Gift ideas for a new mom?

[kate1482]

One of my best friends is due this Monday. Any gifts that you received that you really liked? I have no idea what to get- something for her? the baby? food delivery? She is the first to have a baby in my group of friends so I don't have that much experience in that area yet. (We are all 30 so I have feeling this will be the first of many babies in our future lol)

Thanks for your help!

[speckledfrog]

Food is always appreciated.

[Ashley&Scott]

Food is pretty awesome, there's not much time to cook in the beginning. Things that can be eaten with one hand are even better.

[arch01]

We didn't have anyone bring us food (no one offered)... if you aren't wanting to do food, our best gift that wasn't a baby item was movie tickets. We don't go to movies much, and this specific person knew MIL would be around to babysit, so we got a date night.

Otherwise, GCs to restaurants (particularly with drive thrus or to go windows), a grocery store that has pick up, and items off the registry. After the number of gifts that we got that weren't on the registry and we had to deal with returns and stuff, I will never again buy something that isn't on a registry (clothing included).

We didn't have an issue with cooking at the beginning, we had stocked up on convenience foods, I had made a number of freezer meals, and DH loves to cook. We alternated nights-he cooked one while I took care of DS, then vice versa. Just throwing it out there that there are other options for gifts.

[justjen]

We only had one friend bring us food, but it was amazing. A giant tray of lasagna and a big tin of homemade cookies. We loved it.

To be honest, I also loved getting gift cards. I love knowing stuff we'll need in the future is already covered.

As for an actual gift, one friend got us this amazing overnight bag. It has all these separate little bags inside that are labeled for clean clothes, dirty clothes, socks, sleepwear, medicine, etc. it made us so much more organized on our first overnight trip.

[nannersp]

Ditto the food. I had some girlfriends come visit & they brought my fav pizza with them. (We planned ahead so we knew to expect dinner.)

[Deleted]

My dream gift right now is someone to come clean my house. Could you get her a gift card to a housecleaning service?

[Deleted]

Food, coffee g/c, I really like my "mom" jewellery (I have a Teething Bling and a Smart Mom necklace and wore them both tons - baby can't break them). If you're really good friends, clean something when you visit (even just take out some trash or give the kitchen/bathroom a quick wipe or move some laundry along).

[galaxy8227]

I had a friend come over, cooked dinner, took care of DS while we ate, and then cleaned up the kitchen and did 2 loads of laundry for us. It was fantastic! Plus I got to catch up on some gossip too!

[nannersp]

If you know your friend is planning to nurse, I just read this blog post that had a GREAT gift idea:

www.thebohomama.com/2012/10/day-13-nursing-basket-31-days-of-making.html

[Deleted]

Similar to the nursing basket, a friend gave me a bag with big pads, witch hazel pads, wipes, hemorrhoid cream, chapstick for dry lips during delivery, hard candy for sucking on during delivery. I'm hoping to use them in the next few days.

Coworkers also got me a mani/pedi and I almost cried. I've so been neglecting my own pampering and it was needed more than they realized.

[froggy76]

My coworkers had Panera delivered to my house and it was AWESOME. They thought we had a lot of family visiting, so it was a huge catering order, but it was just DH and I, so we ate it all

[6fsn]

An edible arrangement, gift cards, or a cleaning service.

[dancingirl21]

I got my friend an amazon books gift card. My SIL breastfed and said reading books on her iPad was all she did while baby nursed.

[kate1482]

Thank you so much for all the great ideas!

One more question for you- when were you comfortable having guests visit you to see the new baby? (Quick visit just to say hi with no expectation of being 'hosted'). 4 weeks? Longer? I just don't want to be annoying while they are settling in as a family.

[grk2012]

Oooh thanks for these ideas! My sis has a 2-week-old and my parents are going home tomorrow after helping the whole time. I'll have Panera sent over for their dinner.

[justjen]

Oct 14, 2012 16:33:28 GMT -5 kate1482 said:

Thank you so much for all the great ideas!

One more question for you- when were you comfortable having guests visit you to see the new baby? (Quick visit just to say hi with no expectation of being 'hosted'). 4 weeks? Longer? I just don't want to be annoying while they are settling in as a family.

Right away. As long as people understood my place might be messy and the baby might spend most of the visit under the nursing cover, they were welcome.

[MadamePresident]

Visitors are nice, because we like to show off the baby. I don't dress up or clean the house. I have really loved the fact that people have been bringing us food. Its so nice to not have to worry about cooking. The food in disposable containers is even better, because you don't have to worry about washing and returning the containers.

I don't think that one handed food is necessary, since I will set the baby down to eat. I do think a snack basket would be nice. Or Drinks. No one brings drinks and milk is the one thing we have had to run out to the store for on a few different occasions.