Our NICU Gift Guide
During our time in the NICU,we received some pretty amazing and thoughtful gifts.
Whether you’re nesting and buying items for your own NICU stay or buying a gift for a loved one, I hope this list can help you with some great NICU gift ideas.
01. Gift Cards
When you’re in the NICU, this is the most practical and helpful gift we can receive. Hospital food is expensive and usually not the best, parents don’t have time to go to the store and we’re always on the run going back and forth to the hospital while juggling family, jobs, and being with our sick babies. So this may feel impersonal, but I promise you an Amazon card, food delivery service, or starbucks gift card is so nice.
02. NICU Affirmation Cards
This uplifting gift is a great gift for any parent struggling through this journey. It’s important to never assume that an affirmation will fix a person’s difficulties through this time, but for someone who believes in affirmations, this could be the gift for them.
03. NICU Cup
This fun NICU cup is perfect for the parent on the go. It’s the perfect accessory for the mom who always has coffee in hand with lots of NICU pride.
04. Elvie Breast Pump
If you’re looking for an amazing group gift, look no further. This is the one item I wish I had had during our NICU stay. NICU life is hectic and breastfeeding requires your body to get in a routine in order to produce the milk at the capacity you want. Being able to have this on the go, would have been a game changer. It’s also important to mention that nothing is as good as hospital breast pumps, but it is so disheartening to go to the hospital and to be attached to a pump instead of standing over your baby’s bed space or holding them. Every NICU mama should have one of these.
05. Modified Dolls
Rose Watson (Instagram account @LittleMissSeamstress), is a fellow Trisomy 18 mama to her beautiful daughter, Lavender. She makes these beautifully meaningful dolls that are modified to look like specific babies. Her dolls are meant to be inclusive and she will add heart monitors, breathing and eating tubes, scar incisions and even look alike outfits and more. When we got our doll that looked like Stella my heart about burst. Our babies are usually not represented so seeing a baby that looks like yours is the best gift. Don’t walk, but run and follow @LittleMissSeamstress and all the good she is doing in the world.
06. Milestone Cards
There are so many milestone card options online. We loved being able to look forward to different milestones and capture pictures with them to celebrate. Every small milestone is so huge for our babies. When giving this gift, you should consider whether the baby is likely to meet any of the milestones. If you are close to the parent, you might have a better idea of the child’s prognosis and can make an educated decision from there.
07. And If You Can’t Book
This book was written by a fellow loss mama (Instagram Account - @SydneyHatcher). She wrote the book that she would have wanted to be the last book she read to her daughter before she passed away. This might not be the gift to get someone who doesn’t want to think about “If you can’t”, but for me, I would have loved to read this to Stella. You know your person best to make this call. All proceeds go to Carmen’s Miracle Makers. I hope you love it too.
08. NICU Face Mask/Headband
During these crazy times, a fun NICU mask is perfect for that mama with lots of NICU pride.
09. Mighty & Tiny Fighter Tshirt/Onesie -
This is exactly what our babies are. Mighty and tiny. I loved rocking this shirt in the NICU.
10.hand cream and lip balm
I linked Below. This was a gift I surprisingly needed while living NICU life. Washing your hands 50 times a day and being in the dry air of the NICU makes these two items essential. I could have linked something from Amazon, but I always love to shop small. This is my absolute favorite place to shop and they have hearts of gold. Throw in some bath bombs and candles into your cart while you’re at it. Anything relaxing is such a nice gift for someone going through extreme stress.
11. Swaddle and Turban/HaT
We had such a hard time finding really cute outfits for our daughter that would actually fit her as well as being practical. A lot of NICU babies aren’t allowed to wear outfits for a long time and so this swaddle is perfect to wrap them in, to use to cover you both during skin to skin or to put over their incubators. The owners of Stella Jane offer to do the hats and turbans in preemie size (make sure to include it in the note on the order), which makes them such a special shop to buy from
12. Baby Shusher
When a parent has a child in the NICU, it’s likely they will have to leave their side at some point. It is gut wrenching every time. We used this shusher whether we were leaving to grab a coffee or having to leave for the night because we weren’t allowed to sleep there. This shusher made me feel like our baby wouldn’t feel as alone.
Just because life throws a curveball,
doesn’t mean the rest of your responsibilities go away. Helping the NICU family you love by mowing their lawn, sending them a Venmo for a coffee, running errands for them, or offering to babysit is so helpful. I pray and send all my love to you and the family you are readying this for.