Best New Baby Present

These baby bonnets are wonderful, and made in the Dayton area:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5849564

Very very cute and useful!

I would say my fav is Arbonne's ABC baby set. Has a great oil for dry skin or cradle cap, diaper rash cream that works better then anything else I have ever tried. www.passion4more.myarbonne.com is where you can get it and when you get the set mom gets a free little gift too. a cream for her that is the best. You can even ask about having it made into a cute basket with some wash clothes and stuff.. I give this to all my friends when they have a baby! LOL
second best... probably diapers and blankets!

My daughter (now 2) absolutely LOVES something called "Super Yummy Teether" from Discovery Toys.
It's a phalate-free chewy plastic teething toy that has lots of surfaces and is hand-held.

She still uses it with her 2-year molars coming in because it reaches way back to her back teeth.

Hope it helps!

congrats on your baby girl! I have a boy and girl and my son is crazy for his "twilight turtle" here is the link to check it out http://www.cloudb.com/ssandf/turtle.html.
Hope this helps!
A.

Books are great... look on amazon at the top rated or most popular board books... there are some great ones out there (my son especially likes "Peek-a-Who?").
Our favorite baby present though was a Fisher Price Little People Noah's ark toy (the Playskool ball popper is another one of his favorite toys now that he's 14 months). We had been given a lot of the baby basics (like lotions, soaps, blankets, towels, diapers...) and didn't have any toys for our little boy down the road. It was really sweet that someone had thought of that. It seems like with a new baby people like to give you stuff for the first few months, but don't think beyond that.
I'm sure you'll come up with something great to give. A silky blanket is great... I know my son loves his as well... doesn't sleep without it!

BOARD BOOKS always make a Great gift! Really good/cute ones can be a little expensive ($10+/book) so a great gift since the new parents will be spending money on essentials. I have lots of good board books for my son and some of our favorites are:
Very hungry catepillar by Eric Carle
Counting Kisses by Karen Katz

My facorite thing for my son when he was a newborn was the Magic Blanket. YOu can only order it online. It is like one of those swaddler blankets. It really was a miracle. We used it until he coudl roll over and it helped calm him down and sleep for long periods of time.

Having a January baby myself (mine is almost 4 though) some of the gifts that I really appreciated were the baby wipe warmer..packaged with extra wipes, replacement pads for the warmer and diapers, a travel bottle warmer, and the kiddopatamus cozy up car seat cover. I realize that since her baby girl is already here she may already have some of these things. My other suggestions would be a gift basket of lotions, body washes, and other essential items not only for the baby, but for her as well. Of course this time of year everyone needs to keep moisturized. You could also include a gift certificate for her to go get a massage or a mani/pedi. We all know that every new mom could use a little relaxation and pampering. Most people forget about pampering the new mom as well.

A.,

What about a baby basket? You can put baby wipes, diaper rash creme (Merrill pharmacy has a fantastic creme, it works wonders!), shampoo, lotion, baby tylenol, baby bibs, etc.....

I hope this helps.

Sue

Hi, A.! I have a baby daughter myself, and I made her a baby bracelet with her name on it. Everytime I walk out the door, I get compliments on how cute it is! She has quite a collection of bracelets now, so she wears one every day. I have made a lot of baby bracelets as gifts for new babies and even toddlers and kids. If you would like one, I would be more than happy to make it for you! It's precious! I can e-mail you a picture of some that I've made so you can see them. I just made EIGHT for a friend of mine for her to give as gifts this Christmas! I don't think you can go wrong with a personalized bracelet!! Good luck!!

my very favorite baby things: vibrating baby papason (sp?) -it worked like a dream to get him to sleep. my other favorite was the over the shoulder baby holder (a sling) perfect for infant and toddler.

I can't say this is useful, but one of the most creative gifts I received after giving birth to my first child was a Build-A-Bear that was "born" on the same day (or so the "birth certificate" says...). Thought that was a really cute idea.

Hi A.,
One present I received with my first child was a pack of personalized baby burp cloths. My son is now 2 years old and I still have them. Also received a set for my new daughter now 2 months old. (Recently, I ordered some for a friend that had given birth too). Basically, I used to use them on their changing pad or anywhere I needed something soft and comfy. I loved the fact that it was so cute and it had their names embroidered. The website you can get them from is: Http://www.justplaincute.com. They let you choose the font type, color, and then the fabric border. They also have other gifts. Good Luck!

Two of my favorite baby gifts were a tape (I guess it would be CD now) of favorite lullabyes and the other was a small needlepoint pillow with a music box in it that played Brahms Lullabye for the crib.
I generally give afghans but then I make them and sell them sometimes, but you all ready covered the blanket area.

I think the frog pd from boon is pretty neat. (They also have a ladybug.) It is a green frog with a removable/vented scoop for a belly that gets toys out of the water easily and attaches to the wall of the bath. It holds bath toys, its legs can be used to hang wash cloths or any other wash items and it also has a shelf for baby wash/lotion.

The book THE TWELVE GIFTS OF BIRTH! AAAAAWESOME! One of those things you keep for LIFE!

There is a teddy bear you put near the baby as it is going to sleep it sounds like inside Mom before they were born, they are great and really cool.