My sister is expecting, and I’ve knitted some baby clothes for the lil’ spud which I’ll be shipping off soon, and I thought it would be cute to include some gifts for the new parents, too.
So far I’ve come up with:
Morning Thunder, black tea and yerba mate, my favorite lack-of-sleep compensator. (I’m not sure if sis will be breastfeeding, but I’m sure my BIL will appreciate it.)
A long-distance calling card, for calls to the new grandmas for advice, and maybe the occasional call to me, too.
And, er, after that, I’m stumped. So, calling all moms and dads: Are there any little things that you would have liked as new parents?
A real sexy nightie for Mom. Seriously, after months of feeling like a blimp and/or a beached whale, something to make one feel like like a lover again is nice. Also makes a nice “gift” for dad.
If you live near enough, a “coupon” good for one night’s (or day’s) babysitting.
My new-parent pals have one thing in common right after the Blessed Event: They’re too groggy to do any kind of elaborate food prep. A smoked turkey or a honey-baked ham could do a lot to uncomplicate their lives during that first week or so. Maybe a fruit basket, too.
A copy of your favorite picture book as a child to your future neice or nephew will be a welcome gift. Gift certificate for a book store.
Write a letter to the baby about your sister and the funny things you two did as kids and whatnot. Telling stories that humanize her as a girl. PUt it in a sealed envelope for reading in the future.
A bottle of wine that can be put away for a future date.
After the baby is born, you could buy her/him one stock in some company. That would be fun. Or contribute a few bucks into child’s starter IRA or College fund.
A disposable camera and maybe a gift certificate to get it developed. Hand lotion/and or hand sanitizer for parents that are super cautious about germs. A cute home made sign to put on their door requesting “Please do not ring doorbell, sleeping baby in the house” or something along those lines that they can keep. A bottle of stain remover for clothes. And a good book is “What to expect the first year” and “What to expect the toddler years”. It answers some questions that parents may be too embarrassed to ask.
Your profile doesn’t mention where you are so I’ll assume you’re an American.
Go to Wal-Mart and buy a couple of packs (or more) of the cheapest dish towels you can find. The plainer they look and the cheaper they are, the better.
See, babies throw up a LOT. It’s good if you have things around for them to throw up on. Mom and Dad can keep a dish towel on/near them (shoulders are a good place to put one) while holding the Squirt and should the baby pull an Exorcist moment, no problem. If for whatever reason the dishtowel gets too nasty to salvage, they can just throw it away. We did this when LilSnoopy was born and it was awesome.
They will use those things several times a day and bless your name every time they do.
If you live close enough, I cannot stress the importance of a night of uninterrupted sleep for the new parents. Even if you could spend the night at THEIR house and volunteer to handle baby duty overnight, it’d be much appreciated. The sleep deprivation is just awful at the beginning, especially for the new mommy.
With winter coming up a bunch of little socks might be cool. Baby socks get lost really easily (the dryer eats them) and in cold weather those little feet have got to be covered at all times.
We may not agree on other things, but this is a really nice idea. A gift card to a local restaurant or a month’s worth of diaper service are all good things too.
And Burt’s Bees has the yummiest smelling, best baby stuff ever. You could get them one of their little sample packs.
You say “shipping off…” so I’ll assume you’re not geographically close, but you and some friends/family, could chip in for a Molly Maid type housecleaning service–if they are the types to care that their grout likely won’t see a sponge for the next year otherwise. As it is, I always find better things to do than scrub the grout, and I don’t have near such an “awwww…”-worthy excuse.
For the parents I’d suggest a gift certificate to someplace that delivers dinner.
Dishtowels can be a little rough… we use cloth diapers around here… we call em bubba rags Walmart has them in the munchkin section. Also since they are new parents and you’ll be in walmart anyway get them a little bottle of simethocone (sp) the generic version of the baby gas relief drops.
If you’re going to get baby socks also get a lingere bag. Keeps all the baby socks/mittens/hats from being sucked up by the dryer monster.
My new parent gift is a laundry basket filled with all the things I either didn’t know I needed until someone gave them to me or the things I ran out of at 2:00 am when the munchkin was small.
