If you have friends who are going to be new parents you can make their lives demonstrably better by helping them with practical gifts they don’t even know they need. Think about those days when you were a new parent and the things that would have made coming home with a newborn a breeze. We have come up with six gifts every new parent needs. 

1. Gift Cards: Money is always nice for new parents, but instead of writing them a check, giving them cash, or sending them money through a mobile app, gift cards to their favorite grocery store or even big box store can be more beneficial. Oftentimes, you can find deals when you buy gift cards in bulk or can receive double points depending on where you purchase the gift cards. Most gift cards don’t expire so they become a nice way for new parents to save their own money and spend the gift cards instead. 

2. Meal Box delivery: Do you know what’s even better than cooking a month’s worth of food and putting it in their freezer? Ordering a meal box in advance. There are so many foodservice companies to choose from these days. You can choose vegetarian meals, meals for breakfast lunch and dinner. You can also choose meals that help you maintain weight, lose weight and even gain weight. They are typically called carb-conscious and calorie-conscious meals. You will find meal boxes that are strictly oven-ready if you don’t like using the microwave. In other words, you can find meal boxes based on your preferences and they are infinitely better than doing all of the cooking. 

3. Baby Box: One thing all new parents need is a baby box that gives them the heads-up about all manner of products for their new babies. From coupons and free baby samples to vouchers for giveaways and sweepstakes baby boxes are the go-to for all new parents. Oftentimes you will find full-value coupons to try products for free like diapers, ointments, and even baby food. 

4. Rocking Chair: When a brand-new mom comes home she needs to be as comfortable as possible. A really good rocking chair is perfect for any mom who would like to rock her baby to sleep or even breastfeed in comfort. When buying a great rocking chair there are some specifics that you should look for. Look to see if the rocking chair is a slider or can recline. Additionally, you can often purchase an ottoman for the rocking chair. Other nice features of a nice rocking chair are if it swivels as well as the fabric and textiles on the chair itself. You will likely want to purchase a chair that has plush cushioning. 

5. Comfy Comforter, Sheets, and Pillows: Not only do new moms need to have amazing sleep but so does their partner. Having the most comfortable bed linens, comforter, and pillows is essential. Most people know that the best linens are measured by thread count, but do you really understand what that means? Well, there are many different thread counts. For example, for cotton sheets, you want to look for 100 thread counts.We have seen some sheets that can even be as high at $3200. To be realistic, look for moderately priced, but quality sheets.  With Egyptian cotton, for example, the number is 200 and when you’re looking at linen, the thread count can be as high as 500. As for pillows, look for these six criteria: size, quality, fill, weight, fabric, and build. Every pillow is different for every person, but a brand new bed set with comfy pillows is an amazing 

6. Herbs for Milk Supply: Did you know that moms can take herbs to increase their milk supply while breastfeeding? Most times new moms think they cannot make enough milk out of an innate fear they can’t adequately feed their babies, but they really can. Regardless of that, a great gift for a new mom is a bunch of herbs for milk production. It’s thoughtful and also will put many new moms at ease.

Here are herbs that are most popular for milk production: fenugreek, milk thistle, fennel, nettle, alfalfa, goat’s rue, ginger, and garlic. All of these goodies can be readily found at any health foods store. Some are bottled in pills or teas. And others like fennel, garlic, and alfalfa can be used in salads for a fresh component to any day.

Most new parents have more gifts and care than they know what to do with. And after some time, they will just simply want to spend time alone. There are other gifts that also may align with what they will need with a new baby such as free, frequent cleaning service and most importantly free months of Netflix. The best gifts for new parents are those that just make them feel loved and cared for.