What do I get?

[alwaysblonde]

I have been nominated by my team at work to buy a baby shower present for one of my team members at work whose wife is due to have a baby any day.

However, despite being 5 months pregnant myself, I have little idea (apart from clothes) what to buy. I've got a budget of £100.

Any suggestions at all?

We just did this today for a colleague.

We bought

A baby carrier
Mum to be massage
An item of clothing
A baby sleeping bag
And a taggy toy.

We also had cakes and nibbles :) was a nice afternoon together!

I've recently had second baby. From both mine and DH colleagues we received a token gift - nicely gift wrapped baby comforter and the remainder as vouchers. I really appreciated the vouchers to buy expensive things we needed.

They probably have all the major stuff and will get a mountain if clothes.

What about a Jumperoo for when its six months plus (£75 ish) and £25 on a really nice Pram Blanket.

We got the jumperoo with our vouchers.

I'd say if the baby in question is due any day now they will probably have already got all the essentials for a newborn. I agree therefore with getting something for when the baby is slightly older (maybe some winter clothes for when baby is 6 months old and the weather is cold)? Also maybe some packs of newborn nappies, as I'm sure that's the one thing they probably need lots more of! Any money leftover I'd probably give as vouchers or buy something nice for the new parents (a photo frame to put a picture of the baby in maybe)? x

Something for when baby is older - you get tonnes of stuff for newborn, but nothing for later. So 6-9 or 9-12 month clothes perhaps? Other useful things we got were:

• giant tub of sudocrem (still using it, 20 months later!)
• towels (still in use, can never have too many!)
• sippy cups (£1 Tommy tippee ones are fab) for weaning
• a weaning 'plate' that had suckers on the bottom to stick it to the tray of the high chair.
• a teething ring/toy. Teething creeps up on you and suddenly you have a crying baby and haven't thought to buy anything for it!
• Calpol (for similar reasons to the above!).
• basic books (That's not my tractor/penguin/dog....)

I wouldn't buy nappies/bath stuff because babies can have sensitive skin, and where one baby will react to Johnson's, another will react to Tesco's own, or to Pampers nappies, or....

Thats all amazing stuff, thank you very much!

I could buy things that bronya suggested and make it into a nappy cake thing for the baby shower.

I have seen some very lovely clothes on the gap website so I'll get something perhaps for autumn/winter for them.

'The day that' photo or Cook vouchers or John Lewis with a token gift of a pram blanket.

My work asked me what I wanted. I said something really boring that I don't want to spend my own money on! They got me a brilliant baby monitor and a huge bunch of flowers... Plus John Lewis vouchers. Very spoilt. I'm so glad they paid for the monitor. I much prefer spending my money on fun things like clothes and nursery decor

In fact I have a rule when it comes to buying baby/new mum gifts. I buy all the practical things that are really annoying to buy yourself... Muslin cloths, nipple guards, breast pads, change mat, nappy bag, thermos... That type of thing lol. Although I wouldn't recommend anything too personal for an office gift.

I would just be a bit careful buying seasonal clothes in bigger sizes. A few people did this for DD and she is massive so they so far have only fit in the wrong season (e.g. she has a long sleeved thick cord dress that just fits her now it's nearly summer, and had a gorgeous short-legged romper that she grew out of about two months ago). Just get things that can be worn in any season!

Sock-ons are good too (£6 for a set of two pairs from mothercare, in two sizes 0-6 months and 6-12 months - they go on over socks to keep them on when baby is moving but not old enough for shoes yet. You spend most of the first year hunting the missing sock, as babies like to pull them off, kick them off and generally dispose of them!!!).

One of those little food processors for when they start doing solids. Easy just to chuck in a few tablespoons of what they are eating and zapping it. Mh brother said this was their best, and most unexpectedly useful, present.

When ds was born we were given by dh's work a personalised name painting with ds' name, dob & beautiful illustrations all done in watercolour. It was completely unexpected & a thoughtful & lovely gift.

Depends on when you want to present the gift though - if its for mum to be before she goes on maternity leave its obv not going to work! From my work I got some posh pampering products & a gorgeous hardback nursery rhyme book. We also got a hardback wind in the willows which was another lovely gift.

When is the shower, and who is actually going to it?

For a shower (as opposed to a baby present with no shower) then I think you would be better off getting small things to the number of people from work who are going (so no-one is empty handed). Shower means 'shower with gifts" so little and many (of the nice versions of things you need a lot of, so duplicates don't matter).

Basic non-seasonal clothes would be good. And pretty muslins.

Everyone wants to buy toys and clothes for baby presents because they are fun to shop for - especially grandparents and family, so you end up with loads of them. The problem with buying things that you only need one of (monitors, food processors etc) is that they may already have one, especially if they have family or friends with slightly older children, who have given them the baby things that they no longer need.

For me, the most useful presents were sheet sets and mattress protectors for the cot, and a toy box. Other suggestions would be a 'Baby Book' to record memories of baby's first year (although they may already have one), or maybe a gift voucher for a local photographer to have some nice professional photos done.

We basically have a party/buffet for everyone when they have a special occasion (e.g: weddings, going on mat leave and even for the dads when they have a baby). I work with the dad.

We do a collection whenever we have an event.

Im concerned that they will already have lots of stuff as he has been commenting on the amount of deliveries they have at home.

think buying little things that they will no doubt use would be a good thing. Was thinking of a diaper style cake but the more and more i think about it, perhaps I'll do a hamper.

A poddle pod? (You can get them on Amazon.)

I really like the idea of a mum to be massage. I would never spend money on something like that for myself and it would feel like a real treat.

When we collected (a lot!) of money for our manager I secretly texted her husband to ask if he had any ideas. He told us all the things they were planning to buy. I then let him know what we got so he could help discourage her from buying those items before the shower.

I agree with the idea of buying nappies, muslin cloths, basic baby grows etc, all presented beautifully somehow. You can be sure that will all get used.

And then there's the items that are a bit of a luxury but lovely to have, I really like the idea of the grow egg temperature monitor thing (not planning to buy one, but would love to be given it as a gift). I also really want a sling, but as it's not an 'essential' it's right down the bottom of the list.