A quick google of ‘baby Christmas presents’ will give you a list of shops and blogs with affiliate links all trying to persuade you to get the latest expensive gift for your baby. But be warned! Babies are notoriously fickle and are likely to throw aside your carefully considered, expensive present, and surprise you by spending an hour with the kitchen whisk.
The truth is, your baby has no idea what Christmas is and isn’t going to be upset if they don’t receive any presents. So who are you buying for? Any gift for your baby at this stage is actually a gift for you. If it gives you pleasure to buy your baby something beautiful then go for it, but just know they might never be interested in it. So I’m giving you permission to buy something that isn’t strictly for your baby (but kind of is). Here’s what I mean:
Buy a present for yourself
All your baby needs is your love and attention. But it’s actually a pretty big ask to give constant love and attention on very little sleep and when your whole world has turned upside down. So work out what you need to be able to give that to your baby. It will be different for everyone, but here are some ideas:
- A night away alone with your partner
- Gym membership
- Massage/manicure/pampering
- Monthly night of babysitting so you can go out
- A cleaner
- A Borro gift card!
Instead of spending £100, or whatever your budget is, on expensive toys for your baby that they might never play with, spend it on something that will definitely make a difference to you and so actually make a big difference to your baby.
Buy a present that they need anyway
Highchair, bouncer, playmat, clothes, sling, walker - these are all things you were maybe planning to buy anyway, so why not count it as a Christmas present for your baby? But you don’t have to get a ‘really nice one’ just because it’s a Christmas present. These are all things your baby is only going to need for a couple of months. OK, they might need a playmat at the moment, but shortly they’ll be crawling and the playmat will become just another rug while your baby’s off ingesting whatever’s on the kitchen floor.
Whenever you’re about to purchase something for a small baby, calculate how many months they will likely use it to help work out if the price tag is worth it.
Remember you can rent their Christmas outfit from Borro and save loads as you only need it for one month!
Buy a present to help you capture those early memories
You might already have a baby book where you record key milestones, but one of my favourite purchases has been a Month of Sundays journal which allows you to document their whole childhood until they’re 18. This will be an amazing Christmas present for your baby in the long term!
If, like me, you’re yet to get round to going through the thousands of baby photos on your phone, use this as an excuse to print some off and display them, or make a photo book. A handprint/footprint casting or picture is another great way to preserve the memory of how small they were! These also make excellent presents for other members of the family, as well as yourself (and sort of your baby)!
Buy something that will last
If you hate all the ideas above and want to buy your baby a toy for Christmas, focus on something that they will love playing with for years to come. Think anything open-ended, for example:
- Building blocks
- Magnetic tiles
- Silks
- Figures
- Train set
- Balls
- Play food
- Doll’s house
These all offer loads of opportunities for creative and independent play. There’s loads of useful advice on this on 100 toys.
