8 Unusual Baby Gifts to Buy For Babies and New Parents

Toys, toys, toys! Wouldn’t it be fun to give away some more unusual baby gifts this time? Here are tips on alternative gifts for baby and parents.

Do you want to give your little darling some more unusual baby gifts instead of baby toys or cute baby clothes?

Here’s a collection of baby gifts that you might not have thought about. Personally, I think charity gifts, such as planting a tree or adopting an animal are great gifts for babies.

Why?

Well, babies don’t really care about gifts! At least not during their first six months of living or so. But a three-year-old will be mighty proud of “his tiger” or “her trees”.

Another great gift is naming a star – an excellent way to inspire a preschooler to learn about the universe!

Well, here is a collection of unusual baby gifts for your inspiration – I have included gifts that suit to give the baby and gifts that will be perfect for the new parents.

Plant a tree

In these times, when we are beginning to realize the potentially enormous effects of global warming, planting a tree on behalf a baby is almost like paying off a tiny bit of our debt to the next generation in my view.

Our youngest got five trees planted for him as a gift – a wonderful idea.

Depending on where you live and where you would like to plant a tree, here are a few alternatives.

One Tree Planted – One Tree Planted is a non-profit organization that plants trees in North America, Latin Ameria, Africa, and Asia. YOu can buy trees to plant online at $1 per tree and gift them to anyone you want. They also have a shop where you can buy for example a “plat a tree kit”. For every gift you buy, they plant a tree.
Treegivers – Treegivers operate in the US and Canada and you can decide in which state your tree(s) should be planted.

Name a star

Ok, you’re not actually buying a star or giving it a name that will be printed in the school books, but who cares?

Naming a star on someone’s behalf is so sweet, I think. And just imagine in a few years, when the young child can watch the sky and point to “his” or “her” star…

Here is how to name a star:

Naming a star Kit from Amazon

Adopt an animal

Another great gift is to adopt an animal on behalf of the child. This works really well also for older children that will actually understand immediately what they get. (But you’d better start saving for the trip to Africa… ;-)

WWF has a large selection of animals that you can help.
World Animal Foundation has a large selection too.

A real sheepskin

When one of our children was newborn, we received an organic sheepskin. This was a wonderful gift! Warm and cozy to lie or sit on and free of poisons.

You can get a high-quality sheepskin for your baby at Amazon.

A photo session

Buy a gift card for a photo session at a local photographer. This might not be on the baby’s wish list, but it is perfect for the new parent!

It is sooo easy, being a new parent to think that you should go and take professional pictures of your cutie, but then you never get around to do it…

OR – buy an online photography class for new parents. If you think the new mom or dad would love to learn how to take magical baby photos, I have two online courses to recommend:

The first one focuses (obviously) on newborn babies, while the second one targets kids of many ages, siblings, parent and child photos, and so on. I love both of these classes.

If the costs of these are too high for you, a great thing is to sign up any of the parents for FREE at Creative Live and attend one of their free on-air classes. They offer a lot of photography classes that are worth watching.

A free account and a printed list or even a calendar booking together with an offer to cook or take care of the baby while class is rolling can be a perfect gift! It is not always the money value of a gift that is important!

A restaurant gift card

Find a good, local restaurant that offers take away dinners – if they offer delivery, then it is even better! Buy a gift card for the new parents.

This is a true luxury when the baby is too new or too fussy to bring to a restaurant or simply when mom and dad are exhausted and don’t feel like cooking!

A babysitting gift card

Another unusual baby gift for the new parents, is a babysitting gift card. Either make your own gift card and volunteer as the babysitter or buy one from a professional sitter service provider.

Either way, it is most likely a very appreciated gift! Maybe not so much from the baby, but happy parents take better care of their children and of each other!

Anything personalized

Just about anything personalized can be very special. One of my favorites is personalized pacifiers. Perfect for daycare, for example!

Amazon has a great collection of personalized baby gifts, too.

This was my list of more unusual baby gifts. Do you have any other ideas? Please share them below!

Paula Dennholt

Paula Dennholt founded Easy Baby Life in 2006 and has been a passionate parenting and pregnancy writer since then. Her parenting approach and writing are based on studies in cognitive-behavioral models and therapy for children and her experience as a mother and stepmother. Life as a parent has convinced her of how crucial it is to put relationships before rules. She strongly believes in positive parenting and a science-based approach.

Paula cooperates with a team of pediatricians who assist in reviewing and writing articles.