My incredibly awesome boss from my old job just had a new baby. This is his third, and I believe, last kid. It’s a girl.
What’s a good gift that experienced parents want/need? Also, my boss left our old office and moved to Puerto Rico, so I’m mailing this to him. His next youngest kid is about 3 years old (also a girl) and he also has a teenager and a teenage step-son, so I know they probably have a lot of toys and books already.
Is it more appropriate to send a token baby gift and then send something more for him and his wife at this point? A nice wine basket or something?
This is one of the two people who wrote my recommendation and basically got me into b-school so I really want to send something nice.
At this point, they probably have all they need/want. If you don’t know what to get, I always suggest something unique. Try etsy.com. I’m serious. Works for me every time (just go based off of reviews).
Oh my, I don’t buy much from Etsy but when I get sucked in to looking at the stuff on there it’s like the hours fly by!
I remembered while I was looking through all those Etsy stores that he grew up in Carroll Gardens and is a HUGE fan of the Yankees…so as much as it pains me to be that person sending the baby yet another gimmicky gift…I’m going to get an I heart NY and Yankees onesies + an Etsy crochet baseball beanie for the new baby and send my boss and his wife either a bottle of wine or a bag of nice coffee (bet the coffee would be easier to ship).
But seriously, I think a nice adult gift that includes the mother would be appreciated by them both. I know it’s long-distance, but can you figure out a spa that’s nearby their house and send them a gift certificate for his-and-her massages? (to be gotten sequentially, rather than concurrently of course)
Dogger ( don’t know anything about the CD part of it though.)
I adore this book. This is for the 3 year old. The Apple Cake . If you do a kindness, it will come back to you. An unheard of great book.
My family goes for the very-traditional baby clothes, but not in “newborn” sizes, as most people will have too many of those; many babies will never wear a single newborn-sized item. 9-monther sizes in neutral colors (denim, white with multi-colored prints, yellow) have always been well-received.
We try to select clothing that will be easy to put on and take off (ideally, one-handed), shoes with velcro (not laces), and if it’s something that’s got multiple pieces they should be easy to mix’n’match with other clothing.
I think I linked to this in an earlier baby gift thread, but the Baby Briefcase is AWESOME. They will have a ton of paperwork coming home from the hospital and this is a great way to keep it all in one place: http://www.babybriefcase.com/
You can buy it on Amazon as well, I think.
Things you can never have too many of with a new baby: bibs, pacifiers, and burp cloths. A pack of Gerber cloth prefold diapers makes a great set of all-purpose burp cloths.
As a recent new-mom, I’d like to second the Itzbeen. Especially with two other kids to run after, it gets hard to remember when the baby was last fed/diapered/napped. I had one on my registry but nobody got it for me–I’m still wishing someone had (but too cheap to buy one myself).
You may also want to consider something that gets used up, like diapers or baby bath products or something. Most parents end up with piles of baby stuff that they are just dying to give away to the next person they know who gets knocked up but they will constantly need diapers, baby powder, baby bath soap, etc.