Baby showers. Gift registries. Babies ‘r Us. Buy Buy Baby. Baby Town. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
<insert breaking-down-crying-like-a-baby-overwhelmed-emoji>
But what about those little things that I don’t know yet that I need? HINT: most of these are for the MOMs than the baby!
I remember when I found out I was pregnant almost 4 years ago. It was a rush of so many emotions and internal questions the last thing I thought would be complicated would be to get gift registries done for my baby showers. Once I was pretty plump into my pregnancy, the text messages began.
“What have you purchased already?”
“What can I buy for you that you really need?”
“Will you be breast feeding?”
“Are you going to use cloth diapers or regular ones?”
And all I could think was, “shoot let me check Pinterest.”
So the gift giving season is upon us and I have quite a few friends who are expecting within a few of my social circles. After thinking of how I felt as a new expecting Mom, I wanted to give them some product ideas that they might not have even thought about. No, you see, you won’t find any diapers in this post. No cribs or butt cream either. Here are 10 realistic and practical gifts you can give to a new Mom.
1. The Elusive Hair Tie
If you are someone that has massive amounts of hair, you already know the frustration of buying hair ties in bulk and NEVER being able to find one. Now image yourself stressed out trying to learn how to breast feed your brand new baby and your hair slips down into the new little babes face and you are pinned down unable to move to find your elusive hair ties. This was one of my biggest “needs” when I first came home from the hospital. My hair had to be UP and these suckers have legs. So do yourself a favor and add some of these to your wish list. You’ll thank me later. And not the black ones that can hide easier. The bolder the better. Neon it up if you have to.
2. Bulk Size Kleenex
#AllTheFeels. Bawling from all of the added lovely hormone overload. Bawling because a new Mom video just played on Buzzfeed’s Facebook. An absolute WRECK watching your newborn sleep. Crying because of all the love that is surrounding you from friends and family…. YOU WILL NEED ALL OF THIS. Mark my word.
3. A Cleaning Service or Nanny
Cleaning. Making dinner. Running an errand. Some of us new Moms don’t have the privilege to have family live nearby. Some Moms might be entirely new to the area they just moved to and have no friends even. THIS IS FOR YOU. Add a Maid Service like Merry Maids or reach out to College + Nannies and Tutors sign up before the babe comes. Even if they can come by and clean for 20-30 minutes ONE TIME will put you just in a better mood and alleviate any postpartum stress you could be under once you learn that juggling it all is a far-fetched dream.
4. Diaper Dabbler
Oh hi service I wish I had 3 years ago. This right here is AMAZING. You know how your baby shower usually puts on a “Bring a pack of diapers to be entered into a drawing!” Well sometimes your shower hostess might not play this game. Or maybe you end up with a bunch of size 2 diapers and hardly any newborns. This service lets you buy a mega pack full of a variety of different diapers so you can feel, sniff (oh come on you know you sniff newborn diapers!) and try on your new babe. For instance:
Brands offered in 3-packs include:
· Bambo™ Size 2 (7-13 lbs.)
· bambamboos™ (7-17 lbs.)
· Earth’s Best TenderCare™
· Seventh Generation Free & Clear™
· Naty by Nature BabyCare™ (4-11 lbs.)
· Pampers Swaddlers™ (with wetness indicator)
· Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive™ (with wetness indicator)
· Pampers Baby Dry™ (with wetness indicator)
· Huggies Little Snugglers™ (with wetness indicator)
· Huggies Snug & Dry™
· Luvs Super Absorbent Leak Guards™
Like woah.
5. Starbucks Gift Card
It doesn’t get any more real than this folks. You will be exhausted. You will be praying to the caffeine gods to bring you some heavenly fresh coffee stat. And did you know… >>>If your friend(s) have the Starbucks app, they can easily purchase a card and send you a screenshot of the code. Your husband, #sigoth or friend or family or even yourself if you want to escape for a moment, can show the code to the Barista and bam. Instant coffee.
6. Massage / Mani + Pedi
I remember at my California Baby Shower (I had two showers. One in Arizona for all my AZ friends and one in California for all of my friends and family back home) my long time friend Dorothy gave me a gift card to get a massage. It was so unexpected but her sentimental note along with it just made me smile. Knowing the stress I would soon to be a part of, she thought of ME as a MOM. I will never forget that gift.
