Good somewhat inexpensive gift for a soon to be new first time mom?

Drez

Without getting into too much personally identifiable info, a friend of mine is due to give birth close to the end of the months. She is in her very early 40s. This is her first baby. She either hasn't announced or I have stupidly forgotten the sex or the baby. The baby's name is Pat, so that doesn't help. That last sentence was a joke and a reference to an old series of SNL skits. Anyway back on topic - she "doesn't want a shower" so there wasn't one. However, I have organized a get-together brunch with her, her husband, and a mutual female friend for Saturday and after speaking with said mutual friend we agreed on getting smallish individual gifts for the expectant mother.

I'm honestly not trying to spend more than $50 here. Not because I'm cheap but said mutual friend is in a weird financial place and I don't want to inadvertently "show her up." And the expectant mother genuinely won't want anything huge anyway, based on her personality. So I'm just looking for something fun, miscellaneous, and

The mutual friend has already gotten a "cute outfit" and is planning to get some books. I don't want to 100% duplicate that, though one semi-funny (but still helpful) book as a part of the gift would be OK/cool. Just looking for 2-3/4 smallish friend gifts that I can bring to a brunch without bringing my burro along or breaking my banker.

Any thoughts? My ability to give fun and creative gifts went out the window awhile ago and I haven't been able to find it. Probably got stolen. Skyrim NPC swooped in and took it or whatever.

see317

Not a parent here, so any advice should be taken with that in mind.
Parents often talk of their children spewing forth effluvia from one end or the other, so I'd imagine that spare outfits would be appreciated. There are plenty to choose from to reflect interests and hobbies that you may share with your friends.

Maybe add on some kind of new born appropriate stuffed animal? Nothing with eyes that might come out or buttons that can be swallowed.
Maybe a Cthulhu security blanket?

Artereis

There are fun things you can get for a new baby aside from the normal things like clothes. They sell packs of high contract cards with different shapes and patterns that babies are into at that age. The earliest ones are black and white, but sometimes they'll introduce 1-2 other colors.

Tastyfish

Water wipes and clothes for 3-6 or 6-12 months, can never have enough of the first ones, and due date is a little too far from Christmas for the next influx of clothes if they're big.
She'll likely end up with a lot of things for little babies, but it's great to have something on hand for when you realise they're just a bit too big for everything you have.

Another thing would be a voucher for a photoshoot? It's a bit of a cheat as they're usually pretty cheap, relying on the parents buying lots of photos afterwards.

Or something cheaper and more interesting would be a Montessori treasure basket - nice wicker basket just full of random stuff, we got ours from my mother in law who used to work in a nursery. Ours had some ceramic egg cups, pine cones, some different fabrics and felts, some shells few wood blocks, plus a metal potato masher and whisk. Stuff that isn't plastic for them to feel, in different shapes for them to explore and would be quite easy to personalise for the couple or a few odd things (fabric patterns, wooden shapes or animals, fabric flowers matching their some from their wedding etc).

Plus when they're bigger they'll love taking stuff out and putting it back in.

Hevach

clothes for 3-6 or 6-12 months

Much support for this: not newborn clothes. Hell, I'd say more 6-12 and higher. People gave us so many newborn and 3-6 clothes and my wife bought some herself, we weren't doing laundry until the kid was in 12-15. He wore an outfit once and we had almost enough leftover untouched for our second kid.

Also, diapers, but on the same logic. A box a size, not a stack of one.

Thundyrkatz

Honestly, one of the coolest gifts we got for our baby was an assortment of different diaper brands. They are not all equal and we had all kinds of trouble with some. The liner would cause rashes, some did not seal well. Diapers are expensive and it was so awesome to get to try out a few brands, without having to buy a whole box, to find the ones that worked for our kids.

The one we got had been set up so that there was two circular layers like a cake with a pretty ribbon tying it all up.

ceres

Maybe a gift certificate for Shutterfly or something similar. My parents got us a gift certificate that we used to make a book for ourselves and a few family members who wanted one. My husband and I each picked out some of the nicer pictures from my son's first 3-4 weeks or so, and he had fun laying things out and thinking of funny captions for the pictures. People take so many pictures of their kids, especially in the first few months, and it's great to have them on your phone whenever you want, but it's also nice to have some framed or taped to the fridge or whatever that can make you smile when you walk by. Especially as time goes on and they get old enough to push your buttons.

