So, your best mate has had a child and you’re thrilled (but perhaps mourning your drinking partner?!), however, what exactly should you buy a baby?! Here’s a small guide of lovely things to buy…
10 things to buy a baby
1. Keep sake or art work – something unique for the nursery like a fab piece of artwork or keep sake, such as a mobile or cushion, is a really nice touch. I like looking to Oh Joy! for inspiration, she has such a great sense of style and her little ones’ rooms are lovely!
Image courtesy of Oh Joy! Blog
2. Blanket – there’s something adorable about baby blankets – the softer the better! And even after the baby grows out it, if it’s nice enough it can continue to be used as a throw to add colour in their bedroom.
3. Baby carrier – my buddy Polly asked the Mums’ Days Facebook Group for advice yesterday about buying her new mum friend a baby carrier. There were some great responses but I think my favourite was to actually go with your friend to a sling library and help her find the perfect match!
4. Year pass to a local attraction – This will be different in each area but in the North East, passes to places like Alnwick Gardens or Seven Stories can be enjoyed all year, helping your friend to make the most of her maternity leave.
Alnwick Gardens last Autumn
5. Noisy toys – your friend might not thank you immediately but you just wait, in a month or two when she discovers the hypnotic effect on her developing baby, she’ll be pleased of your purchase!
6. A really cute outfit – if your friend is anything like me, she focused on getting the basics but not so much on outfits beyond a sleep suit. My best friend bought Reuben a lovely little sailor suit, which was a nod to the business we had together called Sailor Girl. I adored it and he wore it most of his first summer.
Reuben aged 1 week in his sailor suit!
7. Baby Einstein DVDs – we were given the Baby Beethoven DVD by my good friend and mama, Ania, and it was a godsend! It gave me half an hour each time to get myself sorted. I would put it on just before we left the house so I could get everything sorted for the day. Other times I would put it on in moments of sleep deprived desperation so I could lie down next to him!
8. Baby sleeping bag or Gro bag – in terms of longevity and getting value for money, this was another item we used a LOT from the age of 6 months to almost 2 years.
9. Something for mummy – apparently massage is hugely beneficial for new mums, both from a relaxation point of view but also for body confidence. After a huge change in your friend’s life and body, a spa treatment will definitely be greatly received!
10. Some help – turn up and make her some lunch (chances are she’s been living on shreddies for a few weeks!) or do the washing up or put on a load of washing or all of the above!! Don’t wait to be asked, it’ll never happen. Just do it and the love she’ll feel for you will go way beyond anything you ever felt during a drunken discussion at 2am!
Having been through those newborn days and survived, these are just a few of my favourite things!
What would you recommend for things to buy for a baby?
I’d love to hear what your favourite gifts were, or even what you bought for yourself that you couldn’t have lived without!
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post
Gorgeous picks (and pics) and lots of friends and family members are soon to have babies! Love the idea of artwork. Feeling broody x
Ooh the grobag is such a good idea. I’ve gifted a few stretchy slings to my new mum friends and they’ve always been a hit too. Great post!
I love the idea of buying an annual pass somewhere as a baby gift – money is often tight on maternity leave but it is still nice to get out and about x
Brilliant list Hannah, I’m with you on everything except five (mind you after three kids it’s hard to imagine my pre-child mindset). Help is the absolute best gift anyone can give, oh and a delicious home cooked meal , which is usually my gift to new mums. Have a lovely weekend xx
Some great idea’s. Every time i have had a baby i get loads of cuddly toys or clothes for them and we have so many of them. I always buy people a personalised wall print with the baby’s name and birth details on from a place called a pieceofheART as they are something different that you can keep forever xx
Good list! It’s so easy for go for the outfit option! X #TheList
Great list. A pass to an attraction is a fantastic idea #thelist
Some really good ideas there, loving the pass to an attraction x
I’ve often bought clothes but some of my favourite gifts that I have received have been blankets – particularly the personalised or hand-made ones. I think no. 10 is probably the best gift you can give a new mum – the offer of some help or bringing her a ready cooked meal that she can just heat up. Great list – thank you for sharing.
