Useful things to put in baby hamper?

fro9etb8j5qsl2

A friend of mine is due to give birth soon and I want to make her up a little hamper for when the baby is born I know she'll get a deluge of baby grows, clothes and vouchers etc from other people so I want to put things that she'll really need and use into the hamper. So, basically, I want to know what are the small things that new mothers usually forget to buy and the things that they just can't get enough of thanks

deisemum

Nappies in a variety of sizes, wipes/cotton wool, a variety of bibs including ones with sleeves, baby bowls and spoons, teething toys.

I think something nice for the new mum as one of my neighbours got a present of a scarf for me and not my 2nd lad as she said the mums get forgotten about and that the baby would get plenty of stuff anyway. It's the one present I can actually remember getting almost 15 years later.

Ellsbells

This is a really good idea!!!

So bibs that button at the side (easier to take off when baby is asleep - nice ones in tesco), changing mats for the changing bag/ station for when she brings baby out (in all supermarkets), cotton balls, nail clippers, nappy cream / sudocream or Weleda nappy cream, snuffle baby (ask in pharmacy) to avoid blocked noses, gripe water, IKEA baby spoons and plates, IKEA grobags, magazine for mum and some hand cream (my hands are raw from washing them so much), a little notebook so she can take note of times of sleep, feeds etc...

Best pressie of all is times if she needs it.. Maybe to call over and feed the baby one day (assuming bottle fed) or give them time to go for dinner / to the cinema. I was short of help and any time friends came over and helped it was worth 5000 presents.

Will keep thinking.

Rosy Posy

+1 on the time thing, but only if you're a close friend and she won't feel like she needs to clean up for you. In the first few days/weeks you just want someone to come over and hold the baby long enough for you to have a shower!

I always bring people a meal and/or some baking that they can eat that day or freeze/refrigerate for when its needed. A nice light book is a good gift for mammy, especially if she's breastfeeding- nothing too taxing or gory!

cloths are always handy, you can never have enough cloths.

also you don't mention if its the first baby but if she has other children its always nice to have something small for them so they don't feel left out.

one thing I found useless was those books that you write in all the milestones etc- chances are she won't get a chance to fill it in or the things she wants to remember won't be the ones documented in the book and it will just sit on a shelf berating her!

Ellsbells

Rosy Posy wrote: »

one thing I found useless was those books that you write in all the milestones etc- chances are she won't get a chance to fill it in or the things she wants to remember won't be the ones documented in the book and it will just sit on a shelf berating her!

I found that good and used it. It came in handy when the PHN was in asking about his milestones

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Thanks guys I like the idea of snuffle baby and nail clippers, it's those sort of not-immediately-necessary-but -very-handy things I'm on the lookout for I also think the idea of a present for mammy is a great one. Actually I must try and see if I can pick up a gift voucher for dominos pizza to throw in too, it's her nearest takeaway and I'm sure it'll come in handy.....

movingsucks

I got a tonne of blankets as presents which are great but what's also great are towels. You can never have enough baby towels!
Wipes as well but get the sensitive ones just in case the baby has sensitive skin.

liliq

Multimam compresses for mama, they are lifesavers for nipples!!
agree with the nappies, but dont bother buying size 1, they dont last unless baby is teeny.
nappy bags, i honestly think you can never have too many baby vests, so would always pop in some 3-6 month size baby vests, probably long sleeve as we're going into winter, bibs as well, I love the babypotz (little food containers esp for babies, in different sizes- I still use them now for snacks in changing bag),.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I'm guessing that somewhere like Boots would be my best bet to pick up most of this stuff then.... Where would I get baby towels and blankets? Sorry but I've no idea about these things myself!

liliq

Melina Clever Arsonist wrote: »

I'm guessing that somewhere like Boots would be my best bet to pick up most of this stuff then.... Where would I get baby towels and blankets? Sorry but I've no idea about these things myself!

tesco is pretty good for baby stuff too! id go there first to be honest, then boots for the more chemisty things that tesco dont have.
baby blankets- cellular blankets, tesco do as well i think, or mothercare, same with towels.
muslin cloths in tesco are good.

Ginny

Aldi have fantastic muslins on special tomorrow, I use them all the time, ont use bibs at all with my 7 week old. The hamper is a great idea, the only thing to remember with the likes of bottles or nappies one range will suit one baby more then the others. Like we tried all the different nappies and we'd prefer 1 type and another mother in our group would hate them. We have blankets coming out our ears, as another poster said. We use a lot of Vaseline, cotton pads (not balls), the clevermama soother tree is good (once they have a microwave) , we use ALOT of wipes, but only the sensitive ones. For us we had to go out and buy a lot of newborn and tiny baby clothes, baby was big enough at 7.4 but was long and skinny, so maybe wait until the baby is born and get them some vests and sleep suits, you use o many of them, I think we had 4 outfit changes yesterday. A gro egg might be a good idea, I think it's on sale in Argos now, it shows the temp of the room and is a nightlight, it was great for us, we would have thought our room wasnt too warm turns out it was.

Suucee

I got a hamper with calpol, teetha, karvol, nail clippers, baby sponges, scissors, teething ring, hair brush, wipes, bibs, nappy bags, muslin cloths, sudo cream, bottle of wine, chocolates, book (which i still have not read even though i am a book worm) and a lovely magnet saying (love for a daughter is like a rose, with each passing day it grows and grows) I knew i was having a girl. I have used everything i got in it (except the book, but it will) even the hamper basket came in handy. Needless to say it was from a group of co workers and most of them were mammies.