Tastyfish

Around here there are nappy banks, that will send you (for around a £50 deposit) and example of all the available washable nappies, so if they're concerned about using disposables they'd be able to see what style works for them. Babies are different shapes and wiggle in different ways.

Because our parents don't live nearby and in the in-laws are not very online savvy (don't even use Facebook really), and it was during lockdown - we wrote them a little letter from the perspective of our daughter, along with some printed photos each month. Then at the end of the year put them all together into a printed photobook as a Christmas present for them and us. Physical scrapbook and some fancy letter paper (and a voucher for photo printing) could work if they're into that kind of thing.

Xaquin

the largest package of unscented wipes you can find.

seriously. I give packs of 500 to 1,000 to every family member and friends with a newborn. They will be over the moon to have them because I guarantee they can't remember where they just put down that other pack ....

Ringo

If you want your friend to think of you often and remember the spirit of your generosity:

Literally any toys that make noise. Rattles, squeakers, things that light up and play songs. New parents tend to find peace and quiet a luxury of the past, and you can be sure they will think of you every time their baby shakes that noise maker!

Drez

Thanks, all! I’m looking through the suggestions now and will pick something up this morning!

spool32

Get her Hello Fresh for a couple of weeks. If she doesn't have a register somewhere and isn't asking for big things, go for stuff that makes life easier on the parents rather than Baby Objects.

Food Arrives With No Shopping is a hell of a lot more valuable after the baby than it might seem before, but it's a small treasure.

DoctorArch

If they're not already members, and you're okay with going above your 50 dollar limit, a gift Costco or Sam's club membership will save them a ridiculous amount of money on diapers, baby-wipes, kid-adjacent things.

dispatch.o

I bought someone a bunch of 'burping bibs' that I think they liked. They're just squares of cute animal fabric that you drape on your shoulder so when your child vomits/productively burps you may not have to change your shirt.

mittens

dispatch.o wrote: »

I bought someone a bunch of 'burping bibs' that I think they liked. They're just squares of cute animal fabric that you drape on your shoulder so when your child vomits/productively burps you may not have to change your shirt.

This is my wife's go-to for new moms and dads that she knows. She'll check out the remnant bin at her fabric store for fun/weird patterns, and usually buy something related to what the mom/dad is into; she's gotten Marvel heroes, Star Wars stuff, college logos, favorite animals, etc., preferably in flannel or some other very soft fabric. Then she buys a mega pack of flat cloth diapers and makes a simple stitch to put the flannel on one side, then an X or zigzag pattern to keep it from lifting off the diaper. She can usually zip off a half dozen in less than an hour and that includes pulling out her sewing machine, cutting everything, sewing everything and cleanup. My sister gave her the idea when we were expecting so we had a ton of these things with us at all times with our little one. Having a soft and absorbent towel that you don't mind getting gross is incredibly useful (Douglas Adams was onto something!). As my daughter has gotten older, they've basically been converted to washcloths for bath time and we keep a couple around in the end table drawer in our living room for quick spill cleanups.

MegaMan001

As many diapers as you can get for 50 bucks. Or wipes.

HappylilElf

Diapers.

You can get a 198 count of pampers for under $50 (before taxes) and that's not nothing. Turns out babies pee and shit a whole bunch!

What Spool mentioned is also good in that anything that makes life easier for parents, especially in the infancy period, goes a long way.

Drez

OK some really awesome advice, all. Thank you.

Question: Is there anything like Shutterfly that provides a printable gift card? Shutterfly itself only seems to allow you to give electronic gift cards which won’t work here.

Drez

Nevermind! Literally I was a step away from the mall exit when I spied a “kiosk” which had a much larger assortment of gift cards than anywhere else I checked in the mall and lo and behold they had a Shutterfly gift card. My preferences was physical, similar to the theme of that extremely popular Olivia Newton-John song.






Xanadu