What gift would new parents most like?

Spooz

Some friends of mine had a baby three months ago. I would like to make something for the baby or the parents, so was wondering what new parents would find most useful. I will be sewing something, so would like fabric-based ideas - I was wondering about some appliqued bibs or something like that, but would love to hear from people who are in a similar situation what they have most appreciated.

[Deleted User]

Can you sew 8 hours sleep?

londonsurrey

A christening gown?

londonsurrey

How about one of those towel/blankets with a hood on top? For scooping baby out of bath, and keeping it wrapped and dry.

kingfisherblue

Sleep is what I would have liked most, so why not offer to babysit for a couple of hours?

sewing based, I would avoid applique bibs as the baby sick would ruin them! You could offer to stitch a Christening gown if they are likely to have the baby Christened - my auntie, now long gone, did that for my daughter. auntie passed away before my boys were born, but they also wore the gown and created a new fammily tradition. It isn't too fancy, so not girly.

You could also think about a birth sampler, with baby's name, date of birth, weight, etc on it. Again for my daughter, someone stitched a Jo Verso design of a rainbow. You could stitch a shawl, possibly with differrent pictures on difffferent squares.

You might want to think about a small patchwork quilt for the baby to use when they are older, or a wallhanging.

These would last much longer than a bib and are less likely to be ruined by baby sick.

Spooz

I live far away, so can't offer babysitting, unfortunately! And although it's a really lovely idea, I think they have a family christening gown already.

A quilt or shawl is a nice idea. I like the idea of something very practical, you see, because I'm sure they must be fed up of decorative whatnots by now. (Which is why I thought of bibs, though *I* wouldn't mind if they were eventually ruined through too much sicking-on as you can't expect things to last forever!) What kind of size would be baby-sized? And would a light one be more useful than a properly padded quilt?

Bella79

Sleep lol

Or someone to come over, do the massive pile of ironing, washing, hoovering, polishing and cooking a dinner ! lol

honeslty someon did that for me when i had dd and it was the best present in the world

x

Ignore above, just seen you live away. depends how much you want to spend, how about paying for her ironing to be done at a local service or order some luxury ready meals to be deliverd via waitrose/m&s etc?

Moomum

My favourite gifts were blankets and I'm still using them 8 and 2 years on! I'd say a quilt or shawl! X

Agutka

Ooh, a multicoloured (stain hiding) quilt! Lovely, but bigger than baby sized, so can be used in the future, or just by mum even.
Google taggie/taggy/tag blankets, they look fun to make. My boys never took to theirs but some kids love them.

Or for the future, you could offer to embroider their name on every piece of clothing :eek:, for when the kid starts school or nursery.

My favourite was a knitted blanket, I thought it was awful, the holes too big and the colour not quite blue, but turned out to be a perfect warm addition to sleeping baby.

PS Bibs, like baby vests need to have one quality, and that's throwaway-bility. There's only so much a tired mother can be bothered to save from 'incidents'...

thehappybutterfly

I'd never heard of tag blankets before - they're really bonny aren't they?!

It was waffle blankets when my two were wee. Which weren't that great really - those holes were the perfect size for tiny toes and fingers. I remember them waving their hands and feet around and taking the blanket with them!

kingfisherblue

Spooz wrote: »

What kind of size would be baby-sized? And would a light one be more useful than a properly padded quilt?

I would either make a small, shawl sized quilt that is very lightweight, or make a larger, heavier quilt that could be used as a wallhanging to start with and as a quilt when baby is older. A lot depends on your sewing ability and experience. If you are able to, go for the bigger size. You could always design it as a patchwork quilt that can have a few rows added in the future as the baby grows.

My daughter is 21 in a fortnight and I still have a couple of baby blankets (none handmade unfortunately!) that still get used occasionally. I did have two boys after my daughter, but my youngest is now 12.

You can buy shawls that you can embroider or cross stitch onto.