I’m looking for a gift for my SIL.
What gift did you most appreciate or use when you had a newborn?
When my SIL had her first baby I got her a spa gift card for some pampering! I gave it to her while she was still pregnant for a [name_f]Mama[/name_f] specific spa.
Otherwise I just got her some practical onesies and sleeper in larger sizes, sleep sacks are also great! There’s also no harm in asking what they need or don’t have yet but want! I think that’s more appreciated by new parents than just a bunch of things.
Honestly, giftcards. We didn’t have a baby shower but several friends gave us clothes. I could’ve clothed a dozen babies…he didn’t wear most of it. Clothes are nice and I 100% appreciate that people went through the clothes that their own babies wore to help us out but I quickly learned that everyone gives you clothes…
Meanwhile, we hit on hard times around the birth and those gift cards were the only way we were able to get some necessities.
[name_f]My[/name_f] other suggestion would be wet/dry bags. They are seriously my favorite baby item ever! They typically get used for cloth diapers. One compartment is waterproof, which is perfect for soiled clothes, leaking bottles, bathing suits, etc…. They’re so nice to have as a little go bag of essentials or in place of a full diaper bag for short trips or whatever.
[name_m]Gold[/name_m] belly was a great gift! I didn’t have to think of a meal, got something amazing, and saved it for 2 occasions. 
Otherwise, food gift cards or a muffin basket for the older kiddos to survive off of until things settle down 
For me it was the ‘boring’ stuff like diapering, changing pad liners, or things that were sampler packs or different varieties to try (diaper sampler packs or bottle sampler packs, or several different types of swaddles) all of the basics. And of course if she has a registry anything off of that.
Having had a baby now, what [name_u]Ive[/name_u] come to realize is, the parents probably want to buy the ‘cute’ stuff like room decor, clothes, toys etc. So if you buy them the basics that everyone needs (diapers/swaddles/wipes/bottles) it leaves them the funds to buy a few cute/special things for their baby. [name_u]Or[/name_u] the funds to try a few different types of things if something isnt working for them.
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This, absolutely. Some people tried so hard to give me thoughtful and/or practical gifts, and the effort is always appreciated, but honestly… Just buy a gift card. That way the parent can decide for themselves what they still need, instead of ending up with a bunch of stuff that’s just not useful.
A gift card for a spa as @Kibby suggested is a great idea as well.
I agree with food. When I had my twins my husband’s workmates got us a voucher for a meal delivery service. That was amazing! I also appreciated other friends who dropped off cooked meals for us (they organised a roster).
Otherwise, for baby stuff, I appreciated everything, of course, but the best things were the items for older babies. Plates, water bottles, cutlery … that kind of thing … it was nice not to have to go out and buy them when it came time for weaning. Also, clothes in bigger sizes (appropriate for the season) were better than newborn stuff that they grew out of quickly. Oh, and nice towels for bathtime!
If I’d been given a gift card for a spa or similar after my bubs were born, I honestly wouldn’t have been able to use it until they were like 2 or 3 … I had velcro babies who would not let me put them down without screaming - they would never go to anyone else. So it’s a lovely idea but might not work for everyone and might be a better gift once baby is born and you know if they’re able to leave them to take a break.
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I’m just coming out of the newborn stage with my son so this is still very fresh. I think it does depend to some extent on how close you are to the person you’re gifting to because some gifts assume specific parenting choices but may be the more helpful than generic gifts.
For instance, I found that friends and family we don’t see very often tended to gift us blankets, face towels, teddy bears and newborn clothes and bibs. We didn’t have any conversations about gifts with this group so while we appreciated the items we also accumulated a lot more than we needed in these categories.
We felt comfortable openly discussing our list with our parents so they were able to help with some of the necessities we hadn’t already bought ourselves. For us this included cloth nappies but for someone else disposable nappies might be more useful. This is why I think it depends on your relationship and whether you want to discuss specific items or surprise them.
I would say my favourite gift was a super comfortable nursing jumper from a friend. It just wasn’t on my radar to get anything like that so it was truly a lovely surprise. I’ve used it a lot. In the same vein, the other gifts I appreciated were hydrogel discs for breastfeeding discomfort for the early weeks.
I also wanted to add that the best support from anyone has been home cooked meals from friends and family when they’ve come to visit the baby. That support has been invaluable. Nutritious food in the post partum period is so important for recovery. Refrigerated baked snacks have been great as well for between meals.
Help with things. Doing the dishes, doing the laundry, cutting the grass, bringing over dinner. If you could start a meal train for the first few weeks or even months that they’re home I bet she would love that. I didn’t really need a lot of STUFF. But I needed a lot of help with things around the house I couldn’t keep up with.
Also just someone to talk to. Text and check in and ask how she’s doing. When I was up late at night feeding the baby I wished I had someone to just chat with and know they were thinking of me.
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Not a mom (yet), but my brother and SIL are. [name_f]My[/name_f] brother cooked once a week for most everything, and then warmed it up throughout the week while the kids were babies (2 boys 2 years apart). A gift I gave them recently would have been a big help back then (and is today). What I gave them is something called a Hot Logic. It’s a mini oven of sorts where someone can put in a covered dish of food (including entire meals) for a few hours and the food never overcooks. Families, seniors and workers (including those that travel for work) love it because it is easy enough to use and getting meals doesn’t necessarily mean fast food or frozen prepackaged meals. In my family, we use two minis often, but also have a 9x13 family size for more dishes or larger meals.
I got a couple of Next gift cards and they were great, ended up buying a load of larger size baby clothes in the sales so they went quite a long way and were handy when he outgrew the newborn stuff we were given and I was still on rubbish maternity pay so trying to make money go further.
Also appreciated useful gifts like a sleepbag, nappies, nappy cream etc, and also larger size clothes than just the newborn stuff.
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