people who have just had babies - what gift did you most appreciate when you did?

you'd think I would know this after 15 years of knowing people who have babies but I find myself at a loss

she's quite serious and demure so probably not a £20 at wetherspoons while he looks after the kid

(ps they did try to make her wear a mask during the c-section...)

My wife has always been a fan of babyblooms.co.uk sock bouquets.

I mean its a bit of a WTF for me (though I suppose its kind of a combination of pretty, practical and low maintenance) but she got one and liked it so much it is her go to gift for others.

The absolute key - and OMFG I cannot emphasise this enough - is not to give something which is actually just another task for them to do.  So NO FLOWERS.  Also personally i found the sock bouquets fooking annoying and if i ever have to pick a fooking sock off a bit of bent wire again i will go mental.

Hayley's idea is spot on.  Or offer to go round and do their washing up.  

That's why I would have been grateful for more babygrows. They kept shiteing in them until none remained.

yeh but what you don't want is a single £30 polarn o pyret one that people give as gifts

Get her a Spa day so she can go off (once she feels happy doing so) and take some time away to herself. 

terrible idea, especially if she is breastfeeding

Lol at wellers / Martian as the authority.

We received an amazing piece of art for a push present. 
 

getting anything like Muslins (we never really needed them) socks (useless in summer) tiny clothes etc - it burns through really quickly and is pretty wasteful 

Notwellers, you do know that women can pump? For the sake of a few hours, it isnt the end of the world

Yes i do. I also have a wife with two kids. the last fvcking thing she would have wanted after having baby was to go to some w**ky spa where she spends a few hours wondering if her baby is ok.

Agree with OB and if they are still in the first 4 to 6 weeks there is literally nothing for them to do. The little things just sleep all the time.

That's why booze is a good idea. Or maybe something for them to do while they wait for it to wake up, like a meal kit or if she is as dull as you say a jigsaw puzzle.

snoozeshade, matchstick monkey (NOT sophie le giraffe, it's useless), sensory box (Etsy have good ones) for baby. onesies/vests etc aren't great as i think she'll have about 3mn of them already. If you get clothes for when it's older, remember to think ahead to the season that it will be when the baby is that age.

 

For your friend, something from https://www.notanotherbunchofflowers.com/ could work

Wow a gentle ribbing at you for acting as authority on what mothers want (what mothers do is an amazing book for a new mother to read and I would recommend it wholeheartedly) 

and I’m a complete fvcking bitch

by the way, I’m not a bitch, complete or fvcking either. What horrid and unnecessary insults. 

I loved my baby cakes present as it was pretty to look at and have with all the other mhite and really practical as it had everything in it, nappies, bottle, teether, scissors, muslins, socks etc etc which could also include something for the mum, fab pate, a lovely drink of her choice, some skincare product that makes you look awake after 2 mins sleep.  All that is quite expensive though so depends how much you'd want to spend.  You could make your own.

Dear God JB. Wind your neck in. 
 

Cook do deliveries of frozen food depending where she lives, it’s tasty and feels home made so good option if she has space. 
 

m&s will let you return anything, receipt or not, so that’s a good choice if you think she’ll have loads of things and then she can take it back and get something she wants later. 

Babygrows etc seems good but there are only so many you can use. 
 

A small light blanket is a good choice, sort of size you can put on them when they are sleeping on you. 
 

 

 

Didn’t even finish reading the thread as had to rush to the end to say DO NOT get one of those babybloom things, they are weird and horrid. Why do I want 30 baby grows all wrapped up like flowers? Ugh. 
 

things I liked

- cheese box / cheese vouchers 

- nice shower gel (REN do a nice energising one)

- baby blankets (depending on season)

- jellycat toys - useless for first few months but they are always lovely

- kids books - ditto

- if it is a first child, one of those electric cordless drills for opening all the fvcking battery compartments of kids toys and screwing and unscrewing endless Allen key kids furniture. (This is my no 1 baby shower present and is always appreciated)

Say you would love to come and see mother and child, but agreecthe day, say you will bring lunch (ready meals, paper plates, all into a black bin bag), say you will do one chore while you are there (cleaning, ironing), and that you will take baby out for a walk so mum can have a nap.

You will be worshipped and adored.

Wellers - you may have read the title, but clergs references ‘she’ in the opening post which I understood to be : mother 

I’m not calling you a bad parent. Calling me a ‘Fvcking bitch’ and a ‘complete Fvcking khvnt’ is completely unnecessary and I’ve reported your posts as offensive.

my favourite thing was a tiny (age 2yrs) hooded bathrobe with spawn's name embroidered across the back from the walton st linen co. THe same person sent the same with nu-spawn's name for the second as well. God they were sweet.

A tiny pair of pink suede pumas.

the jellycats are all still in action more than a decade on.

gifts specific to spawn's name - paintings for the wall of their room / a set of books led by a character of the same name

we got astonishingly generous presents from all sorts of people and I remember most of it / who gave it.

Balloons pop and terrify babies 

baby suits get grown out of or shat on instantly 

you might as well have just sent her a note saying you don’t value her as a friend 

I tend to buy something small for the baby because like he gives a fvck. And then a voucher for something nice for Mum to use when she's coming out the other side... like for a clothes shop she likes or spa treatments or whatevs.

Cook them some one pot meals (that they have scratch cooked) that you can freeze and cook from frozen and bring round in cookware and say can i have the cookware back in a few months. That's what a friend did for us and of course we have them the cookware back the next day after using it - and they were a good cook -

Pre-cooked meals would have gone in the bin in this house. We ate out every day while the bub slept until pat leave ended. And then just ate normal food at home as normal

I loved cook meals but my husband got home late from work, so I needed to feed myself one handed for a long time. In lockdown she might have someone at home to get things for her so it might not be such an issue.

Our best gift was a little medicine chest stocked with calpol (actually dymadon but I'm translating for you), gripe water (doesn't work but makes mum feel like she's doing something), 5ml syringes, baby vix (for when they get their first cold and you think it will stop them from dying even though you're not supposed to use it until 3 months), infant ibuprofen (another 3 month one), cotton wool pads (Gammy eyes, also add saline capsules in case they don't have breastmilk for squirting into the eyes) and some plasters (really not necessary for a baby but a first aid kit seems incomplete without them).

 

My employer got us a massive bunch of flowers for our first one. That was fooking pointless. For the next person to give birth I suggested something practical band by the time out number 2 came round they sent us a little hamper with some nice biscuits and a few baby items.

The other thing that is good and not a common gift is a bulk set of white towel nappies that can be used for sick and shit catching, impromptu blankets, actual towels, be rolled up to keep bubs on its side as a last resort for sleeping (not recommended but sometimes works).

Alternatively get something just for your friend and bring the baby a gift when you actually see it, like a woolen cardigan or something (they're good because they seem to grow with the baby).

 

Uncanonical.  Suspect you may be an impostor. 

Answer me this:  why did stringfellow keep airwolf if not to compel The Firm to undertake search and rescue for you in 'nam?

My friends gave me a 'cleaning voucher' and paid for their cleaner to come round for five hours. I used the voucher when no 1 was a few months old. Deep cleaned bathroom and kitchen was the best gift ever.. 

 

For all the people suggesting house work, my own home is currently carpeted with a soft layer of my own clothes and hidden perilous sharp objects

My kitchen surface is a mountain range of discarded spice jars, Nespresso cardboard tubes and washed but not put away dishes

Tidying would not be on the cards even if she lived nearby