The Ultimate Guide to Gifting for Expecting Parents | Maternity Photographer in Bay Area
You are looking for the perfect gift for your expecting friends and Google search has left you more confused than when you started. I get it! Gift giving is hard! And giving gifts to expecting friends is harder. You want to give them something meaningful, something fun, something that will make them feel special and loved.
Well, I have just the right list for you. Each of these gifts are thoughtful and will surely bring a smile to your friend’s face.
Care package
Let’s start with the most personal one! A care package. Not the pre-packaged ones that you can pick off of Amazon but something that is personal to them, something you know they will appreciate and something you can curate yourself.
You can either pick their favorite little things and create a basket yourself to hand-deliver at their doorstep. Or there are some really good “Gift Box” services that carry a large variety of options you can pick and add to your basket. My personal favorite is ShopBoxFox. They have very elegant boxes and premium products. And to top their already pretty boxes, they add a handwritten note of whatever message you want to deliver.
Maternity Store Gift Cards
Every mom-to-be will end up spending endless hours online and in-person in the Maternity Stores. From their very basic needs of lounge wear to their favorite evening gowns and from maternity pillows to nursing supplies, Maternity Stores carry everything they will need for the next several months of their lives.
A gift card to their favorite Maternity Stores will be so much appreciated. I have curated a list of most popular Maternity Stores for you to choose from.
If you want to make it more special, offer to take them on a shopping spree, an afternoon spent with their best friend shopping and sipping tea, what more could someone ask for?
Meal prep subscription
Eating a wholesome diet is the top priority for every expecting mom. But it's also the most challenging task! Between the bouts of nausea, fatigue and soreness, your friend can hardly manage to munch on some multi grain cookies, cooking a wholesome meal is so out of sight. Don’t even get me started about going grocery shopping in the first few months where any smell can trigger nausea and throws the entire day off schedule.
Getting them a meal subscription will be such a blessing!
They will be able to get fresh, healthy food at their doorstep, ready to be cooked and served. Nourishment, not just for your friends but for the little one on its way!
Spa Gift Card
Everyone is painfully aware of the aches and pain that comes with pregnancy! I do not know one Mom-to-be who hasn’t experienced body aches throughout their pregnancy. The aching back after an entire day at work is a real pain in the ***. Giving your friend a prenatal or couples massage coupon will be so well received.
Who wouldn’t enjoy a day at the Spa, tending to their needs and having some me-time.
Memory Book for baby
Pregnancy is such a special time in a parent’s life. Filled with so many overwhelming emotions and hopes for the future.
A lot of moms and dads find comfort in writing letters or poems to their baby or just journaling this beautiful journey.
If this is your friend, by all means give them a memory book for their baby. And will be such an amazing gift to share with their baby when he/she is older.
Offer to help paint/decorate the nursery
Getting my baby’s nursery ready was the most heart warming part of my pregnancy. Assembling the little furniture, painting the walls, decorating the room, getting the closet ready and so on! The list is endless.
If you are up for it, offer to help your friends get their nursery ready. Brainstorm ideas with them and get going. What a beautiful and meaningful gift will it be? Not just for your friend but the little on its way!
Pregnancy and Parenting books
Well, one can not prepare enough to get on this crazy life journey! Can they?
Whether it’s their first baby or third, you can find really good books for both mom and dad on pregnancy and on being parents. From nourishment during and after pregnancy to bringing up resilient kids, the books out there are pure gold!
Besides, bringing up the little one is a loaded task and it doesn’t really come with a manual. So why not help your friends figure out their own blueprint.
Nursery Rocker
If there is one thing both me and my husband used before the baby and well after he was born was a rocker. From feeding the baby and reading to him to rocking him in the sleepless nights, our rocker was our one true best friend!
I can’t remember how many times I have fallen asleep in the rocker when I was too tired to go back and forth between mine and my baby’s room!
And do you know who is using the rocker right now? The said baby, who is now a toddler and loves to rock himself while reading his favorite books.
A gift that will truly be enjoyed by both the generations :-)
Sleeping class for baby
If you love your friends and want to be in their lives even after the baby is born, get them a baby sleeping class!
We were so sleep deprived the first few weeks that the idea of getting out of the house was excruciating. It was only when I got myself the Taking Cara Babies class that I found some sleep in my very exhausting days.
Since then I have been giving every single one of my pregnant friends and family members the Baby Sleep class as their baby shower gift. Even when they don’t ask for it! Because I know, they will need it.
So do your friends a favor and buy them this class. They will appreciate it in the coming months.
Maternity or Newborn Photoshoot
Now, there is nothing sweeter than the gift of memories, is it?
This beautiful journey and the new life on its way deserve to be documented and remembered forever! What can be more precious than the heirlooms your friends will create that will be passed down to generations?
Whether you give them a Maternity Photoshoot or a Newborn Photoshoot, you will give them a gift of heartwarming memories and art that they will cherish for the rest of their lives.
