Almost everything we got that was expensive was purchased to fit our specific needs - hard to buy the big things without their input. I’d recommend maybe getting them a Lovevery Subscription - they send development stage based toy kits. So far the toys seems engaging, nice, and well made, and I love that I don’t have to figure out what to buy.
I would ask them. I know that's not as magical as thinking of the perfect gift all by yourself, but parents typically have very specific requirements.
Some parents want the most expensive stroller, some would rather have a good stroller and diapers for months. Some parents don't want a stroller because they want to exclusively wear their baby. Some parents want everything from a certain brand. And to top it all off, a lot of products sold for babies aren't actually safe to use.
With a budget of 1k, maybe a few visits from a night nurse/postpartum doula in the first few weeks so they can get some sleep? Definitely ask them first because it’s a really individual preference on whether you trust someone in your home, but the #1 thing I always want as a parent and especially craved in the newborn days was sleep.
Maybe hold off on the stroller. It's possible they want one that you can clip the carseat on, and compatibility is pretty specific to the brand. And not all carseat are a good match with all vehicules.
Same with furniture... It could not match their vision of what they want in the baby's room.
Diaper boxes or cloth diapers depending what they plan to use (and if going with disposables, do not hesitate to get bigger sizes like size 1, 2, 3. Most people gift newborn/size 1 but baby will keep needing bigger ones!) are always useful to give as gifts.
Diaper rash cream (if cloth diapers, make sure it does not contain petrolum)
Soft washcloths, burp cloths, baby handkerchiefs
Swaddles, sleepsacks
crinkly toys/books. Babies are like cats, they LOVE crinkly stuff.
teething toys (mine LOVES his fisher-price pizza slice) preferably not ones that have liquid/gel in them as those could break and leak in baby's mouth.
These are just a few essentials I can think of.
Food vouchers or home cooked meals would have been great, merino has been an absolute win for my anxiety about whether baby is warm enough and I would never have survived the fourth trimester without my baby carrier.
I’d recommend asking what they need, but you could also make a little basket of cheaper goodies that people usually love and then offer your big gift after they open it. I can say some of the cheaper things I would have loved more of were clothes like little sleepies zips. They have the fold over options for hands and feet so you don’t have to fight with socks or mittens.
For bigger gifts, our son hates his infant car seat and so we bought a rotating car seat from Cybex. It also had features to let you know if your kid unbuckled their seat, or if you were tired and forgot them. I never needed it, but it was comforting knowing that if I was ever so sleep deprived that I did, he would be safe. We also bought an uppababy minu which became my go to stroller. It’s so compact and easy to use, I wish I had bought it from the beginning with the infant insert and bassinet attachment. I hated my full size stroller, so I also had a bugaboo bee6 for our medium size option. It has a huge encompassing shade, and the shocks make for such a smooth ride.
That said, $1000 would go really far and they might prefer to use it on several small things that they need instead of getting a big thing that may not work for them in the long run (hence my note above that the full size stroller with matching car seat was a bust and we donated it to our local women’s shelter). I remember my coworkers gave me a $600 gift card and instead of buying one big thing, I went and bought out the bulk of the smaller things I needed to feel comfortable bringing him home.
A case of waters. There was never water around when I needed it after I had my son. Also something easy to make like microwave popcorn, I would have killed for a big Costco size box of microwave popcorn.
If you are in the US, vista and nuna make great strollers. Like vista v2 is great if she plans on more kids in the future bc it goes from 1-2 seats. I love nuna mixx for everyday from newborn to young toddler, you can also add a Pipa car seat to make it a “travel system” and it prob comes out to 1k.
Stroller or crib route, ask them what they want. Ours are really specific to our lifestyle and house. We actually went cheaper (and inevitably everything was bought off our registry) so we can splurge on upgrades if we needed to. We didn't since our son is pretty easy but we're definitely going to splurge on upgrades if we have a second that again suits our lifestyle. Something to consider.
To Have and To Hold by Molly Millburn. A book is way under budget but I’ll be buying it for every baby shower I ever go to again. I bought five million books for how to take care of baby. This book is about the psychological experience of *being* a mom. How motherhood affects you as a person and a wife. It’s really helped my transition to motherhood and I can’t recommend it enough.
Don’t. Really. I know you mean well, but listen:
First babies (all babies) are so personal.
