Gift Basket for the Newly Expectant Mother

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Before I had Mila, I found it very difficult to get excited about a friend or family member’s pregnancy. I had struggled with fertility for many years and typically, the announcement of a pregnancy depressed me and sent me into the bathroom to cry. After having Mila, my excitement for newly expectant mothers took a drastic turn and now I get over-the-moon excited for people.

Although I typically know that several months down the road I’ll be gifting them something from their registry, I know that feeling of being a newly expectant mother and all the excitement that comes along with it.

My instinct these days, once I hear of a new pregnancy is to immediately purchase them a congratulations gift! Nothing crazy but a little collection of some of my favorite things or something that gets a new mother excited about their journey into motherhood. I typically plan that the next time I see them, I’ll bring a little gift basket along with me with a combination of some gifts for the new mom as well as gifts for the new baby! Here’s a few of my go-to’s.

BASKET

I always start with a rope basket. Not only is it a soft and sturdy container for the gifts but it’s perfect for the newborn nursery! Target has some great rope basket options. A few of my favorites are the Brightroom 11’ rope basket in white or the Brightroom 11’ rope basket in grey for only $8. I love the leather handles and the shape is great for holding books, creams, diapers or knick-knacks. Another go-to if I want to spend a little more or have larger items to carry is this Cloud Island rope bin for $16.99. I like to keep the basket shallow in depth so it’s easier to present all the gifts inside, without burying anything in the bottom.

Although I typically keep it pretty neutral, if I’m getting something more gender-specific, I love this Pillowfort pink basket with tassles for girls or this Cloud Island Elephant Basket for boys.

BOOKS

When I was pregnant, I read a book called The Happiest Baby on the Block. I wrote all about it here. I still swear by this book and I think it helped make me a better mother, my husband a better father, and helped us maintain some level of sanity when we became new parents. I love the book so much I tell EVERY new parent about it. For this reason, I always include it in my gift basket. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been thanked for sharing it with people so I continue to add it into my newly expectant mother gift basket.

Another book I add every time is The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton. We have been reading this book right before bed every night since Mila was sleep trained at 5 months (she is now 21 months). It’s a quick read and is a sweet story about getting ready to go to bed. It’s also a super affordable book and is a no-brainer addition to the basket.

As a personal touch we typically leave a little note on the inside of each of the books. The Happiest Baby on the Block coming from myself and Johny and The Going to Bed Book coming from Mila.

MOMMY TOTE

One of the best parts of becoming a newly expectant mother is this new title and you’ve suddenly inherited as MOM! Life as you know it is changing and you’ll be saying goodbye to your adorable sling bags and hello to diaper bags and totes! It’s truly incredible the number of things we have to carry around with us when we have a baby in tow! I love adding a cute “mom-tote” to my basket so that can be used later to haul around baby’s items or even as a hospital bag for labor! Here’s a few of my favorites.

This great little Mama Tote comes in both black and white options. I love the leatherette handles and it’s not obnoxiously large. It’s simple and sleek and is an easy option with most outfits.

One of my all-time faves is this “Nothing in This Bag Belongs To Me” tote. It’s a great size and even has a zipper making it super convenient for the hospital or when you have a ton to carry and want to make sure it doesn’t all come spilling out the second it gets tipped over. I’ve added this one to my baskets several times and it’s a real winner. It’s definitely a better option for the mom that has a little more of a silly personality so make sure you know your audience.

I’ve personally never bought this Woven Mama Tote Bag but I’ve thought about it. I love this style of tote for grocery (or Target) shopping or even for a picnic or beach tote. It probably wouldn’t fold down as well for adding to a basket but it could even be used in place of the basket!

TEETHER OR RATTLE

I love adding a sweet teether or rattle to the basket. They’re small and a must-have for any newborn. The Itzy Ritzy brand is by far my favorite! A few of my go to’s are:

The rainbow ring teether from Itzy Ritzy. Mila had this teether in pink and she loved it, and so did I! I’m a big rainbow fan.

I also LOVE this busy ring from Itzy Ritzy. It’s a little more expensive so I don’t always get it but it’s one of my favorites when I’m building a boy or gender neutral basket. There’s so many cute elements for baby to chew on and touch & feel. You can’t go wrong with this one.

I haven’t had a chance to buy this one since I came across it (all the baby announcements have been for boys!) but I adore this bunny lovey teether from Itzy Ritzy. It’s super soft and has various elements for baby to love from the soft fur to the teething heart and the tags (babies love tags!).

Another winner is the Itzy Ritzy teething mitt. I didn’t discover teething mitts until Mila was already a little past that phase but this teething mitt comes in so many cute patterns and colors and is perfect for babies before they’re really able to grasp anything because is simply slides onto their hand like a glove. It’s also on the lower priced end.

Itzy Ritzy teething mitt dinosaur pattern

Newborn babies really can’t do much of anything but one of the very first toys Mila actually played with was this Winkel Rattle and Sensory Teether. Because it has so many strappy pieces, she was able to grasp onto it and shake it around. The center has a small rattle so she loved the sound and the straps were a great rubber to use as a teether. If I don’t add it to my basket, I always recommend this toy!