7. Unscented Dish Soap
Hear me out on this one before you laugh at #7. 🙂 So my son was born with a heart defect; one that we were blindsided with and had no preparation. It was imperative that he EATS. “Failure to thrive” was the term they threw around and tied “open heart surgery” along with that. The moment he started to loose ounces, he would have to be wheeled into the surgery room. OKAY but what does that have to do with soap? I initially wanted to breast feed but for more than one reason (if you’d like to read more about that story you can click here) but ended up having to give my son my breastmilk with formula in a bottle for the first couple of months while he was “thriving”. Additionally, I had to clean bottles on overdrive because I could not miss a feeding. Every three hours – even if the little guy was sleeping, I had to wake him up to eat. I went through so many bottles my hands were severely cracked and bled and led me to purchase reusable dishwashing latex gloves. One thing they don’t tell you about is all of the washing you will have to do. Sure they tell you about the laundry but they don’t remind you about the dishes; at least nobody warned me about that. So here I was with a heart baby and I was so concerned with everything that I put in his mouth especially his bottles and what I cleaned them with. It was difficult to find “baby dish soap” that was COMPLETELY unscented. The minute I would stick a freshly cleaned bottle in my son’s mouth he would spit it out. I associated it with the SMELL of the bottles from the dish soap. Once I found an adequate unscented dish soap, there were no issues. If you don’t add this to your “buy this please” to do list, buy it on your own even if you plan on breastfeeding. You never know what might happen after you deliver.
8. Guilt-Free Mom Subscription Box Services
Who knew that there were so many monthly subscription box services for new Moms? I sure didn’t. But I stumbled across this post awhile ago and thought, MAN I wish I had a little surprise show up in the early days when I never left the house! So I kept digging and found so many subscription services that would make great gifts for new Moms.
Here are some of my favorites:
- Popsugar Must-Haves – from covetable cult classics to rising indie stars in fashion, beauty, home, fitness, food, and more from the most innovative brands.
- The Period Store – All things PERIOD. For when Aunt Flow decides to show up! OR when she inevitably stays for a month or two postpartum!
- Ecocentric Mom – Discover a healthier lifestyle for you and your family. Each monthly gift box is packed with goodies that are pure, healthy, useful and fun. Choose between the pregnancy, mom & baby and mom subscription boxes, and continue to the next box when you’re ready.
- Bluum – Discover a monthly box of new goodies for Mom + Munchkin from pregnancy to preschool.
- Freshology – A meal subscription service based purely on FRESH and HEALTHY foods! Just what every new Mom aspires to have but no time to prepare.
- Plated. – Another convenient meal subscription service that gets great reviews.
- FitFabFun – The ultimate girly girl box. You’ll find a little bit of fitness a bit of fabulous and a whole lotta fun at your doorstep 4x a year.
- BirchBox – Want a little pick me up? Maybe a little make up or a mini facial in the comfort of your home while you nurse? This box is your answer.
9. A list of Mom/Baby friendly places to escape to
Okay so this might be darn near impossible to add to your gift registry but you know you have THAT ONE friend who just is ON IT. You probably dream of being a supermom like her. This is who you gotta ask for help in this department. I can’t tell you how hard it was with a fresh new baby trying to figure out where I will be comfortable to attempt to nurse or baby friendly places I can just be with other Moms. When you are a new Mom you are immediately thrown into a whole new society. And you need to know where the easy stress free baby friendly places are beforehand so you’re not Yelping “breastfeeding friendly places in Gilbert.”
https://youtu.be/PTTs7ewuDY8
10. Chatbooks Subscription
For only $8 a month you can have every single Instagram picture printed in a book and sent to you monthly. This will be the last of your worries once the babe comes but it will be something you long for. Those nights get so long and your sleep deprived brain can only hold so much information let alone memories. My images help me remember those long days vividly and having it easily accessible to just be sent automatically saves me time and energy.
Do you have any practical realistic gift ideas you wish you had when you were a new mom? I’d love to hear about it! Drop your comment below!
I love these suggestions!