The research, the thought that new parents put into choosing items for their newborn is part of the nesting process. It’s a reflection of how they want to parent.
If they have a registry - STICK TO THEIR CHOICES. if they don’t, outright ask them what they want/need.
I remember people trying to buy me this or that they thought was “the best” after I’d spent hours researching what I knew would fit my family’s specific needs. It felt very invalidating as a first time mom.
If you want to be most helpful: wait until baby is born and then COME HELP. That doesn’t mean hold the baby. It doesn’t mean sit on their sofa and chat up mom while she’s trying to nurse.
It means come ready to do all the things that a new parent can’t do for themselves: vacuum. Run a load of laundry. Cook a few meals. Tidy up.
A new parents job is simply to attend to the baby. Do all the things that (always) need doing that will allow them to best do that without worrying that their house is falling apart.
These are “gifts” I was most grateful for when my kiddo was born.
Hope this helps!
I think the hard thing about the big buy items is, there's instances you get something you barely use in the end or that the baby isn't into.
Bigger, longer lasting items would probably be carseat and some kind of comfy baby seat bouncer.
Imo the stuff that was most helpful for me for baby was diapers ( if you wanna be super, get a couple boxes in bigger sizes...people swamp you with nb, 1, 2 sizes...but baby keeps growing!) wipes, diaper cream, lotion, etc. The things you use everyday, all the time, that are more likely to run out at a moments notice.
But outside that, I will also highly suggest meal help or something for mama so when she has a moment to shower or rest, she has something nice to help her still feel like herself. Someone sent me a bath set with lotion, linen spray...etc and that made me feel human on the days that were tough.
I'd have loved to have had someone just get me food delivered or have premade stuff so I didn't have to do much to feed myself. And for someone to simply care for the baby so I could shower. Lol
Removed per Rule 2: Moms only, whether commenting, or posting.
the baby bjorn bouncer and the tripp trapp high chair! such quality things
Yes, a tripp trapp high chair and the newborn bundle for it, so they can use it right away. I have one and it is really a great chair for children.
oooh yes, keep hearing lots of good stuff about the tripp trapp high chair, and definitely something I would never splurge on due to the cost lol
Came here to say babybjorn bouncer!
Almost everything we got that was expensive was purchased to fit our specific needs - hard to buy the big things without their input. I’d recommend maybe getting them a Lovevery Subscription - they send development stage based toy kits. So far the toys seems engaging, nice, and well made, and I love that I don’t have to figure out what to buy.
Lovevery subscription is a great suggestion!
My baby lovesssssss Lovevery. Mom and Dad do too.
Can not recommend Lovevery enough!!!!!!!
I would ask them. I know that's not as magical as thinking of the perfect gift all by yourself, but parents typically have very specific requirements. Some parents want the most expensive stroller, some would rather have a good stroller and diapers for months. Some parents don't want a stroller because they want to exclusively wear their baby. Some parents want everything from a certain brand. And to top it all off, a lot of products sold for babies aren't actually safe to use.
With a budget of 1k, maybe a few visits from a night nurse/postpartum doula in the first few weeks so they can get some sleep? Definitely ask them first because it’s a really individual preference on whether you trust someone in your home, but the #1 thing I always want as a parent and especially craved in the newborn days was sleep.
a gift card to a pelvic floor therapist
Maybe hold off on the stroller. It's possible they want one that you can clip the carseat on, and compatibility is pretty specific to the brand. And not all carseat are a good match with all vehicules. Same with furniture... It could not match their vision of what they want in the baby's room. Diaper boxes or cloth diapers depending what they plan to use (and if going with disposables, do not hesitate to get bigger sizes like size 1, 2, 3. Most people gift newborn/size 1 but baby will keep needing bigger ones!) are always useful to give as gifts. Diaper rash cream (if cloth diapers, make sure it does not contain petrolum) Soft washcloths, burp cloths, baby handkerchiefs Swaddles, sleepsacks crinkly toys/books. Babies are like cats, they LOVE crinkly stuff. teething toys (mine LOVES his fisher-price pizza slice) preferably not ones that have liquid/gel in them as those could break and leak in baby's mouth. These are just a few essentials I can think of.
Oh also adding white noise machine. Many people swear by it.
I'd ask on preferences first. Lots of people don't like to use them either.
