My sister is expecting her first baby in a few months and I am suddenly faced with what to buy for a new baby. It has been many years since my friend’s children or mine were babies and you quickly forget which products you found really useful or you really loved.

Working for a company that sells baby products, I knew that the obvious choice of gift would be the baby travel wrap, until my boss wanted to give her the same gift as a present from the company.

Suddenly I am back to square one! What to buy for a new baby? I began to think about products I had seen at the baby shows, they normally have a really wide range of new innovative products and you can usually try them out and ask questions about how they work. But again I couldn’t really remember what I used and found useful. One thing was for sure; everyone she knows that is thinking what to buy for a new baby generally will end up buying clothes or baby blankets. The problem is that I have already given her loads of my old baby clothes and I was given so many when my children were born, that I know she won’t need any more, in fact she probably won’t get through the ones she has got.

I did think about asking her what she would like, but I felt that would ruin the surprise and I wanted to get her something she wasn’t expecting. So in the end I decided to give her Super Auntie!!!

I decided that the answer was not what to buy for a new baby, but what to DO for a new mum! I thought I would wait until the baby was born and then be a helpful aunt. I can rush out and buy something she has forgotten or run out of, even if that is breast pads or paper knickers. I can bring meals round or cook them at her house; I can do washing, washing up, empty bins, clean the bathroom. I can take the baby out for a walk while my sister sleeps or just has a break. I can have my sister round to my house so she has company and a break from being stuck at home. In essence I will become a mother’s help!

I know that when my second baby was born, my sisters came round and cooked dinner and emptied the bins, I burst into tears because I was so grateful. You can find the littlest tasks quite overwhelming and I think that this gift will be the most helpful and it is one that not many friends and family will have time or will be able to offer.

If you are deciding what to buy for a new baby for a close friend or family member, I hope these ideas will help you.