A new baby is the start of a great adventure (as Lou Reed once said). Celebrate this great occasion by sending the mum, dad and baby one of our hand-picked, quality baby gifts. Read More »
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If you are looking for baby gift ideas , look no further. Choose between Nappy Cakes containing all the essentials for a new born baby (not just nappies!), to hand-tied posies - which are new born baby clothes beautifully presented as a flower posy. We also have great baby hampers with a selection of goodies that really hit the mark; and we have practical things like play mats for new babies and some lovely baby clothes gift sets for new born and growing babies up to 12 months (perfect as Christening gifts). Also, see our range of organic pamper gifts for new mums and for babies. These aromatherapy gifts are designed especially for mums and babies, giving them that extra touch of comfort and luxury when arriving home! And not to forget dad, we have daddy tool kits and Cuban cigar hampers to celebrate being a new father. Our Christening gifts will mark that very special day in a baby’s life.
All our baby gifts come in blue and pink for both new born boys and new born girls. There’s a huge choice and whatever you decide on, the new parents will really appreciate your thoughts at this special time. As with all our gifts, your message will be printed out on a card accompanying the gift when it is delivered. And if you have any queries as to which gift to pick, don’t hesitate to give us a call and we’ll be more than happy to help you choose.
Other Baby Gift Ideas
AllGifts.ie also offers a seasonal range of fresh flowers for delivery, which are great gifts for new mums. Some hospitals don’t accept flowers however, so we recommend you get flowers delivered to their house instead a couple of days after the birth. Hospitals do accept deliveries of our nappy cakes and baby posies, so feel free to send these immediately after the child is born.
We now also offer personalised newspaper books and framed front pages of the Irish Independent and Sunday Independent – ideal to mark the birthday of a newborn with a personalised baby gift.
You can also order Champagne gifts for delivery, or fruit baskets for the health conscious. And if you need any inspiration for baby gift ideas , just give us a call on 0818 222 222 and we’ll be more than happy to discuss our growing range of baby gifts with you. Our gifts are for delivery in Ireland the next working day, if ordered before 2:00pm. Also, if you have any queries regarding the delivery, we can trace your gift and even send you a proof-of-delivery with a copy of the signature of the person who signed for it.
Why is blue a traditional colour blue for boys and pink for girls?
The answer is... nobody seems to know! For centuries, all European children were dressed in blue because the colour was associated with the Virgin Mary. The use of pink and blue emerged at the turn of the century, the rule being pink for girls, blue for boys. One theory for associating blue with male babies goes back to ancient times when having a boy was good luck. Blue held powers to ward off evil, so baby boys were dressed in blue. The idea of pink for girls might come from the European legend that baby girls were born inside delicate pink roses. Another theory states that the origins can be found in ancient China. At a time when certain dyes were quite rare, pink dye was readily available and therefore inexpensive. Since blues were rare and expensive, it was therefore considered to be more worthwhile to dress your son in blue, because when he married the family would receive a dowry.
Whatever the true origins, little girls love pink, and little boys don’t really care, so we’ve covered all options with our range of colourful baby gifts, baby clothes, hampers, play mats, nappy cakes, posies, soft toys and more. We even have pink champagne for mum! AllGifts.ie – the perfect baby gifts in a click!
Newborn Baby Customs
As you would expect, there are a myriad of fascinating baby customs in different countries. In China for example, when the baby is born, the mother is required to stay in bed for a month, staying indoors and not venturing out at all. The Stork tradition of where babies come from has Hans Christian Andersen as its origin in the tales and fables he wrote in the 1800s.
In the 19th century, it was considered very bad luck to wash a baby! Some poor children (and their siblings) went until the age of 5 before receiving a good wash. A very old baby superstition from the 16th century relates to the baby caul. The caul is where a baby is born with the amniotic membrane over its face. For unclear reasons, this was considered a very luck occurrence by our forefathers, with some still believing in this today. In Ireland, tradition had it that a couple should save the top tier of their wedding cake until the Christening of their firstborn. The crumbs would then be sprinkled on the baby’s head to bring him or her life-long luck and prosperity.
In Germany, a baby is given a candle with twelve cloves along its length. At each birthday until the age of 12, a section of the candle is burnt until the child reaches puberty. It seems that the tradition of men smoking cigars to celebrate a child’s birth can be traced to the customs of North American Indians, who would share a pipe to celebrate the happy event with the community and also appease the gods.
Of course, the tradition of welcoming a new child into the world and congratulating the new mum and dad with a gift is probably the oldest tradition of them all.
Baby Gift Names
Naming a newborn baby is one of the oldest traditions of parenthood, and new babies are always eagerly anticipated by friends and family. The are plenty of customs and methods associated with choosing a baby name, but still it can cause a lot of head scratching, debate and hand wringing for some parents to agree on a name – a name the child will bear for the rest of his or her life (unless they really hate it and get it changed by deed poll – it has happened! For example, Adam Ant was christened Stuart Leslie Goddard. Sean Connery was originally Thomas Connery. Cary Grant was Archibald Alexander Leach, and of course Marilyn Monroe was famously born Norma Jean Baker).
Some well known naming traditions include giving the oldest son or daughter the grandfather’s name (on the father’s side) or grandmother’s name (on the mother’s side). Some parents choose Irish names only for all their children, and not so long ago, you might find all the children in a family named after saints. For most, naming the first born is the hardest. After that, each subsequent child’s name can “fit in” with any previous ones, in line with whatever theme the parents determined. Of course, for new born twins or triplets, your naming issues multiple accordingly!
The Census of Ireland publishes the most popular baby names in the country each year. In 2010, the most popular boys’ names were Charlie, Conor, Harry, Jack and Daniel and the most popular girls names were Lucy, Grace and Anna. If you know the new baby’s name, you can include it with your gift message or embroidered on some of the baby gifts we offer.
Baby Nursery Rhymes
It’s fascinating to think how enduring some of the most famous nursery rhymes are. It’s even more fascinating to discover their meaning or origins. For example, “Ring o Rosies”, it’s theorised, can be traced to the Bubonic plague in the 1,400 with the ominous lines “A tissue, a tissue, we all fall down”. Those fans of the film Vendetta, will probably know that the 'Remember Remember' nursery rhyme alludes to Guy Fawkes. The origins of Rack-a-Bye-Baby” are also shrouded in medieval superstitions.
In addition to nursery rhymes, lullabies to sing babies asleep have been popular for time immemorial including such classics as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Hush Little Baby and Golden Slumbers.
So for all new born babies and their parents, there is a nursery rhyme and a baby gift on AllGifts.ie.