Need unique baby gift suggestions for....

<p>I’m also a big fan of books. Since their kids are older they have likely parted with the classics:</p>

<p>Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Goodnight Moon
If you give a mouse a cookie, moose a muffin, pig a pancake - they are now in 1 volume
board books by Sandra Boyten</p>

<p>My kids still both love the sterling silver banks (bunny & bear) my mom gave them for their 1st birthday. (they are fairly indistructible, so we let them play with them as toddlers). </p>

<p>As far as unique bathing suits, both of my kids got cold in the pool up to age 5, so we had baby wetsuits - people always commented that they were a great and asked us where to get them:</p>

<p>[Welcome</a> to Warm Belly Wetsuits! Add more pleasure to your child’s water sports experience.](<a href=“http://www.warmbelly.com/]Welcome”>http://www.warmbelly.com/)</p>

<p>You can’t have too many burp cloths (or as we called them at our house, urp cloths.) Buy nice cloth diapers in colors and customize with trims or fabric. If you don’t sew look for them on Etsy.</p>

<p>My 13 yo still sleeps with his personalized Lands End baby blanket. It’s soft and a great price:</p>

<p>[Teddy</a> Bear Scottish Lace Baby Blanket from Lands’ End](<a href=“http://www.landsend.com/pp/TeddyBearScottishLaceBabyBlanket~9665_-1.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::BLU&CM_MERCH=IDX_00005__0000001191&origin=index]Teddy”>http://www.landsend.com/pp/TeddyBearScottishLaceBabyBlanket~9665_-1.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::BLU&CM_MERCH=IDX_00005__0000001191&origin=index)</p>

<p>I always give a hand-made quilt as a new baby gift. It’s a unique, one of kind gift and can be personalized.</p>

<p>(I make the quilts myself but you can also buy one. I’ve sold quilts for years. Try googling for your local quilting store. They will either have some on hand for sale or can put you in touch with quilters who will either have a quilt or two to sell or will custom make one or you. Your local quilt guild can also put you in touch with quilters who will make a quilt for you.)</p>

<p>BTW, both my Ds still sleep with their baby quilts. And they’re both 20-somethings.</p>

<p>I like to give new babies a T-shirt or sweat shirt from their parents’ alma mater.
I find the online bookstore for that college & then have it shipped, usually a size 2T will fit when baby is about a year old. </p>

<p>Of course if the parents are not college grads, you can’t do this! :)</p>

<p>Are you artistic? For my best friend I made four paintings for the babies room… cartoons drawings of a lion, an alligator, a pig, and a giraffe.</p>

<p>Books:
Napping House
I’ll Love You Forever
Velveteen Rabbit
Guess How Much I Love You
1 Caldecott Winner and then 1 every Christmas/Birthday/Easter (celebration/holiday) and then as they get older a Newberry award winner…
Stellaluna
A Collection of Jan Brett books</p>

<p>A personalized toy box- wooden with a safety latch- and then fill it each year with a classic toy ( 1 or 2)…wooden train (Thomas), cloth rag dolls, blocks, push/pull toys, madame alexander dolls, and adjust as they get older…</p>

<p>You might be able to find a toy chest with a combo bookcase that can be personalized. And later the toy chest can be a blanket/quilt chest with a bookcase. </p>

<p>Have FUN!</p>

<p>Kat</p>

<p>I somehow got in the habit of getting my nieces and nephews the same thing, although for their first birthday (sounds like maybe they already have the newborn stuff?). It was a personalized stepping stool thing. There are various kinds–some have the name in sort of puzzle letters: [Personalized</a> Step Stools : Childrens Step Stool : ItsJust4Me.com](<a href=“Loading”>Loading) ; I went more with the painted ones, that come in really cute designs, more like: [Kids</a> Step Stools](<a href=“http://www.ababy.com/data/kids-step-stools-1.html]Kids”>Kids Step Stool | Wooden | 2 Step | Puzzle Stools | Personalized) . Looks like Pottery Barn has a good assortment. They were personalized, and can be used as a little seat, or to climb up a bit. Seemed to hit at an age when the kids were starting to explore. Got pretty good reviews from the parents. Some have a little storage area, although one mom told me sometimes the lid kind of slammed down on her daughter’s fingers. Oops.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>That one made me stop and think! Of course, when I saw the word “walker” I was thinking of the ones used by the mobility-impaired! I know it’s nice to give a gift that can be used in the future, but the thought of one of “those” walkers for an infant really just made me laugh!</p>

