Before I had babies I was under the impression that babies need a lot of stuff. Now I have had two babies I’ve realised that they actually need a lot less stuff than one might think! In fact for the first few months of Arlo’s life I just needed arms, boobs and a baby carrier as he spent so little time sat in/sleeping on anything other than me that we could easily have done without cribs, rockers and playmats if I’m honest!
Along with all the stuff that you may (or may not!) need for the baby you’ll probably get given lots of presents when you pop a baby out! I was given some nice things and some not so nice things, and even one lovely hamper of goodies that arrived via amazon with no name attached and to this day over three years later I’ve not got the foggiest idea who sent it!
So what did I love to get as a new mum:
• Chocolates – because night feeds take it out of you and at a really young age a baby will sleep through you rustling wrappers and boxes of chocolate, unlike older kids (I speak from experience)
• Presents for ME – gift cards for shops that don’t sell anything baby related were always lovely so you have to treat yourself rather than your offspring
• Time to settle into my new role: Requests of ‘when is a good time to visit, and can I bring food’ rather than ‘we will be visiting tomorrow’ will always be welcome
• Dry Shampoo. Cans and cans of it. In fact this was the best present as it was the one I needed the most!
Things that weren’t so helpful
• Flowers, they’re really lovely for a couple of days and then they die and start to wither and smell and you can’t find five minutes to shower or make a cup of tea let alone empty a vase and wash it up!
•Really big stuffed toys. They fill the place up and don’t do anything other than gather dust because the baby won’t be interested in them for months and and months and when they do start showing an interest in things it will be the TV remote and the house keys.
• Hideous baby clothes. Now I think I can count on one hand the amount of outfits that have been given to my babies that I really wouldn’t put them in, so clearly most of my friends have good taste but there were a few questionable items kindly supplied without the tags or receipt so I couldn’t exchange them. I rarely buy babies clothes these days unless I feel like I really know the mums style, I’d much rather she chose her own with a voucher!
There is a fabulous article on the George Blog, on how to be the best bestie when your friend is expecting with lots of tips from some mum bloggers who have been there and done that!#
Article written in collaboration with George, all words and opinions my own, obviously.
I think lovely presents for new mums are things like yankee candles, chocolates, a spa day etc