*collaborative post
I remember my first friend to have a baby & being totally clueless about what to buy her or the baby. I didn’t have any kids yet myself & as such, I had no experience on what would make a useful gift. When her baby was born I bought her a dress. When I look back on it now it probably wasn’t the best gift. It was most likely the wrong season & size.
When we had our first child we received soooo many gifts. I was overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity. Neighbours I have literally never met were sending gifts to us via my mother in law. It was so very kind of them. The only trouble was that every gift was the same – an outfit sized 0-3 months old. They were gorgeous little outfits like overalls or jeans & button-down shirts.
My son didn’t wear 90% of those clothes. He was 9lb 4oz at birth. He grew out of 0-3-month-old clothing at around 1-month-old. I liked keeping him in comfy onesies & babygrows so I didn’t bother dressing him up in outfits.
The experience of having three kids has taught me that I for one don’t dress babies up in outfits – there is no point. I didn’t dress any of our 3 kids up in outfits unless we were going out somewhere for an occasion of some kind.
So my advice to anyone looking to buy a gift for their friend who’s had a baby is: don’t buy 0-3 month clothing of any kind. She has already bought some bits that will do the baby just fine for the first few months. And, don’t buy any outfits smaller than 6-9 month.
Here are my favorite baby pressies to give & receive:
Clothing sized 6-9 months & larger. It’s so nice to have clothes in the closet to pull out when baby moves up a size. Remember to consider what season it will be in six months time.
100% Cotton clothing
Sippy Cups
Teethers
Hooded towels
Bath toys
A jacket or coat aged 12 – 18 months
A blanket personalized with the child’s name & date of birth.
Bibs, wipes, nappies, powder, cream etc. You can’t have enough of those items.
More Gift Ideas
Things for the older sibling(s) if there are any. My favorite is a DVD – it keeps the older kiddies happily distracted for a little while. Definitely, no toys that make noise or a mess. This is a critical point.
Things for the new mom! Lovely items for her include fluffy slippers, a voucher to where she gets her hair done (for when she’s ready to go out into the world again), flowers & chocolates. You can’t go wrong with any of these.
There are more great gift ideas & funny stories about what not to give over on George.
If you have wonderful friends that buy you a pile of gorgeous baby clothes aged 0-3, then keep those tags on & exchange for bigger sizes in clothes you will use. I learned this the hard way & it’s what I did when our second & third children were born. I was able to get months of clothing for them in various sizes that way.
Do you have any tips to add? Or any gifts you were given that were wasted?
