Having Greg has taught us many things and we are still learning. One of the things we are learning now is how to buy gifts in future for our friends who have just delivered. Today I will share on some practical gifts that will be much appreciated by new parents.

1. Practicality comes before beauty - We have received a few hampers. Many of them are beautifully packed but sometimes the contents are not necessarily practical thus it leaves a lot of wastage. In fact, the packaging itself is a wastage. It uses a lot of plastic and many of the plastic are of low quality and cannot be recycled.


2. We got a hamper which looked really good but half of its contents are not suitable for usage. In fact, sorry to say, some of its contents are of not very practical (i.e the material used for the t-shirt is very warm) and hence we may not use it for the baby. We have also received a gift from Leslie's supervisor. It was not wrapped and was given in the parkson plastic just as how she bought it. The contents however were very useful. Even the parkson plastic can be reused again, this is what I would call practicality. Though the hamper looked beautiful, we appreciated the parkson packed gifts more because we could use them.


3. Buying clothes - In the market, there are not many new born clothes. Most of those sold are for infants age 6 months and above, hence, we actually don't have much new born clothes. Often the clothes we get are slightly bigger for the baby. Mittens and booties are very important for the baby as it keeps them warm and also prevents them from scratching themselves since their nails are difficult to cut at this fragile stage. Unfortunately, some manufacturers only focus on the cuteness of the attire, some mitten holes are so small that even the baby's hands can't fit into it, causing a possible injury when we try to force his hands in. The other problem we often face is the material of the clothes. Some clothes are so thick that is it not appropriate to dress the baby in it. In our weather condition, the best attire for infants at home is actually short sleeve shirts and shorts. Unfortunately, people rarely give short sleeve shirts and shorts. Most of the time, what we get are long sleeves and long pants. Hence we have not used any of those gifts for Gregory yet because we have not gone to any air-conditioned places with him yet.


4. Buying diapers - One of the most practical and appreciated gifts. We have received 3 big packs of diapers so far and thank goodness, they are all of good quality brands. I guess for now, we will not need to buy the diapers for at least 2 months. It is important to take note of the size of the diapers before buying. Imagine buying a big pack of diaper which is too small for the growing baby. What a waste it would be and probably the recipients will have to give it to others. It is also important to give diapers that are good quality because we should not compromise the comfort of the child's buttocks. If we buy diapers that are prone to cause diaper rash, then the recipients may not want to use it on their child and it would really be not nice to give something that is not good for your child for other people's child.


5. Other practical and much appreciated gifts include - toys (non hazard ones), baby wipes (lots of it), baby shampoo and powder (1 bottle of each is enough because it takes more than 1 month to finish 1 bottle) and ang pow.


6. Pati Ikan Haruan - Some people buy this for C-section mothers but for your information, many of these pati ikan haruans have been banned as they contain steroids. in fact, the hospital discourages mothers from consuming it too. It is said that ikan haruan should not be taken too much as the wound must heal slowly and naturally. The hospital has also encouraged mothers to consume to real fish, ideally from the padi field and not the mass produced ones instead of the processed ones.


7. Of course there are many other things which one can buy for a new born. However, it is always best to check with the parents on what they need to prevent wastage as well as the baby from getting more than 1 similar gift.