A gift certificate to a restaurant near them would be great! It would remind them to spoil themselves a little bit (something new parents don’t do enough of, especially if it’s their first baby).
Morning Thunder tea is an excellent choice! This is what hubby drinks for his caffeine fix (he doesn’t like coffee). Of course, if your folks do like coffee, one of those packages with assorted coffee flavors (enough in each packet to make one pot) would be nice; goes along with the spoiling themselves, plus it’s easy cuz it’s premeasured.
I’ll second the larger size of clothing. All my kids were 9 pounds plus, and outgrew the newborn clothes really quickly. My third (and last) child was 2 ounces shy of 12 pounds! She never wore newborn anything!
Prepared food is always a great idea, as is an offer to come over and watch the new baby whie Mom and Dad get some shut eye. Offer to clean up, throw a load of laundry in, do the dishes, cut the grass, etc. Anything at all so that Mom and Dad can SLEEEEEPPPPPP.
I hear ya, norinew! My babies ranged in size from 8 lb, 15.5 oz to 12 lb, 2 1/4 oz. and they quickly outgrew the smallest sizes (my smallest baby was the only one to even wear newborn diapers–and only while she was in the hospital!)
Diapers are always good. After all, babies go through approximately 1,000 of them per week! As noted above, larger sizes are better in case they have a big baby. If they don’t, they’ll get to that size sooner or later! Or you can give gift certificates to department stores so they can choose what they need!
If the mother plans to breastfeed, there are several items you may want to consider. A nursing pillow (I wish I’d known about these things a lot earlier) helps Mom support the baby when feeding. A nursing sling also helps in this regard. And for the mother who needs to nurse the baby in public, but wishes to be discreet, there are nursing blankets. This is a lightweight blanket that is somewhat seashell shaped with a weighted “tail” that goes over the shoulder.
Chocolate anything–this is a new mom’s Valium!
An insulated sports bottle–if Mom breastfeeds, she will need to stay hydrated and it helps to have something close at hand. Dad might like a flask!
Oh, and the calling card is a great idea. I started getting them for parents-to-be so that calling everybody with the big announcement wouldn’t have to be an added expense.
A qualifier: no chocolate if mom is breastfeeding. Seems like I heard that something in chocolate hurts the baby. Maybe someone who nursed their kids can explain better.
The absolute best gift you can give is a gift card to let the parents choose what they need.
I can’t tell you how many well-meaning people gave us gifts that we couldn’t use. Clothes that were seasonally-inappropriate (shortsets that fit in January, for example), diapers and clothes that didn’t fit, (Note to the non-parents: Just because a baby is nine months old doesn’t mean he wears size nine-month clothes. Aaron was in 12 month at that point.) baby products he reacted to, and that sort of thing. I feel bad not using it, but we can’t.
If you do give something tangible, buy it through a national retailer, or somewhere online with a friendly return policy so that the item can be returned or exchanged if need be.
I laugh when people buy clothes for my kid… she’s 28 months old and wears a size 5T.
Everybody likes to buy the cute/cool stuff for gifts… well my house isn’t that big and I have enough toys for 6 kids and enough knicky knacky things to start my own gift shop. When people would ask what I needed/wanted I’d answer formula and diapers! Not glamorous but necessary… thats why my baby gifts have become a lot more practical!
diapers/wipes, anti gas drops, burp cloths, changing pads, soothing baby bath and vicks vapo baby bath, wash cloths and towels and stuff like that…
These things actually go together. Simethicone was something I didn’t know I needed until I needed it! Nothing like driving to the drugstore all bleary-eyed with the screaming tot, taking him into the store and dosing him with the drops right then and there. He stopped crying before we made it out of the store! Also, throw in some baby ibuprofen. You always need that! And some CDs of soothing music. Donette is 18 months old and he still loves to hear the music as he drifts off to sleep.
Walmart has them in the munchkin section. Also since they are new parents and you’ll be in walmart anyway 
get them a little bottle of simethocone (sp) the generic version of the baby gas relief drops.