<p>Some of the most unique baby (and other) gifts anywhere can be found at Uncommon Goods. Really interesting design qualities and just plain fun!</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.uncommongoods.com/for-kids/baby-gifts-0-3-years[/url]”>http://www.uncommongoods.com/for-kids/baby-gifts-0-3-years&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Most stuff is recycled or handmade. They even have a set of ‘indestructible books’ made from a Tyvec-like material. Judging how my own kid <em>literally</em> chewed books to pieces, this might work! </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/indestructibles-book-set[/url]”>http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/indestructibles-book-set&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If the baby is a girl, you might like this idea, which is what my aunt did for me and all my female cousins. She started us with a necklace with one pearl. Every year for our birthdays, she would add 1 or 2 smaller pearls on each side. Once in a while, she would add a new larger one in the center. As young adults, we each had our own very lovely pearl necklaces. I didn’t appreciate it much when I was younger, but as an adult, it’s one of my treasured possessions. I have worn it for most special occassions in my life.</p>

<p>Do they live in a city that might have a good place to take a child for entertainment? Like a zoo or a children’s museum (with a play place for infants-toddlers)??? A year’s membership might be fun- they might not have belonged to the zoo as adults, but a zoo membership could be a fun outing for them over the next year or so!</p>

<p>Ok, just one more thing …I just saw this on Groupon:</p>

<p>[Akron/Canton</a> Deal of the Day | Local Daily Deals from Groupon](<a href=“http://www.groupon.com/akron-canton/]Akron/Canton”>http://www.groupon.com/akron-canton/)</p>

<p>It’s a Teddy Bear that allows someone (the parents) to record their voice in songs or stories and then the baby/child can play it when they go to bed!</p>

<p>Maybe a love it or hate it present, but certainly unique!</p>

<p>When someone has a baby girl, I love to give ruby slippers (you can find red sequined baby shoes a la Dorothy at a number of stores) and a Wizard of Oz soundtrack CD. Moms usually love this, and when the baby is big enough to wear the shoes, she literally stops walking to bend over and stare at her own feet!</p>

<p>I actually went into my kids (22 and 26) rooms to see what was THERE from when they were babies. There isn’t much. BUT…</p>

<p>DS has a little child wooden rocking chair. He used it when he was little (from the time he could walk on his how until about age 5). We will hopefully give it to his children someday.</p>

<p>We have a relative having a baby this year. I am giving them a very nice copy of a book of The Night Before Christmas along with a handful of nice ornaments, and an ornament storage box. (They also come from a large family and clothes would not be needed).</p>

<p>Thanks again for all the suggestions.</p>

<p>Late last night, I was finally able to sign onto the Babies R Us gift registry and they were listed. Amazingly, a lot of the items that go into making the Diaper Cake were on their registry and had not been filled, so I’m leaning that way.</p>

<p>I love so many of the ideas presented, but since I have no idea of how they chose to decorate the nursery (and I’m sure it’s been done all matching) I’d rather not purchase anything that might clash or go with their theme.</p>

<p>And this is a baby boy, so many of the cute ideas for girls are not an option :(</p>

<p>So many of the books are classic books (oh, did I mention the new mom is a teacher, so I’ll bet books were a popular gift from friends, students, etc.). We have many of them, and have saved the really classic ones for hopefully, our future grandchildren. I do like the idea of the new book that is just about to be published, though.</p>

<p>I also love uncommongoods. I get their catalog already!</p>

<p>I hope this thread provides ideas to other people who might be faced with looking for original ideas down the road.</p>

<p>I think most people get way too many clothes, and I like to give something a little more personalized and that will last. I have had good luck the last 5 years giving a silver cup engraved with name and birthdate, and a matching spoon. Everyone seems to like it and it is something different. I like the idea of a personalized blanket too, but I usually don’t want to wait for it to be made.</p>

<p>DS and DD got three (each) engraved silver or pewter cups and spoons when they were born. Just this year, I polished them, and tied pretty red satin bows on them to use as Christmas tree ornaments (reality check here…they were NEVER used for eating or drinking) but they were very nice gifts nonetheless.</p>

<p>Another nice gift we got…we used engraved baby announcements. Someone got ours framed in a beautiful frame with very pretty matting for our son.</p>

<p>How about…a personalized photo album? You can include a package of photo paper, and a gift certificate to Staples (or whatever) so they can buy lots of ink cartridges for their printer.</p>

<p>I had no idea there was such a thing as a baby registry! Wow!</p>