Great ideas. I like the local attraction pass, dvd and gift for mom! It’s lovely to get something different. #TheList x
My baby girls godfather just became a Daddy for the first time and even though I had my baby just 8 months ago I was still pondering on what to get him. This has given me some great ideas 🙂 #thelist K x
The day out pass is an excellent idea! The best thing someone bought me (though they had a baby so were in the know) were Cook vouchers. OMG fantastic…but a very expensive discovery as I’m hooked now #TheList
This is a great list! The only thing with us is we bought loads of blankets and then discovered that Zach hated them! Literally screamed if we put one over him so Grobags were a must for us! You’ve made me all broody thinking about these things! I love that room too – how utterly gorgeous!
Oh isn’t it! She’s also got her office in there so it’s a bit of a multifunctional room – bloody gorgeous though!! That’s interesting about the blanket and you make a good point. It’s probably always best to make sure you find out what your friend DOESN’T need too 😉 xx
Lovely ideas, especially about going round and doing the washing up & making lunch. The best thing anyone ever did for me was bring cooked dinners ready to heat up, I’ll never forget how insanely grateful I was for that! x
Lovely list! I particularly like number 9, this is what I’ve done for the last few friends of mine who’ve had babies. Sometimes as a new mum you get loads of gifts for the baby (which is lovely!) but you really appreciate something just for you! Doesn’t have to be expensive either, just little things like chocolate and nice bubble bath or shower gel go down well! x
Great list! Especially the last one, that’s the one all mums want but would never ask for! 🙂 xx
What a great post Hannah 🙂 I got a wonderful cushion from all my friends when I had Seb that had been embroidered with the date and time he was born. We still have it on his bed, I love it so much. I agree with the last one…the best present you can give a new mum is help! Turn up with a big dish of stew and a home made cake! xxx
What a brilliant list! I always opt for cute clothes but if it’s the second or third child then a little toy for baby and something nice for mummy – food from Cook always good down well 🙂 x
All these ideas are spot on but no. 10 is definitely the best. I would have loved some help in the early days but we had kids earlier than everyone else so no one understood that that would be the perfect gift! x
Great suggestions! It’s sometimes hard to know what to buy, especially if your friends are too polite to tell you what they actually want! I particularly like the idea of turning up and being there, rather than buying something. Sometimes that’s what new mums need the most and will never admit to! #TheList
Debbie
http://www.myrandommusings.blogspot.com
We have a new nephew so this is a really handy list. Thanks Hannah xx
Such great recommendations. How gorgeous is a one week old Reuben!? Day out passes are my favourite gifts to give and receive, although I’m liking the sound of Baby Einstein!
Becky xx
Oo great list. I have a couple of friends who are expecting this year so this has given me some good ideas! #thelist
Great tips Hannah, I love Alnwick Garden, in fact I think it is one of my favourite places, I used to love the boys in little all in one suits they are so cute x
Food!!!! Meals! And I do love the artwork xx #TheList
My SIL is due in July and so this list couldn’t have come at a better time! Thanks for sharing it. lots of great ideas on here!
Great list. You know what a years pass at National Trust would be a great present too! Totally agree with the artwork/keepsake option x #TheList
My dad and his wife come to ours and stocked the freezer up with home cooked frozen meals so we could just ping them for dinner. They were a god send!!
Love this post xx
Ah these are some fab ideas, I always resort to buying clothes but I’m actually in the process of knitting a gorgeous baby blanket for a friend x #TheList
Some great ideas there, its a bit daunting if you haven’t got a child! My friends bought me a lovely bedset for my baby when I was pregnant and it came with a really fleecy blanket. My son didn’t get much use out of the blanket but I keep it on the sofa for snuggling under in the evenings! #thelist xx
A great list, I agree. Such a cute photo of newborn Reuben practically swimming in his sailor suit! I love the photos of my little one in her first few weeks, in outfits that look absolutely enormous on her – it’s hard to believe she was ever so tiny! And I realise how quickly she grew into, and then out of, those outfits.
Great ideas! Food is a really good idea – you’re usually too busy feeding the baby to get to mum. And the year pass idea is fab. I always get the mum something for them too – a pamper type pres like a a lippy or hand cream or something. #thelist
Oooh I think something for mummy is nice, us littlies get loads when we are born! x
Interesting list, not what I would have expected but I’m still super clueless about what we’ll need.
#TheList
Totally agree with this! Noisy toys for me.. (I can’t stand them, so don’t buy them), but I actually really appreciate them as like you say, the kids get totally wrapped up in them, giving me a short moment of freedom 🙂 x