Buying gifts for random babies

I haven't so far, it would depend how close `I was to friend and their family?

Also perhaps, how much it was needful? Ie a struggling family financially and something practical.

But not if the mum didnt know me at all. That seems bizarre.

When my eldest was born 29 years ago a couple of my mum's friends who I didn't know sent hand knitted gifts. I was rather touched.

Yes, I have bought new baby gifts for grandchildren of close friends from school or college, even if (in some cases) I’ve never even met their child. I always think babies bring joy and should be welcomed into the world. My mum was the same.

Yes, I have.

I bought a gift for my best friends grandbabies ....I see 2 of them .....the other 2 are in Australia....she bought a gift for my 3 GC ...we take our GC on camping hols each year.

I wouldn't. I buy for my own DGC and the children of our two God sons. That means we are buying for eleven children. We also buy small gifts for our adult children and our siblings. Not for nieces and nephews though. That stopped at age 18. The trouble is where and when do you stop.

I would buy a small gift for the arrival of a friend's grandchild but not a Christmas present.

No.

No I wouldn't, unless there was a known case of hardship or other factors.

The last gift I bought for a random baby as the OP describes them was for my youngest daughter's best friend. I bought a neutral outfit as she did not know the baby's gender and a first cutlery set for when the baby was older.
After the baby shower my daughter asked if I had kept the receipt for the gifts I had bought. It seems there was a wish list for this baby and I had not bought an item from said list so my present was going back to the shop. Her second baby has just arrived and no, I haven't bothered with a present.

I have a friend who recently did something similar. She is neighbours with the grandmother and has known her for less than a year, has never met the baby’s mother and spent quite a bit on a gift. I was totally nonplussed when she told me.

I did once buy a gift for a baby I'd never meet and whose mother I didn't know. However, I knew the grandmother and was aware that this poor child was unexpected and unwanted. I wanted to somehow show that the the wee thing did matter and that I was sure the family would come around. They did of course. Babies bring their own charm.

I was the first to become a grandmother amongst my friends and they didn’t give a gift for my DGD (nor was one expected) so I simply followed suit. That was 26 years ago so like everything else, times change.

I buy a new baby gift for my friends new born grandchildren. I see my friend often (known her since we were 18) and know her children,

For someone as you describe, definitely not.

No probably not.

Yes I’ve done this with a girl I worked with. She became a gran and was so e cited it was just a little gift and I knitted a little blanket as well.