Matt_Trakker

whiskey

Suucee

Oh and on the bibs, Get the ones with the plastic back and velcro closing . These were the ones i got in my hamper and thought id never use them, got loads of the lovely cotton pink ones but as soon as the teething started and the drool started to soak through the bibs i swiftly routed these out and only use these type now even though i now have a large pile of cute but not very practical ones.

implausible

liliq wrote: »

I love the babypotz (little food containers esp for babies, in different sizes- I still use them now for snacks in changing bag),.

Aldi have the Tommee Tippee pots on Thurs - v useful for everything from purees, holding a soother to snackpots. My other half even uses them to bring milk for his tea to work!

The memory book things are a nice idea, but fairly useless as they often involve sticking photos into them (I ended up giving 4 away to a charity shop). A cute notebook would be lovely instead. +1 on the Gro egg or a nightlight (Lidl have them this week) or a thermometer. You can never have enough Sudocrem or Silcock's base (I use it in the bath) as they're cheap and multi-purpose. A nice present for mum is a scarf, perfume, meal voucher or a funky changing wallet.

A voucher for a local photographer would be appreciated too - I'm still dropping hints!

cyning

I love my memory book: i think it really depends on the person. Sam McCauley's have soothers that close up when you drop them: I love it (and seeing as my baby is 10 weeks old its me dropping it not her!), and a vapour soother clip for when baby has colds too: they're the Raz baby ones. I found dribble bibs (they're disposable bibs you get them in Tescos) great for the first few weeks.

Go to Aldi tomorrow and get their muslins if you can as Ginny said they are fantastic.

Also the Tommee Tippee Sangenic nappy bag dispenser with a few refills: its small and great for out and about I adore mine.

Oh and a gro bag!

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Thanks for all the suggestions I headed into dealz earlier and picked up a shedload of really good Winnie the pooh stuff and pampers wipes and cotton pads etc they cost half nothing I'll post up a pic of the finished article for ye to see

apsalar

Dealz is great for stuff- especially in the 4 - 9 month stages. My daughter is 16 months so we are not buying too many things anymore, but it was a godsend for food (just be sure to check the sell by dates).

If the hamper is to be given before the birth I would also add maternity pads (never have enough), a really nice button down nightie in case she is breast feeding (and if she is as fussy about cleanliness like me she will probably want a nice clean nightie for the visitors if she has to stay a few days.) Never have enough wipes and nappies. Also a little bag (just a regular cloth bag) to put baby's dirty laundry in.

Ginny

Witch hazel for putting on the pads, it's nice and soothing.

Kash

Grobags! Way better than blankets in my new (and clueless) Mum opinion.
The Milton mini dummy steriliser is pretty nifty too.

The tommy tippee bibs rock, and the Lamaze hand and feet rattles are really cute.

The other thing we had to go out and buy lots of were boxes/crates: life got so much easier when we could put everything away!!

xzanti

Medi swabs for cleaning the babies cord stump
Bottle cleaning brushes
A bottle of Infacol / colief
A soft baby hair brush
Some cradle cap ointments
Soother clip/holder thingies
Scratch mitts
A Sophie Le Giraffe teether

That's all I can think of for now

admiralofthefleet

sudocreme
cotton wool
bibs
caldesene spray
caldesene talc
baby wipes
spoons
soothers
soother chains
teething sachets
infacol
nasosal
nurofen/calpol
vanity set
misc. gifts

implausible

Kash wrote: »

The other thing we had to go out and buy lots of were boxes/crates: life got so much easier when we could put everything away!!

+1 on this. My house is full of buckets and baskets - for firing toys into, storing clothes and I have a small one with handles for all of the changing stuff. It'd be a good idea to buy one to put all of your hamper stuff into, OP.

liliq

pharmacy grade olive oil!
best thing to put on them after a bath, and warm olive oil can be great for cradle cap

Maggie 2

Suucee wrote: »

I got a hamper with calpol, teetha, karvol, nail clippers, baby sponges, scissors, teething ring, hair brush, wipes, bibs, nappy bags, muslin cloths, sudo cream, bottle of wine, chocolates, book (which i still have not read even though i am a book worm) and a lovely magnet saying (love for a daughter is like a rose, with each passing day it grows and grows) I knew i was having a girl. I have used everything i got in it (except the book, but it will) even the hamper basket came in handy. Needless to say it was from a group of co workers and most of them were mammies.

Great list. Plastic backed bibs are best. A few face flannels are very handy and the voucher for Domino's or other takeaway, brilliant. A pressie for Mum (Pashmina, perfume or small piece of Jewellry). and also a little something for a bigger sibling, if there is one!
I have a friend like you, who gave us a fantastic hamper for our newborn, but the nappies were too small. His big sister used them on her new baby born!

KGLady

My two 'go to' things for my Mummy friends, is a box of really nice chocolates and a lovely hand cream. The amount of times a day we end up washing our hands with a newborn, mine got so dry and suddenly I realised why I'd been gifted some lovely expensive hand cream (at first I was like and thought nipple cream would have been more useful - oh how wrong I was!)

Also, I try never to arrive empty handed in terms of food. A tray of lasagne if I've had time to prepare, or just grabbing fresh baked bread from the supermarket and a salad bag en route has had a lovely response from tired parents too busy to get to the supermarket.