Baby Gifts: Shop for the Baby, Not the Parents

Babies can be the most difficult people to buy gifts for – we have no idea what they like! But then again, we do know their needs, and we know about their parents well enough. These little pieces of knowledge are often enough to help you come up with great baby gift baskets – and they're pretty easy to prepare, too.

Of course, that doesn't mean that you can just throw anything into a basket and expect it to be received well – parents of a new baby would probably wonder why you prepared a basket filled with solid food. It's best to give something that the new baby can use for a long time. Here are some tips on which kinds of baby gift baskets are the most popular.

1.) Clothes and Toys. Every baby needs soft clothes to keep warm, as well as toys to keep them occupied while in the crib. You can fill a basket with clothes and toys themed around a single color – blue and purple is best for boys, while pink and yellow goes best for girls. Red, purple, and green are colors that can be used for babies as well. If you can afford it, shell out an extra few dollars to have the clothes and toys personalized with the new baby's name.

2.) Blankets and Pillows. Newborn babies sleep a lot – up to 20 hours a day – so it's also a good idea to give new baby blankets and pillows. A baby gift basket with blankets and pillows may also contain a storybook for the parents to read, plus maybe a musical toy to help lull the little guy to sleep. It may also be a good idea to include a milk bottle that's suited for the outdoors, in case the baby decides to snooze while their parents take him/her out for a walk.

3.) Stuff for bath time. During the few hours of the day when the baby is awake, they always look forward to bath time. Babies love to kick and splash in the water, especially when they learn to sit up and hold things. A great bath-themed gift basket would contain some hypo-allergenic bath items, like baby baths, talcum powder, towels, and bath toys.

But why not give all of the above-listed baby gifts? Nothing says you care more than a whole welcome wagon gift basket! You can easily take a small toy wagon or cart and fill it with everything a new baby may need – clothes, toys, blankets, pillows, and bath time items. Personalize these items and you'll have a gift basket that the baby's parents will appreciate for a long, long time.

Another way to let the put a smile on the parents' faces is by customizing the gift basket to reflect a parent's occupation or profession. If the dad is a construction worker, for instance, you could get a toy wheelbarrow and fill it with baby items and toys themed around construction. If the mom is a teacher, you can combine a small blackboard (to write the baby's feeding schedule, for instance), some toy blocks, and clothes with numbers and letters. A gift basket is always more thoughtful the less generic it is!

An even easier way to bring the parents into the picture is to put together a sports-themed gift basket for the new baby. If the parents are fans (or even players) of basketball, football, tennis, or any other sport, feel free to theme your gift basket around that. You don't know just how cute babies can be until you see them wearing a martial artist's black belt uniform.

Everyone knows that babies grow pretty quickly during the first few months, and it's a pretty exciting activity to watch and record a baby's growth. There are many kinds of growth charts out there that make a welcome addition to any baby's basket – you can be sure the entire family will be using it for years to come.

As the baby grows older, they'll begin to appreciate picture books and storybooks more. It won't hurt to include a few good books in your basket – it's a pretty good investment for the child's development. You can make it even more special by giving books that the parents used to enjoy in their youth, such as the classics by Dr Seuss and Charles Schulz.

Another great thing you can do with books is to have them personalized. Personalized storybooks are a growing trend among new parents these days – all you have to do is to find an author of these storybooks and give the child's name. When a child's still young, having their name in a storybook can be a pretty novel experience, especially when their parents read their stories over and over.

And of course, you can't go wrong with toys. Babies start out with chew toys and little things that they can grasp with their tiny hands. As they grow older, they'll like toys that require hand-eye coordination, like push-button toys and building blocks. Stuffed toys are also great companions in the crib, and can help little kids fall asleep even when their parents are in another room.

As the child grows older, it isn't a bad idea to give them board games and other games that are usually reserved for kids of schooling age. For instance, chess is a great game that challenges and develops their analytic skills. It can be great fun for a child to play at an adult's level so early in life – and the less the adult knows about playing chess, the better the game gets!

When you're putting together a baby's gift basket, you should always keep in mind that the baby will be doing two things best – growing and developing. As such, some gifts last longer than others. Try not to give short-term gifts like nappies and baby formula – the mom and dad probably already has that covered. Instead, try to think of baby gifts that are for keeps.