Welcome Home Newborn

I always found that cooking a meal and bringing it over is the best! Something that freezes is even better because that way if they can't use it now, it will come in handy on the night that they don't want to cook. Just an idea!

Food! My nieghbor and 2 other friends made us dinner. It was a great help. They brought them spread out over the first few months.
K.

Dear S.,
I agree with the food. When I had my first son, my best friend came over one day and watched him while I slept. Ever since when ever one of my friends has a baby, I go over and watch the baby so they can get some sleep. For my friend I watched her baby, made a nice meal and did a load of laundry. It was that hard and was really appreciated. We still talk about that even though that happened over two years ago. Some times people are to afraid to ask for someone to watch the kids so they can get rest, but really could use the extra sleep. What about taking her other child for a day?
B.

Offer to babysit for them sometime so mom and dad can go out together for dinner of a movie.

Hi S.,
With all of my friends, I brought them dinner when they had babies, and something for the mom like bath stuff or whatever. In my moms group, we bring a new mommy meals for a week so she won't have to think about cooking. All moms I know appreciate the thought and love the fact they don't have to cook!!!

C.

As a mother of 4 I would say take over a dinner, either made or bought it doesn't matter and will be much appreciated!

Starbucks gift cards are great, especially if you are a coffee addict. :P Or Target, or Babies R Us...etc.

Any of the ideas below are great. Also, maybe bring something over for the new mother. Maybe a gift card for a manicure or pedicure. I know that if someone would have gotten me something I would have been overjoyed. Just a thought

A dinner is a WONDERFUL gift with having a second baby!!! :)

Definitely food! My neighbors made two huge casserole dishes for us and it was perfect - my husband and I were able to just enjoy being parents.

Wow. That is so nice of you. We just moved in to our neighborhood a month before delivering and our neighbors knew we were pregnant with twins (as they met my parent's who were helping us take care of our house since we were in city at NICU) and they didn't do squat...wish we had a neighbor like you! I would say dinner/certificate to order in dinner somewhere/baked goods/a free babysitting time with eldest child to give mom time with baby.

One of my favorite gifts for my 2 kids has been a beautiful wooden alphabet block with their Initial, and info. Check out www.craft-e-family.com and hit on the baby block order form link. There is a picture there. They are very nice, high quality and unique! You do need the baby's info: name, dob, city of birth, weight, length, time of birth, parents names.

When my neighbor had her second child, what I did was I made dinner for them and delivered it and gave the older child a special toy for being a new big brother. I know that the newborn gets nothing, but the gift is more for the mom. Dinner made and something to occupy the older child so mom can get some rest. This was the best thing that I got when I brought home my second, third and fourth child. I thought that it was the most thoughtful gift anyone could have given!!

S.

Chocolate for the mom!! When I had my son, it never occurred to me that someone would bring me a gift (a gift for me, not the baby). Well, someone brought me a bag of tons of different candy bars. I loved it!!

When I have my second baby, I hope someone brings me chocolate, dinner, Infant Tylenol, and diapers!

Pampers. Buy a package of Swaddlers.

I gave my neighbor a gift certificate to get the kids picture taken. JC penney, sears, picture people. My Target does an awesome job with portraits.

I also agree with bringing over dinner. It really is a huge help to have a meal thats already prepared and ready to eat. If you still wanted to provide a gift, maybe take the older child off their hands for awhile?

I usually bake something like a quick bread and take it over. If I have the time and the mood strikes, I might add something like a small stuffed animal or rattle or a little outfit (Even with a second child - I think every baby needs a couple of cute new outfits of their own - and unless they are born at the same time of year in this climate, they won't be able to use everything for baby 2 anyway.)

The dinner suggestions were really nice, too! Really, any gesture is so much appreciated. I still remember how wonderful it made me feel when some of our neighbors bought us little gifts for my first boy, and I try to do the same for other people when I can. It doesn't have to be much.

get her some of the necessities. I bought my neighbor some diapers, wipes, and nursing pads when she had her baby. That is always something that they will get use out of =)
Also, infant tylenol, burp cloths, (I could never have enough of them) or just a gift card to a store you know they shop at!!

All of my neighbors brought me food! I was able to freeze stuff to have for later. After baby number 4, cooking was the last thing I wanted to do!

takeout/delivery gift certificates and a small something to keep the older child busy. crayola color wonder stuff is great since the kids can color with the markers that don't mark anything but the special paper that comes with the stuff!

I just had a baby 3 weeks ago. The best gift people brought to our home was a meal. Something they can eat that night and then have left overs for would be my suggestion. We had people even bring in Portillos which was perfect (if you don't cook). FOOD< FOOD> FOOD!!!

Check out Baby Splendor for unique gift ideas -- www.susiemaryellen.mybabysplendor.com. I can give you some suggestions if you e-mail me at ____@____.com.

Hi S.
I'm new to Mamasource - I'm a mom of 2 as well as a certified doula and childbirth educator. A simple but wonderful gift that mom will treasure for years to come is, believe it or not, a meal! Especially with two kids, who has time to cook? Homecooked or take-out from one of her fave restaurants - also maybe a little something for her, like a gift certificate to a spa or even a handmade gift certificate for a night of babysitting when she's ready to go out for a date night again. Good luck! I'm sure she'll appreciate whatever you get her. :)
- A.
____@____.com

Dinner! Either bring over dinner (like KFC or something) or a gift cert for a place.. or something taht they can just heat up and or freeze!

When we had our second, no one thought about us.. so that's really useful! =) IMO.

I'm sure any gift would be appreciated. I agree with the previous posters that food or gift certificates would be very handy.