Gift Ideas for New Parents – What They Really Need

Gifting new parents is easy – get a bunch of adorable clothes for the baby, a J&J or a Himalaya hamper (or a nice organic baby brand if you are feeling all fancy) with baby essentials and a few toys (which invariably ends up being a teether or a rattle). Well, these sure are great gifts and quite the obvious choice of one too many, but do you what new parents would really like? I’ll tell you all about in this post.

New parents more likely than not are zombified creatures who in reality require just as much attention as the new baby. No one is going to complain about you buying ‘the most adorable baby clothes ever’ (I’ve probably said this same thing to every person who has ever gifted my son clothes), or if you only buy stuff for the baby, but what they’d really appreciate (speaking from my own experience)  is something that would make them feel just as good and important. I mean, who doesn’t like gifts or being appreciated for a magnificent job they’ve done, eh?

So, here’s a list of things you can give new parents which they will *really* appreciate.

• A Healthy Snack Basket –

Food is always the winner. Irrespective of whether a mom is nursing or not, she’d appreciate this. So would the dad because in all likelihood he is trying to make sense of everything that’s happening too and that means just as many late nights as the mother, an erratic sleep schedule and almost no time to enjoy a healthy, delicious meal or snack even.

If you are lazy and don’t mind spending a few bucks, you can gift a subscription to something like The Fab Box or The Nibble Box.

Or as a good friend, you can personally make/pick some healthy snacks they’d like and customise a lovely little (or big) snack basket. Maybe add a fancy cheese or dips to it to make it more indulgent.

• DIY Meal Kits –

Since a date night is nowhere close to being possible at such times, you could help your friends enjoy a good meal at the luxury of their house by ordering a meal that they will enjoy and spend less than twenty minutes putting together. With a baby around, this could give them as much an adrenaline rush as Bungee Jumping would. If you are in Madras (still struggle to call it Chennai, yes),  Ordook offers such DIY meal boxes that they will have the satisfaction of cooking themselves while all the hard work is done by the team at Ordook (gathering the right amount of ingredients, prepping them, etc.). I’m pretty sure there are similar offerings in other major cities too.

Alternatively, you could just get them home delivery meal vouchers that they can use whenever they want to or better yet make their favorites and deliver it to them.

• Spa/Massage Vouchers for the Parents – 

Don’t just stop at getting them the massage vouchers, though. Offer to babysit while they go enjoy some much needed spa time. Trust me you will get a whole lot of good Karma points for this.

• Comfortable (not ill-fitting) Clothes for the Mom – 

Although I spent most of the first few months after the baby wearing my husband’s or brother’s tees and old tatty pajamas, I wouldn’t have really complained if any of my friends had got me some comfy AND adorable clothes to wear. And ladies, if the new mommy is your girlfriend, skip the boring stuff and get her some stylish and comfortable nursing bras. This will make sure you remain her BFF forevz (provided you get the right size). Pro tip: give the underwires and extra padding a skip, thank you.

• Offer to Babysit – 

The biggest gift you can give new parents (according to me) is by giving them some time off parenting duty. Offer to babysit so that they can go grab a cup of coffee in peace or take a long shower or a nap.

• A Netflix Subscription – 

If you know that your new parent friend(s) would love catching up on all their favorite shows, gift them a Netflix Subscription.

• A Book Club Subscription –

For parents who love books, you can get a Book Club Subscription. I know The Big Book Box is one such service provider in India. There are other US/UK based sites that ship to India as well.

Alternatively, just get them a bunch of books that you think they might enjoy.

This way, they will have something to unwind and relax after a long day or when the baby is napping but the parent doesn’t want to sleep.

• Goodies for the Older Kid(s) – 

This could be anything from something for them to eat or something to keep them engaged. A monthly subscription activity box like that from Flintobox is something I have gifted many a times and has always been loved.

Moving on, here are some baby-related gifts that will get a lot of love too –

• Diapers –

Be it cloth diapers or disposables, this is a great gift because man are they expensive?! Although cloth diapers are way more economical in the longer run, the initial investment stops quite a few parents from taking the plunge, so give them a gentle push in the right direction by gifting them a newborn cloth diaper package (a lot of cloth diaper retailers offer this) and they’ll thank you forever. Even if you think they aren’t really the ‘cloth kind’, this would be a good way to give them a chance to try it.

Disposables ARE expensive. So don’t hesitate to gift a packet or two (or more) of these if you don’t want to go the cloth diaper route. This is something that they would be shelling big bucks for anyway.

Same goes for wipes too. Cloth or disposable wipes will always be appreciated because they come handy as burp cloth/wash cloth etc.

• Car Seat – 

With infant car seat not being compulsory in India, not many parents give it enough importance. You could get them a car seat if this is something you think would be useful for them. Just be sure you are picking the right size and a good quality once since this doesn’t come cheap.

• Babywearing Gear –

Just like modern cloth diapering, babywearing gear is kind of an investment too. There are different types of ergonomic carriers available for different budgets.

So depending on how much you’d like to spend, you could get them a nice Ergonomic Carrier. If you are in India, Anmol, Soul Slings and Kol Kol are some of the lovely brands out there (and they’re all Made in India).

If they live in a stroller friendly city, you could get them a nice little stroller too.

• Newborn Photo Shoot – 

If you want to go all out and splurge and know that the new parents haven’t yet planned on getting a newborn photo shoot done, then this could be a really good idea.

What do you give new parents that you think are useful and I have missed? Tell me!

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with any of the brands I have mentioned in the post and in no way compensated by any of them.

PS: Featured Image courtesy Frontal Knots by Ramkumar Ramachandran . ❤