5 Things to Bring Along When Visiting a New Mom


Many thanks to GiftsForYouNow.com for sponsoring this conversation. The opinions and text are all mine.

5 things to bring along when visiting a new mom. Love #3 especially!

You heard the great news that your friend survived labor and delivery and is settling in at home with her new little bundle of joy. Of course you can’t wait to go and see them! 

But before you head out the door, make sure you’re equipped with everything you need to make your visit a pleasant oneโ€”for the baby, sure, but especially for the new mama!

5 Things to Bring Along When Visiting a New Mom

1. Food!

When my son was born, it was literally months before I felt up to cooking a real meal. Taking care of a newborn is a full-time jobโ€”with no breaks and lots of overtime hoursโ€”so basic tasks like throwing dinner together can quickly become monumental hurdles.

That’s why I was always so thankful when our visitors showed up armed with something edible. A full meal is amazing, of course, but even just coffee and a muffin was enough to make my day!

My standby when visiting a family with a newborn? Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage!

2. A Camera

While it’s true the new mom has probably already snapped a million photos of her little one, she probably doesn’t have too many with her in them. And while she might not feel like she looks her best right nowโ€”what with the lack of sleep and showers and allโ€”the fact is that a mom with her newborn is a beautiful sight to behold. 

Capture a moment she wouldn’t be able to otherwise, and send her the results after your visit. It will bring a needed smile to her face after the 8th nursing session and 20th diaper change of the day.

3. Personalized Baby Gifts

Bringing along a personalized baby gift certainly isn’t mandatory, of course, but that level of thoughtfulness is so greatly appreciated by new moms. It shows that you were thinking of her and her baby specificallyโ€”not just the Gerber baby lookalike at your nearest Target.

Right now I’m loving the personalized baby gifts on GiftsForYourNow.com, a provider of personalized gifts for all occasions. It’s a great place to find custom, unique presents, usually at a much more affordable price than you’d find at a store in the mall.

Here are a few of my favorites the site is currently offering.

Engraved A Star Is Born Keepsake

Personalized-A-Star-Is-Born-Star-New-Baby-Keepsake

New Baby Wood Picture Frame

New Baby Wood Picture Frame

Embroidered Security Blankie

Embroidered Security Blankie

Embroidered Plush Elephant

Embroidered Plush Elephant

And my all-time favoriteโ€ฆ

ABC Baby Silver Alpha Block Bank

Personalized ABC Block Bank

4. A Helpful Attitude

Remember how I said cooking dinner feels like scaling a mountain when you’re caring for a newborn? The same can be said of doing the laundry, washing the dishes, and wiping down the kitchen table.

At some point during your visit you should offer to help out around the house for a few minutes, and be ready when the new mom takes you up on that offer!

5. A Watch

To help you keep your eye on when it’s time to hit the road!

There’s nothing worse than a visitor who overstays her welcome. Playing host can be exhausting for new moms who just want to squeeze in an extra fifteen minutes of sleep or grab a quick shower while the baby naps. Plus, those first few weeks are often a mom’s most treasured bonding time with her little one. 

Plan to stay for an hour max, then show yourself to the door. That’s plenty of time to check up on your friend, hold the baby, offer a gift, and do a household chore. 


What do YOU bring along when visiting a new mom? What was your favorite thing someone brought you?


17 responses to “5 Things to Bring Along When Visiting a New Mom”

  1. I’m of the side that less is more. I’d rather not have visitors after giving birth, especially C-section births.

    Yet, if one does visit, please bring health (common sense, yes, but last time a neighbor brought her super sick baby during a visit). Please bring listening ears, for what might be needed most may well be learned mid conversation or visit.

    Please bring strength. When we have our RCS, I won’t be able to be a Mom Gym for a while. If one is open to it, please hold, toss, lift, fly, etc. Susanna so she can enjoy, too.

    Thank you.

  2. Oh, I love that personalized wood frame! So cute and it would look good with any decor.

    Besides food, I loved it when my mom came to help and she cleaned. I thought I wanted her to physically help with the baby, but that’s impossible when the babies are breastfeeding machines. It was sooo much more wonderful for her to clean my house and made me feel good!

  3. I love those personalized gifts! I think the wooden frame is my favorite one! And it’s funny because when friends and relatives come over to visit here in Croatia they expect full service and not one of them has offered to give me a hand around the house. Must be cultural difference. Or I had lousy friends.

  4. Camera is a great suggestion! I just had my first baby on Saturday morning and so far I’m only in ONE picture with her!

    When my friend had a baby I brought her freezer meals, as well as ready-to-eat hot meal, and offered to hold the baby while she showered.

  5. I totally agree! And I do take my camera along.. even the pro camera!
    When I had my babies, all I really wanted was food. Honestly. Best gift on earth.

  6. You know, when I got to the sponsored part of this I started scrolling over it like I often do, but I have to say, those personalized gifts are actually pretty cute! Talk about a classy way to welcome a new baby into the world.

    Thanks for sharing!
    Brittany

  7. The camera is an awesome idea! – and the watch – always the watch! ๐Ÿ™‚ I need to order my friend a baby gift – so I will be sure to check out this site… those blocks were adorable!

  8. I wish your friends without kids would take the time to read something like this before coming over.
    I honestly wished I had more visitors bring food. It seems I was always hungry and a baby i couldn’t put down.

  9. Catching up on some posts of yours that I missed. These are so thoughtful! My favorite was always food because when I was nursing I was always hungry. ๐Ÿ˜‰ And it helped so much to have a meal already prepared.

  10. I really like your idea of bringing a camera so you can take a picture of the new mother with her child. We always get TONS of pictures of the newborn, but forget about mama and daddy sometimes!

  11. I think the best thing to bring is FOOD, FOOD and more FOOD! Something that can go in the freezer and be multiple meals. (Hopefully people are listening.. baby comes in July!)

  12. I dont. think out the five very soon to be six kids many people had much concerns of any of this once I went home from the hospital

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.