New Parents Gifts – for modern parents when should we give them, what should be in them?

What do new parents actually want?

There you go.

Quite a big question to start with.

Because buying a new baby gift should be lovely.

Someone you know has had a BABY.

An actual tiny new person has arrived.

Lovely news.

So why do we immediately turn buying the present into some sort of exam?

What should I buy?

When should I send it?

Should I buy for the baby?

Should I buy something for Mum, Mama, Dad or Daddy too?

Do they need another blanket?

What size clothes?

Pink?

Blue?

Neutral?

Have they already got seventeen muslins?

Probably.

Will they need eighteen?

Also probably. 😂

We've been making new baby hampers for years, and we think we sometimes make this much more complicated than it needs to be.

So, kettle on.

Let's sort it out.

When should you give new parents a gift?

Whenever it feels right.

Sorry. Not very scientific, is it?

But there really isn't a rule.

You might give a present at the baby shower before the baby arrives.

You might wait until you hear the lovely news.

You might send something to their home during those first few days.

Or you might wait.

And actually, we rather like that last option too.

Because everybody gets terribly excited when a baby first arrives.

Messages.

Flowers.

Cards.

Presents.

Visitors.

And then a few weeks later, everybody else goes back to normal life.

Except the new parent or parents.

They're still there.

Probably tired.

Possibly wearing something with baby sick on it.

Trying to remember what day it is.

A gift arriving then can be rather lovely.

There is no expiry date on saying:

I've been thinking about you.

Should a new parents gift be for the baby or the parent?

Both is our answer.

Or all of them, if there is more than one parent.

Not very helpful if you were hoping we'd pick a side. 😂

Of course we want to celebrate the baby.

But it's very easy for the person or people who have just become parents to disappear slightly behind all the excitement.

Suddenly everybody wants to know about the baby.

Is the baby sleeping?

How much did the baby weigh?

Does the baby have hair?

Who does the baby look like?

Meanwhile Mum, Mama, Dad, Daddy — or whoever makes up this little one's particular family — is standing approximately three feet away thinking…

Hello. We're here too.

Families come in all shapes and sizes.

One parent.

Mum and Dad.

Mummy and Daddy.

Mum and Mama.

Dad and Daddy.

Two mums.

Two dads.

Birth parents.

Adoptive parents.

However a new family has come together, something enormous has happened in their lives too.

That's why we love putting something for the grown-ups into a baby hamper.

It doesn't have to be extravagant.

Chocolate.

A lovely mug.

Tea.

Bath salts.

A little treat that's very clearly theirs.

Just something that quietly says:

We thought about you too.

What should be in a new parents gift?

Useful things.

There. We've said it.

And useful does NOT mean boring.

We don't know when we decided that practical presents somehow weren't thoughtful enough.

A beautiful soft cotton baby blanket is useful.

A large muslin is useful.

A lovely hooded towel is useful.

A baby sleepsuit is useful.

A teething toy will become VERY useful.

And we can promise you that no exhausted new parent has ever looked at a clean muslin at 3am and thought:

"Bit unimaginative."

😂

Modern parents don't necessarily need more stuff.

They need good stuff.

Things that wash well.

Things that feel lovely.

Things they'll reach for again and again.

Things that have earned their place in the house.

That's always in our heads when we're choosing what goes into our hampers.

Beautiful is good.

Useful is good.

Beautiful AND useful?

Now we're talking.

What do modern parents actually like?

This has changed.

And we love that it has.

Neutral doesn't mean cream, cream and… slightly different cream anymore.

We've got sage.

Taupe.

Stone.

Oatmeal.

Natural cotton.

Beautiful muted colours.

Wooden toys.

Organic cotton babywear.

And yes, there are elephants, giraffes, bears, books, bath salts , shower steamers....

But pink and blue haven't suddenly become wrong either.

If you know they're having a little girl and you see something gorgeous in pink that immediately makes you think of them?

Buy the pink.

Same with blue.

The point isn't to follow a baby-gift trend.

It's to choose something that feels right for them.

What about organic and natural baby gifts?

We think this matters increasingly to modern parents.

Not because every single thing a baby owns needs an impressive list of environmental credentials attached to it.

But because people are thinking more carefully about what they're bringing into their homes.

