The Best Gifts to Give the Parents of a Newborn Baby

The arrival of a brand new baby in any family is an exciting event for family and friends alike. The temptation is to rush out like everyone else does and get pink or blue of this or that. But what would really be the best and most appreciated gifts for parents of that wonderful new addition? The following are some ideas:

- Take casserole, lasagna or one-dish meals that can be put into the freezer. Bringing a little something for the baby would always be appreciated but not having to worry about cooking meals for the first week or so would be an especially appreciated gift. Every new parent is busy when they get home from the hospital, especially if there are other children that require care too. A new baby creates a complete change in the family unit until mom, dad and siblings have adjusted to the new arrival.
- Give gift certificates for pizza, Chinese or other food delivery services. New parents will appreciate any gift that will give them more time or that make things easier for them. Most parents of newborn babies get very little sleep in those first few weeks so energy will be running on low.
- Volunteer your time to do housework, laundry, cook meals that can be frozen, sterilize bottles, look after baby while mom gets some much needed sleep or run errands that may need to be done. This will be especially important if the new dad was not able to get time off work to help in those first few difficult and tiring weeks. Often new moms are having problems establishing a nursing routine, will have sore nipples or not enough milk which will add to the stress of being overly tired. Under circumstances such as these, everything becomes so much more difficult. Someone who is available to handle the extra chores would be appreciated by a new mother.
- If there are other children in the family, offer to take them for a few hours, a day or overnight and let the parents concentrate on the new baby. This will give the older child a chance to feel that he is having some special time for himself. This would be particularly helpful if there is any jealousy because of the new baby.
- Give a set of coupons of your own making that new parents can use at any time. These coupons could include: an evening of babysitting, vacuuming, gardening, chauffeuring, etc. There can be other ideas that will be more pertinent to each individual couple.
- Or, take the new baby for a walk so mom and dad can spend some time with the older child or children so they will not become jealous of their new sibling.

From my experience of having been the mother of five newborn babies, I know that the above ideas would have been very much appreciated and been my personal favorites. Another gift idea that is a little different from the usual ones of outfits and stuffed toys would be a grow chart. There are some very nicely decorated ones on wood that will last for years. They can be personalized with the baby's name also. Another one, if you are close to the family, is to do an album of the baby's first hours, first bath, including the parents and any older children.

All gifts for a new baby are welcome and appreciated but the gift of time, which most of the above gifts are, will probably be the best of all.