New grandchild

I’ve just found out that we have a new grandchild arriving in 3 months time ! I have paid for the pram and my dad ( great grandad )bless him, is paying the cot . My DD and her partner don’t have a lot of money but they make up for that with heaps and heaps of love .

Ask the parents, we did one thing with one couple and another with the others. Up to them to choose I think.

I would choose together, much depends on the weight and size, ie will it fit in the family car?
My mum chose and bought my DDs first pram without discussing it with me and I hated it. It was a $hitty brown with a cheap plastic hood and storm cover, also it was too high for me to push comfortably and cumbersome to manoeuvre.
It finally collapsed when DD2 was 18 months old. I was so relieved.
Have fun choosing with your DD and SIL and congratulations.

Congratulations, gillybob! Lovely news to cheer up a miserable January. I think I'd give them the money then they can have the fun of choosing for themselves. Or if you wanted to keep control, you could all go together to choose?

When our first GC was on the way I bought a travel system but DS and DIL were there to choose it. GC2 they had all the equipment so bought a new cot mattress and linen. Best to ask what is required not just pick something.

We bought the pram and all the bits that go with it , a travel system they are called I think for one and the bedroom furniture for the other one. Ask them what they want is the best way to go.

We bought prams for both first GC ( they chose) and as they also did for second in each family we bought a new high chair for one and a bedroom furniture for the other.
All their own choice.

Ask the parents?

I would give John Lewis gift card ....

I bought a second hand big pram in 1977 and sold it for the same price about three years later. Similar with a Maclaren striped double push chair. Good value.
My daughter used a baby sling nearly all the time with GS2.

I would either give a gift voucher or money. Thats what my daughter asked for when she had her baby. Who by the way is now 5 months old! Where has the time gone......

We have two new babies due this year one in April one in May,DGS and his wife are expecting their 2nd baby so they are upgrading their travel system to a double one (dont ask me to push it please)
DS1 and his wife are expecting a baby girl in May and they have been and chosen their own travel system,so we will give a gift voucher towards any nursery furniture I would never dream of choosing for them.

I offered to get a Mothercare voucher so that they could get what they want and it was rejected. They would prefer the cash so that they could buy a cot mattress from Mamas and Papas,so I asked how much they would like. £175.00! wow to some it might not be a lot but to me, it is as I am a single pensioner. My son,s father and stepfather I know will be more than generous when my new grandchild is born. In the same month, I have another two grandchildren's birthdays and son. I do budget for birthdays but was taken aback when the amount was said. So for my own future reference, I won't ask the question. Better start filing for bankruptcy now hehe

Congratulations. With all of my 8 DGC. I bought the crib with stand . It's a ritual now .

My son and DiL were quite specific when I asked what they'd like. It was a very stylish wooden high chair that converted into a chair for the child up to teenage size. Danish I think. I think they wanted something that had an modern 'heirloom' quality that they wouldn't have bought for themselves but was essentially useful. They asked for the same when the second gc was born.

The DC were so good about passing prams etc around among themselves we usually ended up with either buying the crib or first cot, I think we contributed towards the very first pram.

This reminds me of the birth of our first grandchild 8 years ago and thought i would pop into JL and have a look. I saw a few costing around £100 which was ok, until i realised i had missed a zero, and they actually were ten times as much. I was in shock and very relieved when dd got one second hand ( which still cost £300!)
It was supposed to be the rolls royce of prams but dh and i hated it, so awkward to collapse or unfold.
We got one for us on freecycle which was easier to manage and didnt cost us anything.
And dont get me on to the car seats.....grrr. Total Nightmare. Or was it just us....?

Our DGD will be three next week. DS and DiL live in a very small flat and are very environment-conscious. They have, quite sensibly, said that they want no new toys or clothes for the little one and have opened a bank account for her.

I may get her a small book or something which can be used up (bubble bath - but only in a recyclable container!), but we shall gladly put some money into the bank for her.

Both my DiL's have cousins with babies a little older than theirs, so we never had to even consider prams or larger items when they were born.

So, in answer to the OP - seen from all angles, I would say that money is the best present. If it is explicitly needed for a cot or a pram, you can specify that when you give it to them, but I would never want to dictate to the new parents what kind of a cot or pram to buy. I wouldn't have liked it if my mother had done the same to me!

We were all shocked ( and very happy) to learn of DD’s pregnancy ( over 6 months pregnant when she found out) . So much to do and buy in the short time before the little one arrives in early May. I recently accompanied DD and her partner ( still in a state of shock) to look at Travel systems to suit their lifestyle . Then I ordered and paid for what they chose . Best all round I think . For my DS’s 3 I bought cot beds, Moses baskets,bedding, changing set etc. All chosen by them .
There’s nothing like a Mothercare “fix” to lift the spirits .

Some pram styles these days make me do a double take. CRAZY !!!

I bought my 1st dgs cot, mattress, chest of drawers, wardrobe and changing unit and also high chair as my ds and Sil had just bought their house so most of their savings spent. My ex husband bought them travel system and her in laws gave money some of which they spent on two car seats so not having to change between cars. They also spent some on animal shapes for his bedroom.Their 2nd baby is due in August and I shall give £560 which I recall was value of what 1st dgs got and they can choose to spend it on them or save it for them whichever they choose.I a just glad we can afford to be generous as my ds only gets statutory maternity pay and will take 1 year at home when baby born.

I gave my daughter and son in law £500 to get a lean.... my mother ...the new child’s great-grannie gave them money for the cot... it was her last grandchild No. 10... she saw him and held him and we photographed the event.She died three months later at 92.!!! So pleased with herself for seeing No. 10 grandchild.What a woman she was!

TGAts ‘pram’ ...not lean! Wrong glasses on!!

Aw congratulations gillybob what a wonderful 'shock' for you For our first granddaughter we bought the pram (chosen by DIL) but I can't remember what we did for the second one - it was 16 years ago! I think we gave money to the little ones born in NZ - as they have older cousins there was nothing they needed. My parents bought my pram and in laws bought the cot - much as I wanted a big coach built pram we only had a little 2 up 2 down and they were very out of fashion anyway in 1971 so I had a turquoise lift off top one - my friend's was purple