We use things such as organic cotton babywear, cotton and bamboo blankets and muslins, natural baby products and thoughtfully chosen reusable items across our hampers.

For us, though, sustainability also means something much less complicated:

Will they actually use it?

Because there isn't much that's sustainable about filling someone's house with things they don't need.

Do new parents need another baby blanket?

Probably.

😂

This is one of those questions people worry about far too much.

"But what if somebody else buys them one?"

They'll use blankets in the pram.

The car.

Downstairs.

Upstairs.

At Grandma's.

At Nana's.

At Granny's.

At Nanny's.

At Grandad's.

At whichever member of the family has volunteered to hold the baby while somebody drinks an entire cup of tea while it's still hot.

At 2am when nobody can remember where the other blanket went.

Same with muslins.

And bibs.

And baby clothes.

Babies have an extraordinary ability to make clean things become not-clean-things at a speed that frankly deserves scientific investigation.

Duplicates of genuinely useful things aren't necessarily duplicates at all.

They're spares.

And new parents understand the difference very quickly.

Should I buy baby clothes?

Yes, if you'd like to.

But here's one useful thought.

Babies have not read the labels.

A newborn baby does not necessarily arrive at "newborn" size.

Some barely fit into tiny baby clothes.

Some arrive looking as though they've already got a paper round.

So don't get too hung up on it.

If you're worried about sizing, choose something that will fit later or choose a gift containing fewer sized items.

Blankets, muslins, toys, teethers, towels, keepsakes and treats for the parent or parents don't care how much the baby weighed.

Problem solved.

Should a new parents gift be expensive?

No.

It should be affordable for you.

We feel quite strongly about this.

Please don't turn somebody else's lovely news into financial pressure on yourself.

There isn't a tariff.

Good friend — £50.

Work colleague — £30.

First grandchild — remortgage the house.

Woah there, Nana. 🐎

It doesn't work like that.

Sometimes twelve people from work are clubbing together and there's a lovely big budget.

Sometimes you're sending a little something yourself.

Both are gifts.

Both say you remembered.

£100 does not automatically say I care about you more loudly than £40.

The thought does that.

And what about the box?

Now this might be controversial coming from people who literally sell things in boxes.

But…

We don't think there's one "right" way a new baby gift should be packaged.

Some people LOVE a beautiful keepsake box.

And we understand why.

Long after the baby clothes have been outgrown, it can become the place for hospital bracelets, first cards, photographs and all those tiny things nobody can quite bear to throw away.

Other people love a traditional hamper or basket.

And sometimes you simply want lovely packaging that does its job beautifully without being the main event.

That's why we give you different options.

You choose what feels right for the people you're buying for, the occasion and the amount you want to spend.

We're not going to tell you that you need the most expensive box to make your gift feel special.

Because whichever packaging you choose, we'll make sure the gift inside it feels properly thought about.

The blanket they'll use.

The clothes the baby will wear.

The toy that ends up being dragged everywhere for three years.

The chocolate somebody hides so nobody else eats it.

The packaging is part of the gift.

It just doesn't have to be the part that decides how thoughtful the gift is.

So what makes a really good new parents gift?

We think it's actually very simple.

Something for the baby.

Something useful.

Something lovely.

And, if you want to, something that acknowledges the parent or parents too.

But there's one more thing.

The message.

Please write the message.

Even if you don't know what to say.

"Congratulations on your beautiful new arrival."

Perfect.

"Can't wait to meet them."

Lovely.

"You're going to be a brilliant parent."

Wonderful.

"You're going to be brilliant parents."

Also wonderful.

Or just:

"Thinking about you all."

Because eventually the muslins will be washed approximately 400 times.

The clothes will be outgrown.

The chocolate will most definitely be gone.

But that little card might end up in the keepsake box.

And years later somebody may find it again.

That's why we handwrite the gift messages our customers send us.

Because the hamper might be what arrives at the door.

But it isn't really what you're sending.

You're saying:

Congratulations.

We remembered.

We're thinking about you.

You matter to us.

And after all these years of making new baby gifts, we still think that's the most important thing you can put in the box.

And if there's a new parent or new little person you've been thinking about while reading this...

Come and have a look.

Choose something that feels like them.

We'll take care of the rest.

Find a new baby gift here

The In The Box Baby Hampers Team x