Gifts for New Parents (that they’ll actually use)

The first week of a baby’s life is magical, wonderful, and hopefully full of love from those in your world. It’s also a week of exhaustion and figuring out all the new things you now need to think of as a parent - while also healing if you’re a mum who’s just given birth! 

If it’s been a while since you’ve lived the newborn life, or you haven’t experienced it, it can be hard to work out what to give new parents to help them celebrate. This is a list of gifts to give new parents that they will ACTUALLY use. Please don’t send more flowers - they are lovely, but when you have three bouquets, they unfortunately can become clutter (and another thing you have to remember to keep alive)! 

Note: These ideas are most suited for when you know the parents really well. If you don’t know them as well but still want to celebrate new parents, here’s our list of Corporate Gifts for New Parents. Perfect for if you don’t know the parents super well but want to still give them something nice that they’ll use!

Deliver a meal

Delivering a meal is an old standby for a reason! It was probably the postpartum hormones, but I cried receiving the first meal we had delivered by a friend. They brought a chicken pie that was absolute LIFE to my weary soul. 

When I didn’t have kids, I didn’t want to text a new parent and “bother them” to find out what they wanted to eat so I didn’t bring them a meal. But now that I’m a parent, I can tell you: TEXT THEM. You will not be bothering them! If you are supplying for their very real needs, they will be incredibly grateful! 

I’m not sure what I thought new parents did, but they are on their phone a lot - taking pictures, making last-minute purchases on amazon for things they didn't know they needed, googling everything… A text asking if they would like a chicken pie for dinner will not bother them - they will be grateful! 

Honestly, when in doubt: bring a frozen lasagna and salad. They probably have leftovers from another meal that are wasting away so bring the lasagna and they can eat it when it works for them. And bring the salad because they probably haven’t eaten a vegetable in days. 

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UberEats Gift Card 

If you are not a cook or you can’t bring them a meal, send an ubereats gift card. Please don’t spend $50 on flowers that I guarantee will die within a few days because they will neglect them as they’re trying to learn everything about taking care of their new baby. Spend that $50 on a useful item. Flowers are a lovely thought, but they are not helpful in the first two weeks of a baby’s life. 

One set of flowers is LOVELY. If you are the grandparents of that new baby, send the flowers!! It is a wonderful gesture to send flowers to your daughter or daughter in law who just worked her ass off getting a baby into this world. But if you’re not the grandparent, please send something useful! 

You cannot go wrong with UberEats because they can decide what to order. Plus, they’re probably craving something. 

Bonds Wondersuits 

I wouldn’t normally tell you to get clothes for a baby unless it was specifically on the registry – BUT these are different. Bonds Wondersuits are THE BOMB. 

Firstly, two-way zipper. This is an absolute must for a baby. Keep that baby as cozy as possible and make those diaper changes as easy as possible.

Side note: just say no to snaps. I don’t care how cute it is, they are not using it more than once if it has snaps. 

Secondly, foot flaps. These bad boys last way longer than any other baby clothing item because they are engineering genius. They have foot flaps which means they can be footless or you can fold over the feet to make them footie pyjamas.

Did I mention they last forever?? For reference, my average-size son wore the 0-3 month size from 2-6 months and the 3-6 month size from 3-13 months. 

They regularly have 40% off sales, so especially if you are not in Australia, buy a few in a sale and save them for baby shower or new parent gifts. They will LOVE it. 

Diapers 

In the first few weeks, a baby goes through SO MANY diapers. Before I was a parent, I was always nervous about getting diapers - what if I got the wrong brand?  Different brands fit babies differently so they probably need to try all the brands anyway! Just pick a pack and gift it to them. I promise they will be grateful! 

I personally ended up with a brand I never planned to stick with but it just worked for us and fit H best and NEVER leaked! All the others leaked so this is what we ended up with!

Amazon Gift Card 

New parents are guaranteed to have forgotten something or discover a need for an item they never knew existed in the first week of their baby’s life. Plus, Amazon will probably get it to them faster than anywhere else. Gift them an amazon gift card instead of sending flowers - they will very much appreciate it! 

Sleep Support

Most parents go into parenthood having planned for the perfect nursery but with no clue about newborn sleep! My Newborn Sleep Guide shows them exactly what to expect for sleep from 0-16 weeks and how to optimize both their baby’s sleep and their own. The Newborn Sleep Guide is their comprehensive guide to sleep in the fourth trimester and includes attachment, what to expect, and how to troubleshoot issues that arise. Give the gift of sleep.

Offer to Tangibly Help 

This costs nothing, except time. Often we say things like “let us know if you need anything.” It’s well-meaning but very rarely do they take us up on it. As a new parent, you don’t know what to have someone help you with. You are learning to care for a new human, while healing yourself, and living on less sleep than ever – you are surviving! 

If you want to help, give them specific options to choose from.  Offer to set up a meal train for them, clean their kitchen, or hold their baby so they can take a shower. By offering options, they’ll know exactly what kind of help you are willing to give. 

It is far easier for a new parent to say yes to an option than to come up with an idea of what they need when sleep deprived. 

What about you: What’s your go-to gift for new parents?

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