LITTLE SLEEPIES ZIPPIES PAJAMAS

I am absolutely obsessed with the Little Sleepies brand. Mila has 6 pairs of Little Sleepies Pajamas but I’d have more if I didn’t have a rule around buying them (I only buy a new set as she moves up to the next age/size). The great thing about Little Sleepies is that they fit FOREVER. As a new parent, you discover how quickly your baby grows and therefore grows in and out of clothes in a snap of your fingers. It’s almost infuriating - especially when that little outfit that you paid way too much for was only worn once and now they’ve outgrown it.

With Little Sleepies, one pair (size) will fit 3 to 4 times longer than any other clothing they own. Mila wore her newborn size from the time she was born until she was 9 months old. She still wears pairs that are meant for 9-12 months even though she’s nearly 2 years old (and in the 90+ percentile in height and weight). Not only do they fit forever but they feel AMAZING! They’re SO soft.

I don’t always add Little Sleepies to the initial gift basket (I sometimes save them for the baby shower) but either way - every new baby gets a pair! Here are a few of my faves:

baby wearing Little Sleepies pastel rainbows zippies

Little Sleepies pastel rainbows zippies are the ones we first bought Mila in the newborn size. I was obsessed with these!! Newborns wear pajamas A LOT and I refuse to use anything but zippered pajamas (who wants to button up 15 buttons at 3am?) so she practically lived in these.

Because I loved those so much, I often buy the blue rainbows zippies for boys or the rust rainbows zippies if I’m keeping it neutral. We never had these ourselves but I commonly buy the luna neutral zippies because the pattern is neutral and absolutely ADORABLE! I love love love these ones!

Another set we bought Mila for her 0-3 size was the mermaid magic zippies. I loved the colors and at the time, their pattern options were much more limited.

For the Summer baby, these yellow chevron zippies are super cute and bright as well as the sunny zippies. I feel like you can never go wrong with yellow, especially for girls.

The options are seriously never ending! They do amazing Holiday themed patterns for Halloween, Christmas, Valentines Day and I think St. Patrick’s Day and maybe Thanksgiving. Not to mention, they do family matching so obvi I have a few matching pairs with Mila. Adding this to your basket is sure to be a hit.

SWADDLE OR LOVEY

I’ll be honest, between gifts and hand-me-downs I probably owned 25 swaddle blankets. I’m not talking about the velcro swaddles, I’m talking swaddle blankets. However, we used them for EVERYTHING so my policy is that it’s always a safe bet to gift a swaddle. A few of my favorite swaddle blankets are:

The aden and anais Silky Soft Swaddle Blankets. This blue set was the exact ones we had. They are SO SOFT! They come in super cute patterns and you’ll want to snuggle a baby forever if they’re wrapped in one of these swaddles. I received them as hand-me-downs and they had most certainly had some wear but they stayed in great shape and looked great! They also offer the aden and anais Silky Soft 2 pack that’s a little more affordable.

Parents holding baby in Posh Peanut leopard swaddle

I was gifted this Posh Peanut leopard swaddle and bow set and I loved the stretch it had. It made it super easy to swaddle Mila up tight and the fabric is bamboo so it’s super soft and cozy. We even did some newborn photos with her in this one.

I never used these myself but I commonly buy these Life Tree Muslin Swaddles because the patterns are super cute and they’re a little less expensive than some others. The Life Tree brand has options galore, so if you have a specific theme going, you’re sure to find a coordinating swaddle.

If you go the lovey route, there are so many cute options! This one by Crevent has a ton of character options and is less than $10 making it a great add to the basket. This Oatmeal colored Mary Meyer lovey is super cute if your basket is neutral. And if you want to get super matchy with some Little Sleepies, they offer a slew of lovey’s that match with their zippies pajama patterns, like this sprinkles lovey that coordinates with their new sprinkles patterned pajamas and playsets.

OTHER ITEMS

Depending on how close I am with the person, I sometimes add a few additional items, a little more specific to the pregnant woman. That’s things like Burts Bees Belly Butter stretch mark cream, Preggie Pop Drops if I know they’ve been struggling with morning sickness, or some grip socks for the hospital.

PREPARED BASKETS

Of course you can design and customize your gift basket with any combination of items and add your own personal favorites too! But if you really want to make this easy on yourself, I’ve put together a few bundle options with links so you can quickly pull together the perfect basket.

The Classy Neutral Basket (~$100)

Brightroom 11’ rope basket in white

The Happiest Baby on the Block

Goodnight I love You

Mama Tote

Itzy Ritzy Link and Love Llama

Life Tree Rainbow and Fog Swaddles

Burts Bees Belly Butter

Pretty in Pink Girls Basket (~$100)

Pillowfort Basket with Pink Tassles

Itzy Ritzy Ring Rattle in Pink

The Happiest Baby on the Block