Baby's Safe Sleep
Meaningful Gifts for New and Expectant Moms

This Mother's Day, children across the country will celebrate their mothers with heartfelt gestures like breakfast in bed, homemade cards, and the occasional macaroni necklace. Below are a few ideas on how you can celebrate the new mom or mom-to-be in your life.

1. Babysitting coupon
   Offer mom time to catch up on sleep, go to the hair salon, run errands or do anything else she has neglected for the past few months. Or offer to babysit older siblings so mom can have some alone time with her new baby or time to herself before the new baby arrives.

2. A homemade dinner
   Offer to make mom dinner and to do the dishes. A new mom or mom-to-be is often too tired by the end of the day to even think about a home cooked meal but she most likely could use one. Make sure to include fresh vegetables and healthy options. A pregnant mom and a nursing mom both have to be thinking about their nutrition.

3. Magazine subscription
   New moms and moms-to-be often don't have time to read whole books, but magazines are great for some quiet entertainment.

4. Gift certificate for a manicure or pedicure
   Every mom needs to feel pampered after she has spent all of her energy focusing on someone else. Include babysitting for an hour or two as well, if needed.

5. Personalized jewelry with the name, birth date or birthstone of her new baby.
   A meaningful way to mark the occasion of a new birth is with a keepsake that mom can carry close to her. There are many companies these days that specialize in personalized jewelry.

6. A basket of the foods she was not able to enjoy when pregnant: soft cheese, coffee and any other foods that were off limits.
   This is for new moms only. Find out if there is anything in particular that she missed when she was pregnant—maybe a big sandwich with deli meats or a sushi meal. Ask her what she craved the most and then surprise her with her favorites.

7. Coupon for a day of house cleaning from you or from a local service.
   Offer to clean the house or find a local service that can do a one-time spring cleaning. Even doing a few loads of laundry, washed, dried and folded, can be a huge help.

8. Slippers
   To keep mom's feet comfy when she has to get up for frequent bathroom breaks or when she checks on her baby at night.

9. A gift certificate for an online photo store
   She can use it to have pictures of her new baby printed or she can design her own custom baby announcements. Some sites will even address the announcements and send them out so mom does not have to worry about finding time to do it herself.

10. Bubble bath
    Find out what mom's favorite products are and pamper her with some lotions, soaps or bubble bath so she can use them to relax and unwind.

Click here for some homemade coupon ideas

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Other Links

National

Consumer Product Safety Commission - Information about safe bedding practices for infants

Danny Foundation - For crib and child product safety information, visit this Web site or call toll-free 1-800-833-2669 (1-800-83DANNY)

WomensHealth.gov - Department of Health and Human Services, National Women's Health Information Services for information on breast feeding

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Last updated: May 2014