Weddingbee boards

Hi hive!

My sister is expecting in one month!  I have already given the parents-to-be items off their registry, but I'd like to get them something more personal when the baby arrives.  Any suggestions?  They are expecting a boy, and the nursery is jungle-themed.  Theirs will be the first child of that generation for my family, so we're all super excited!

I have to tell you as a mother of twins-some of the BEST baby gifts you can get that can not only be personal, but personalized-is an ornament for their Christmas tree-Baby's first Christmas or a family ornament with mom and dad and baby's names on it. My sister has kids and she was always touched when someone remembered her older two kids when the new baby girl came along. Older kids can get lost in the shuffle. On a side note-not terribly romantic, but a gift that will TOTALLY (yeah-all caps again!) be appreciated and new parents rarely get is a gift bag full of things like infant tylenol, infant iburprofen, gas drops (simethicone), KY jelly, a rectal thermometer, wipes, diapers, diapers, and more diapers (here's a hint-NOT newborn size-some babies never fit in them bc they are born too big and they grow out of them very quickly-size one diapers are the best to get new moms). Also very valuable, if you live close enough, is free babysitting-not even necessarily for the nighttime-offer (and mean it and actually do it) to come over and watch the baby so she/they can sleep. Offer to come and stay at their house and be a night nanny-get up for feedings during the night for a night or two and she will LOVE you forever. Of course, if she is nursing, she has to get up to pump or nurse or both, but having an extra set of hands to change diapers and let her sleep is invaluable. I found that we got lots and lots of blankets, baby bath towels, etc. and some of (okay, most of) these went unused and/or unopened. Another really great gift is a container or two of Dreft. Its an infant laundry detergent-a necessity for baby's delicate skin. Another super gift is a run to the grocery store-or better yet-like one of my friends did-stocked my freezer with things like Lean Pockets, Stouffers, heat and eat meals...things that were quick, tasty and healthy. A gift certificate for something like Merry Maids if they service the area where she lives is also a good idea. If she is nursing, a delicacy like REALLY good decaf coffee is terrific, she can't have the caffeine, but she can have the taste of good coffee. Just some ideas here for you...

Sorry to babble on...just trying to give you some good ideas!

Thanks for all of the great ideas!  I think I'm going to put together a care-package with some of the suggestions listed so far.  Let me know if you can think of any additional items I should include!  :-)

Oooo, I just thought of-things to babyproof their house. After much trial and error with cabinet latches and fancy things involving magnets, the ones that worked the best were the multi-packs of white plastic cabinet latches from, I think, Walmart maybe? We have latches on all of our cabinets and drawers, then the kind that go on the front of the entertainment center, one on the fridge, on the outside doors (like going onto our deck), outlet covers and doorknob covers. These are fairly inexpensive and make great gifts. They are kind of a pain to install, but are very useful once those little chubby cheeks get mobile and especially after they become ambulatory! Other goodies-extra memory card for their digital camera, a flash drive just for baby pictures, gift cards to a place like CVS with a photo kiosk, photo paper for their printer and the ink cartridges to go with it, batteries for the baby monitor, and an additional smoke & carbon dioxide detector for the hallway leading into the nursery. All things we got as great gifts or had to purchase with two newborns in the house!