Welcoming a new baby into the world is one of the most special times in a persons life, and so it's natural to want to ensure that any gift we buy to welcome a new life into the world is one that shows thoughtfulness.
As someone who has experienced new baby gifts three times over, I thought I'd share some insight into what I believe makes a perfect gift for a newborn.
I believe it should be something that's a good mix of sentimental and thoughtful, as well as practical...I can't count how many engraved silver spoons and First curl keepsake boxes I have received over the births of my 3 children, and I can honestly say that none of them were ever used. All of them have remained at the back of a cupboard somewhere - because as pretty as these things are, they just don't really serve any practical purpose - making them a bit of a waste of money!
Here are some gifts that we've received which I really loved, for both their practically and sentimentality.
Photo Gifts
Every new parent loves photographs of their offspring, and so gifting something that is personalised with a photo is always going to be a hit. Although options such as photo blankets and cushions are a viable option, it can be difficult to know whether these would fit in with the families home aesthetic - but one thing you can't go wrong with a framed print or something along the lines of Personalised photo christmas baubles. Everybody uses these, and they're much less intrusive - my own children love to see their photo baubles on the tree every year, and looking through them all as we decorate for the festive season has become a much loved tradition for us.
Personalised Baby Blankets
We were gifted some beautiful personalised blankets for our children when they were born, and we got so much of use out of them during their baby days that we well and truly got value for money out of them on behalf of the gift givers.Once our children had finished using them as blankets, we were able to have them turned into keepsake memory bears which was really lovely too.
Personalised Cuddly Toys
I may well be alone in this one as I know not everyone is a fan of gifted cuddly toys, but our children have kept all of the cuddly toys they were given as newborns and they still have pride of place in their cuddly toy collections now. Infact my 9 year old son takes his first ever teddy with him to bed every evening, it was gifted to him when he was born by a friend and he absolutely adores it!
If a cuddly toy is personalised with a message or the babies birth/christening dates, then it makes it all the more special too.
Books
One of my favorite gifts to receive for my babies was the gift of classic childrens books. It was always lovely to recieve a book that someone considered to be a "Must read" from their own childhoods, especially as these would often be ones that I wasn't familiar with myself. These books have been kept as part of our bedtime story library ever since, and I intend to keep them once the children outgrow them to pass down to their own children. The children have had years of enjoyment out of them too, after all a good book is a gift that lasts far beyond the lifespan of its pages!
I hope these ideas have been useful. What were your favorite gifts to recieve for your newborn?
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