How to Buy Maternity Gifts for Colleagues: Challenges and Solutions

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The Challenge

 

When colleagues are about to go off on their maternity leave, giving a gift is the perfect way to show them how much they mean to you. But finding a gift that successfully conveys all that they mean to you can be a real challenge. Buying an expensive gift may seem like a good idea, but what happens when your other colleagues all go on maternity next year and you’re feeling a bit hard up? Another factor that makes maternity gifts tricky is the question over just how personal the gift should be, you certainly don’t want the expectant mother to feel uncomfortable. Clearly, maternity gifts can be a minefield.

 

Thankfully, Little Blooms Baby Gifts are here to rescue you from any maternity gift nightmares with solutions and suggestions to every problem.

 

Best Avoided…

 

  • Gender specific clothes if you don’t know the baby’s gender. This is just a massive, wasteful gamble and won’t endear you to the expecting mother.
  • Nappies and wipes without consulting the mother. Generally speaking expectant mothers don’t seem to be displeased on receiving useful things they will be needing, but if you don’t know whether they want them or which type they want, you’re taking a massive risk. Maybe we’re being picky, but are nappies even something you would want to give someone anyway?
  • Feeding bras. Need we say more?
  • Joke gifts. Things that make you laugh don’t generally work well with hormones and back-to-back sleepless nights. Avoid offence and give joke gifts a miss.
  • Religious or superstitious gifts – especially if the mother is not religious.
  • Anything involving alcohol. Alcohol, liqueur chocolates, cocktail kits and other alcohol related accessories are not going to be well received by someone who’s not going to be drinking for quite some time.  

 

A Question of Budgets

 

As mentioned earlier, one of the key questions facing anyone buying a maternity gift is just how much to spend. Of course, we all want to be generous within our means, but some balance is needed. Splurging may show favouritism or set the bar high for future colleague maternity gifts. Spend too little and you’ll feel embarrassed when your colleague comes back to work or when others see your gift.

 

There’s a couple of good ways to deal with this. Firstly, set yourself a reasonable budget that won’t bankrupt you if there’s a future clutch of office pregnancies. But there’s an even better option if you’re part of a team, pool your resources! Some great gifts can be quite pricey, but if everyone teams up then much nicer gifts come within reach. Organising a collection and buying a gift together has the added benefit of allowing everyone to contribute an amount they’re comfortable with. It reduces competition and shows your colleague how much she is valued by the whole team.

 

Great Gift Ideas

 

  • Takeaway vouchers. This may not sound romantic but there’s going to be many times in the coming months where the new parents will be exhausted and not feel like cooking. Having cooked food delivered is a massive help and will really help ease the pressure on the new mum who has a lot to deal with already. Ask any of the new parents you know, they all agree that takeaway vouchers are a very welcome gift.
  • Luxury hampers. Filled with luxurious accessories, hand made gifts or delicious snacks, luxury hampers are the perfect way to give your maternity bound colleague a wonderful send off. With a company collection, you may be able to afford a stunning hamper from a respected brand like Harrods or Fortnum & Mason’s, both offering a huge range of hampers. For an added touch of thoughtfulness, you could assemble your own luxury hamper with items you know the mother will love as well as any gifts you would like to make yourself, sure to be treasured.
  • Personal care / spa experiences. With her body facing new challenges, a bit of personal care will be much appreciated. Not all women enjoy manicures and massages so best to check her preferences first. Spa days are very popular and often well received.

 

A Gift Sure to Delight

 

As you may have noticed, here at Little Blooms Baby Gifts we specialise in gifts that surprise and delight, so you are in good hands. We believe we have the perfect gift for any expectant mothers: a stunning dinosaur baby bouquet. We offer green, blue and pink, so regardless of whether the gender of the baby is known, there’s a colour for you! Our 100{226524ae3ad3992759beaf6e4c3a0e8b5a3d3506d10b9112f22b774c85a79885} organic cotton baby clothes are ultra-comfy, and we are the only company in the UK to use *real flowers* in our bouquets. There you go, maternity gifting made simple.