Question for all you Moms & Dads out there....

[dylansmom 27]

The single most useful thing I had when Dylan was a baby was my sling. I cannot say enough about it.

As everyone knows, a baby will cry and cry when you put them down in their bassinet/cradle, etc. to leave the room and go do something else. They want to be close to their momma! So what better thing to have than a sling to put them in and keep them close to their momma!

You can find these on Ebay for a very reasonable price, or order them from different places online (but that will cost you more). The maya wrap is one version which costs more. I just had a friend make mine in exchange for some web work I did for her.

If you do decide to purchase a sling for your friend, please make sure that you get one with solid welded steel rings (to ensure sturdiness & that they won't break). Usually ones made of cotton material are the best bet, and ones that are unpadded work the best as well. Both will ensure that baby doesn't get too warm snuggling up with momma.

Any other info you need feel free to PM me anytime. I honestly can say that having the sling was the best thing ever for us.

[FunnyDuddies 6]

I wish the sling had worked for my kids. They were little heaters and would over heat in those things. I would feel so bad putting them in and having them just drench themselves in sweat! It runs in the family. DH becomes a heater when he sleeps too.

Amy

[the best me 6]

Boppy Pillow...oh yeah! Or a vibrating bouncy seat. And big packs of sizes 2 & 3 diapers. They make swings with remote controls now. Cloth diapers. Big thumbs up on the thin blankets suggestion. A Pack-N-Play with bassinet (fits nicely in mom and dad's room while the little one is still, well, little). A baby monitor. Onesies.

OH! Help with sending out the baby announcements. You can do some of this before hand...addressing envelopes. She needs to be able to concentrate on having that baby home. That was a chore for me. But maybe she's more organized than I am.

Or offer to take a "Call list" of people she wants you to call when the baby is born. This cuts down on endless phone calls and distractions.

I LOVED getting meals at my house every night for the first week when I got home. Hubby went back to work and I never had to worry about dinner. Leftovers were lunch. Hot, real food, not junk. It was heaven. Our church has Meal Ministry teams that provide meals...wonderful if you could coordinate that with family/friends. I looked forward to a short visit and showing off the newborn to whoever delivered the meal that day.

Wow...fun thread!

[burnsun 27]

I have to second the sling. But you have to be a sling type person to want one. I can still carry my little five year old and I also use it to cover the cart or as a blanket and about every other thing you could think of- but again you have to be that type of person.

I always give the gerber lavendar baby lotion and bubble bath. My kids love it and it smells so good! I wish they made a spray for me in that fragrance.

I also liked the gift cards and that would go great tucked in that neat wreath thing! That way I could get something I really needed once they got here and needed some special bottle or were allercic to cotton or couldn't use ______ formula and need a special or something like that.

[paula 4]

How funny! All moms reporting in... the title caught us!

Pat, what did you use for the wreath part? When I was in the hospital for my 3rd, the girl across the hall had one of those wreaths on her door. I loved it! but never figured out how in the world to do it. :S

[Jessiebear 2]

I never thought I would get this many responses! LOl!! Thank you!! If I can't come up with a gift after all of this, I definately have issues!

[princess_n_thep 2]

My good friend just had her baby. For the gift, I wanted to be different. I bought a package at the spa for "maternal massage and pampering". SHE LOVED IT!!!

[MyKdsDad 1]

OK, the Dad reporting in....as we all know, with the first child EVERYONE goes hog wild overboard. The biggest highchair, the best carseat, the $100 outfits that they outgrow in about a month. But you always have those "things" that you and everyone else forgot. So, a well funded gift card might come in handy?????

And in response to all of you who are thinking, "Just like a man..." A keepsake lace hankerchief that is made into a cap for the baby. If the baby is a boy, you gift it to his wife at their wedding. If a girl, she wears it as "something old" at her wedding. A keepsake clay mold for baby's hand print. And a keepsake picture frame.

[paula 4]

Randy,

Im impressed. Those are GREAT ideas... coming from a man!

[rachele 0]

Definately a Bobby Pillow. They rock. And once the baby can support their head, a Bumbo Seat. I would have paid $100 for that thing. It helps them learn to sit up faster and my baby loved hers. No matter what, thats what all new babys are getting from me!

Here it is: http://www.bumboseat.com/adwords/bumbowords1.html

[giveyouthemoon 4]

Not a mom but was side by side with my sis when she brought her twin boys home from the hospital. The one thing we always needed were more onsies. It's hard to find time to do laundry so having a drawer full of clean dry onsies was super helpful. Get them in a variety of sizes since the little buggars grow up so fast.

I can also chime in on the boppy. It's a godsend. Esp. when there are two little hungry mouths!!

And you know, as boring as it sounds, it is SUPER helpful just to have a package of diapers. It's hard to get to the store with a newborn so we were really grateful to all the folks who had gifted my sis with diapers.

[GrizGirl 0]

The boppy pillow is great. I always needed onesies. I considered them disposable. When a diaper overflows its' boundaries, and you've got baby poop up one side and up the other, I just considered those onesies as one big disposable diaper wipe.

Also, I always like jammies with zippers that ran from neck down one leg to the foot. Zippers were much easier for me than the thousand tiny snaps on some of the jammies.

[HeatherGurl 0]

I think that my favorite thing when my little one was born was all of the onesies! I didn't have to wash her clothes for over a week. New mom's do not have time to wash clothes.

I noticed a lot of people posting about the Boppy Pillow... if your friend is a big girl, I would not recommend that. I bought one since everyone raved about it, and it wouldn't go around my big body the right way. How did you girls that are bigger get that to work?

GOOD LUCK!!!

[GrizGirl 0]

I didn't use the old boppy for its intended purpose..It was great for Sophie when she was learning to sit up, and I often times I would sit her in it to feed her.

[Anwyn 0]

HeatherGurl, I forgot about the size thing with the Boppy... I actually bought a plus sized one on a website for plus-sized maternity clothes. It was handmade (not from the boppy people) and I loved it. Boppy is missing out on a good chunk of the market share by not producing a bigger one.