on-one fun time outside of the house (if my first pospartum was anything to go by, I may not be going very far for a couple of weeks!). Then something in reverse so that I can also get some moments alone with DS, especially as a newborn will nap a lot, so perhaps to have someone here every so often to help with the baby and DS, DH and I could play at home or similar. These are the ideas I have floating around my head at the moment...

And washing. Laundry and dishes. I so would love someone to come and be able to help with these in the beginning.

I have 2 DDs and def really appreciated the few but lovely things dd2 was given. She is now 4 and loves her baby blanket, teddy bear etc that were 'just for me' as now all her clothes and toys are hand me downs- which is totally fine but it is nice to have few nice things that are just theirs! Dd1 was treated a lot on the arrival of her wee sis and loved it - esp things like a magazine x

New clothes are always welcome because the babygros don't wash and wear all that well, they go a bit stiff and bobbly after a couple of washes, so even if she has kept some things from her first baby they won't be new.

TBH I was a bit miffed that my DC2 didn't get much new in terms of clothes or gifts because everyone assumed I would already have everything, them being the same gender. It's still nice to have special things that aren't hand me downs :)

You can't go wrong with some pretty babygros, outfits are trickier unless you know if the Mum prefers skirts or leggings or tights etc on her baby DD... mine wore nothing but babygros for the first 6m, with the odd nice cardi popped over the top and/or a rare special occasion outfit (which I preferred to choose myself).

PS even the smallest gift for the eldest DD will go down really well, it's so nice when people remember your eldest especially when everyone has come to see the baby.

I still remember those who treated my DC1 to a little gift and I am sure it all helped contributed to the very positive way DC1 received DC2. :)

Stuff that doesn't stay nice for a second baby - muslins, face cloths, hooded towels. Or a special dress, its nice for dd2 to have things just for them. And cook her a meal :)

Cake faced Is it the norm to receive flowers as I was not bought any for dc1. I received, cards, gifts and a balloon but no flowers.

Get something lovely for the mother - flowers, chocolates, etc.

as the mother of 2 DDs 2 years apart - not toys, unless you bought the DC1 something very special ad you should do the same for DC2. i have loads of cuddley toys and bath toys and books etc from DC1.

I think nice outfit, even though all of DD1s clothes can fit DD2 and are the right season etc they are a bit tired so nice to have the odd new outfit

and little pressie for DD1

For a second child of the same sex & same season, I always go for a cutlery or crockery set as I know my DC1 will NOT share her "nice" ones with DC2 as they are hers and were gifts to her (she isn't possessive of toys, just these things). Otherwise, "nice" babygros (so not ones from a set of three) as DC2 spent much more time in babygros than DC1 did.
If getting something for DC1, do not get something which requires a parent (like a craft set). IMO, the present should be to distract the DC1 whilst mum is doing something with a baby. Having not been into TV much before the arrival of DC2, I really appreciated the DVDs which were given to DC1. They were generally given by the parents of two DC with an apologetic "I hope you don't mind..."

Lola - don't throw out all of the stuff until you know what size the baby is. DC1 was born on 75th centile & went up to 98th so was in clothes early. DC2 was born on 50th and dropped down to 30th. Technically, DC2 should be in 18-24mth stuff this winter but he'll fit nicely in the 12-18mth winter jumpers & snowsuit that DC1 had I her first winter when she was 9 - 12 mths.