20 things to buy a new parent that are actually great…

I remember the time my first nephew was born. I was at uni so was around 20 years old. I wore desert boots and caps. And I was prepping a hamper FULL of goodies. I went to HARRODS for Pete’s sake and got some designer bits for the little mite. Plus cuddly toys and booties. Looking back now, I’m not entirely sure a Christian Dior baby bottle was the right move. Who was I back then? Anyway, here’s a hindsight fuelled list of bits that might actually be of some use…

  1. Sleeping bags for baby. Newbies might prefer swaddling in cellular blankets at first especially when they are all jolty from the startle reflex but soon enough they’ll be able to go into a little sleeping bag that fastens over their shoulders or zips down the middle. My cousin got me two for the summer season – a 0.5 tog and a 1 tog – and they were a brilliant gift. So check the season and therefore the right tog to get. Elodie didn’t go into these for the first couple of months because of the heatwave but really think it helped her sleep longer once she was in them. And now I even use them for her morning nap so she can sleep and not try and endlessly pull her socks off. She’s a determined little pea. Really like The White Company and Mori for sleeping bags but TK Maxx also have a fab range. 
  2. Food! Meals from Cook or All Plants or similar. Don’t do a very newborn visit without food for the exhausted parents. Or phone them on your way to ask what type of coffee they’d want before popping into a coffee shop on your way.
  3. Vouchers – not a lazy idea, really bloody handy – Boots, JoJo, John Lewis, The White Company, H&M (amazing baby clothes)…
  4. Water wipes and nappies – check on the brand they are favouring though.
  5. Sanitising spraythis one that we use comes in 500ml for home use or 50ml for out and about. Great for sanitising dummies, teats, teethers…
  6. Baby wash cloths or the very small muslin squares for bath time.
  7. Books for baby – cloth, board books, black and white ones for very newborns. These two had Elodie mesmerised as a newborn and one is still clipped to the side of her stroller.
  8. Book on sleep for mum and dad. Recommend this one although we ignored the few mentions of the cry it out method. But there’s some really great pages on the early cues to look out for concerning the all important day time naps. 
  9. Teethers. Obviously Sophie Le Giraffe is a household treasure but Elodie is now all about Matchstick Monkey.
  10. Bag clip for buggy – mum may soon get fed up of wearing her rucksack and before you know it the storage basket underneath will be full. So one of these is a great option for her to clip a bag to. Or as an alternative, I recently got myself a Buggy Buddy Pocket that attaches to the side of the stroller handlebar and is £8! Great for keys, phone, wallet, dummy, lip balm…and doesn’t need removing when you fold the buggy down.
  11. Muslins! Don’t be afraid of patterned or coloured ones. My bestie bought me a set of Etta Loves sensory ones and they are babies fave and are so so soft. I also love Mori muzzies. But also I got a black starry one from JoJo recently as baby has moved into her big girl stroller and it’s great to clip on to the buggy hood for a bit of airy blackout when she wants to nap. (Clips are also a great idea, ours are on loan from a friend but these look good).
  12. Baby hooded towel – not just for baths but swimming lessons should that be on the agenda. We have 3, from The Little Green Sheep, The White Company and this Organic bamboo one from Amazon.
  13. Something for mum: bath oil, bath salts. You WILL bath again mamma.
  14. Dribble bibs. Initially I used these for every newborn feed but now with baby being almost 6 months old it’s allllll about soaking up the endless dribble. 
  15. A Skwish – a classic. One of the earliest developmental toys. Elodie loves hers. Click here. 
  16. Toy stroller straps – to hold toys, books, teethers on to buggies to avoid them dropping into a puddle. See here. 
  17. Babies first cold supplies – help mum and dad stock up on the essentials that they might not have thought of in the early weeks; a snot sucker thing, vapour rub, vapour bath. I wasn’t fully ready for Elodie’s first cold. I had the snot sucker and just kept putting her on the boob to help rid her of it. But I rush ordered a vapour bath too which I think also helped clear her nose for bedtime. Some swear by the Calpol plug in.
  18. Pouch for stuff. Yes they’ll have their baby bag but they might want to separate things from that eventually to have a different thing in the bottom of the pram just for changing etc. Love this from My Bag of Stuff, £10.
  19. Swimming bag – if they’ve said they want to get baby swimming ASAP, consider getting them a wet/dry bag like this one we have from Skip Hop. It helps separate the wet stuff from the dry stuff.
  20. Hand cream for mum. She is going to be washing, wiping and sanitising things like no tomorrow. And her hands might get real sore. Go for non or lightly fragerenced though as once she uses it she will likely then have to pick her small up soon after. Or maybe a night time one for when baby starts sleeping a little longer at night, like this little treat from Neom.

And please provide gift receipts with everything!

A note on baby toiletries like baby bath, body wash, shampoo, nappy cream. These things are very personal to the parents so if you know what they’re using by taking a sneaky peek at their socials or something, get one of those as there’s nothing worse than reaching for something and it being close to empty. That usually happens on a day when you don’t want to leave the house. 

Anything else you mummas and pappas swear by? 
Vx

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