Gifting Options for New Borns and New Moms

- Blog Submitted by Gunika Sehgal

Becoming a new mother meant I had friends and family and relatives pouring in to meet the baby and the custom of bringing in a little-something for the newly born meant we were showered with gifts, sometimes precious, but often with no to little utility.

We also discovered that one of the most popular choice of gift was baby quilt. There are no size issues and considered an essential accessory for newborns.

So currently, my house is full of baby blankets but the irony is that my little one doesn’t let even an inch of blanket or quilt touch him and hence they are all just another pile of beddings for me lying somewhere in the corner of my house.

And so, in this blog I would like to share some rather useful and purposeful gift options for the new borns.

To start with Baby blankets; these eventually becomes unnecessary after initial few months since most babies don’t like using it. Plus as per the custom in many cultures, blanket anyways comes as a gift from the grandparents or other closest members of the family.

A better and often more useful gifting option is a baby swaddler which also comes in various varieties and you can give that depending upon your budget for gifting. Baby swaddler sheets and blankets are readily available in market at all possible price range. A baby swaddler bedding is also a useful accessory. It’s a tiny little mattress to suit a baby’s tiny little frame and it has flannels on the side to swaddle the baby. It keeps the baby comfortable in your arms and also makes it easier for you to carry the baby. And in case you do get tired, you can just as easily put him/her down on the bed or even the table, without making any adjustments. 

Another great gifting option is Diaper Changing Sheets. No amount of sheets are enough for a new born and hence more the merrier. These again come in various varieties and you can select your option depending on your budget. You get plastic ones which are very affordable as well as slightly more expensive fabric-based dry protector sheets. Plastic sheets are easier to clean and dry, but the fabric sheets are easier on your baby’s skin; since their skin will come in direct contact with the sheet while changing diapers, you don’t want to compromise on quality. Also, I have never used plastic sheets since I hated the idea of pee slipping down the sheet to my clothes or to the bedsheet underneath from the plastic sheet. The fabric sheet instead tends to absorb the same and is also more hygienic since it needs to be regularly washed.

Now, under what-NOT-to-gift category, we have another winner - a baby bathing essentials (and toiletries). This is for the simple reason that every mom has a choice of brands they trust with their baby’s gentle soft skin and these depend upon the ingredients she would want to use for her baby. Many moms (including myself) are very particular on using only organic or handmade products. While others have their brands prescribed by their baby’s pediatricians. A better option may be to just call the mom and ask her preferred brand and get useful stuff. That will make her so much happier.

Another very thoughtful thing you can gift to a new mom is a dishwashing detergent and clothes washing liquid especially meant for babies. These liquids are really mild on baby’s accessories like bottles, nipples, teethers, toys etc. and so is the detergent on baby’s clothes. These are the things which not all parents might be aware of and few of those who are, might not really be willing to spend on these “luxuries” when there are so many other essentials on the list. If you are unable to find such detergents, you can also gift feeder bottles and related accessories since feeders are never enough and it’s better to have many of them as they need to be washed after every feed/use.

Organizers are another useful category that most people don’t know of; you can gift a new mom a bedside caddy or a crib organizer for them to keep the diapers and other baby essentials handy all the time. You can find a lot of organizer options online on Amazon, first cry and hopscotch. Utility and functional diaper bags are not only chic, but also serve as great organizers on-the-go, with their specially designed compartments designed for all travel essentials, from diapers to feeding bottles.

Also, if you have a decent budget for gifting then you can consider below mentioned few options:

A feeding pillow may be an absolutely frivolous item no mother would buy on her own but if gifted, it’s a really fancy option and a new mom will surely love to use it.

A sterilizer is the most useful thing new parents can have. But since this is slightly on the higher investment product side, then ideally you must confirm with parents if they already have it or not and which brand they prefer, since this also comes in so many brands, varieties and price range. It’s always a better idea to ask.

Another useful gift within the same category is a bottle warmer. Since reheating milk in the microwave is a strict no-no and heating in pan all the time isn’t very convenient, electric bottle warmers come really handy and are infact very useful. Few also come along with an option of an attachment which helps in heating the milk while on-the-go, like while travelling in the car. You can trust that parents will think of you every time they are using this product.

Then another slightly expensive gift option could be baby crib set which includes the entire bedding of crib like mattress, sheet, pillows etc. But again, you must confirm with parents before buying this because they may or may not be using the crib for the baby.

And then comes the most desired thing for new parents - a baby monitor, which is really useful but expensive gift option, but if you really want to pamper the new parents, gift them this little gadget.

Even a baby rocker is a superb gifting option and especially the one that comes with an inbuilt vibrator, it really helps in calling down the baby and putting him to sleep early.

These are some of the gifting options I could share with you. Hope this list would be useful to you. Do share your comments below.

Thanks for reading this article.

Gunika is a beauty blogger mom sharing her journey of motherhood through her blogs. She had been previously working as a marketing manager with India's top IT firm and now working as a full time mommy blogger to give the best of her time and energy to her baby while pursuing her passion for makeup and writing alongside.. She has her little nest of a happy family based in Delhi, India