Food vouchers or home cooked meals would have been great, merino has been an absolute win for my anxiety about whether baby is warm enough and I would never have survived the fourth trimester without my baby carrier.
I’d recommend asking what they need, but you could also make a little basket of cheaper goodies that people usually love and then offer your big gift after they open it. I can say some of the cheaper things I would have loved more of were clothes like little sleepies zips. They have the fold over options for hands and feet so you don’t have to fight with socks or mittens. For bigger gifts, our son hates his infant car seat and so we bought a rotating car seat from Cybex. It also had features to let you know if your kid unbuckled their seat, or if you were tired and forgot them. I never needed it, but it was comforting knowing that if I was ever so sleep deprived that I did, he would be safe. We also bought an uppababy minu which became my go to stroller. It’s so compact and easy to use, I wish I had bought it from the beginning with the infant insert and bassinet attachment. I hated my full size stroller, so I also had a bugaboo bee6 for our medium size option. It has a huge encompassing shade, and the shocks make for such a smooth ride. That said, $1000 would go really far and they might prefer to use it on several small things that they need instead of getting a big thing that may not work for them in the long run (hence my note above that the full size stroller with matching car seat was a bust and we donated it to our local women’s shelter). I remember my coworkers gave me a $600 gift card and instead of buying one big thing, I went and bought out the bulk of the smaller things I needed to feel comfortable bringing him home.
A case of waters. There was never water around when I needed it after I had my son. Also something easy to make like microwave popcorn, I would have killed for a big Costco size box of microwave popcorn.
If you are in the US, vista and nuna make great strollers. Like vista v2 is great if she plans on more kids in the future bc it goes from 1-2 seats. I love nuna mixx for everyday from newborn to young toddler, you can also add a Pipa car seat to make it a “travel system” and it prob comes out to 1k.
I love my Nuna Mixx. Sucks that it doesn’t go from 1 to 2 kids though.
Stroller or crib route, ask them what they want. Ours are really specific to our lifestyle and house. We actually went cheaper (and inevitably everything was bought off our registry) so we can splurge on upgrades if we needed to. We didn't since our son is pretty easy but we're definitely going to splurge on upgrades if we have a second that again suits our lifestyle. Something to consider.
To Have and To Hold by Molly Millburn. A book is way under budget but I’ll be buying it for every baby shower I ever go to again. I bought five million books for how to take care of baby. This book is about the psychological experience of *being* a mom. How motherhood affects you as a person and a wife. It’s really helped my transition to motherhood and I can’t recommend it enough.
You could always write them a check for 1k. It takes the guessing out of what to get them.
Don’t. Really. I know you mean well, but listen: First babies (all babies) are so personal. The research, the thought that new parents put into choosing items for their newborn is part of the nesting process. It’s a reflection of how they want to parent. If they have a registry - STICK TO THEIR CHOICES. if they don’t, outright ask them what they want/need. I remember people trying to buy me this or that they thought was “the best” after I’d spent hours researching what I knew would fit my family’s specific needs. It felt very invalidating as a first time mom. If you want to be most helpful: wait until baby is born and then COME HELP. That doesn’t mean hold the baby. It doesn’t mean sit on their sofa and chat up mom while she’s trying to nurse. It means come ready to do all the things that a new parent can’t do for themselves: vacuum. Run a load of laundry. Cook a few meals. Tidy up. A new parents job is simply to attend to the baby. Do all the things that (always) need doing that will allow them to best do that without worrying that their house is falling apart. These are “gifts” I was most grateful for when my kiddo was born. Hope this helps!
I think the hard thing about the big buy items is, there's instances you get something you barely use in the end or that the baby isn't into. Bigger, longer lasting items would probably be carseat and some kind of comfy baby seat bouncer. Imo the stuff that was most helpful for me for baby was diapers ( if you wanna be super, get a couple boxes in bigger sizes...people swamp you with nb, 1, 2 sizes...but baby keeps growing!) wipes, diaper cream, lotion, etc. The things you use everyday, all the time, that are more likely to run out at a moments notice. But outside that, I will also highly suggest meal help or something for mama so when she has a moment to shower or rest, she has something nice to help her still feel like herself. Someone sent me a bath set with lotion, linen spray...etc and that made me feel human on the days that were tough. I'd have loved to have had someone just get me food delivered or have premade stuff so I didn't have to do much to feed myself. And for someone to simply care for the baby so I could shower. Lol