7 of the Worst Maternity Leave Gifts from Coworkers: And How You Can Avoid Making the Same Mistakes
Don’t Become a Horror Story - Get Some Help to Gift the Perfect Maternity Leave Gift for your Pregnant Coworker
DO send a maternity leave gift that’s luxe, thoughtful, and perfectly appropriate! Find it at Nurtured9.com
When you are used to a certain daily routine, heading off to your usual 9-5, commuting while listening to your favorite podcast, lunch breaks with co-workers, and maybe a Happy Hour or two, it can be scary for a new mom to think ahead to the unknown life of Maternity Leave. Not only is caring for a child new and completely terrifying, it is seven days a week/24 hours a day of work and unpredictable challenges. As a thoughtful coworker, I’m sure you only want to make her life easier right? You want to send her off on leave knowing her coworkers love and support her while making sure she is well-equipped to tackle her new day-to-day life in style (and most of all, comfort).
The perfect Maternity Leave gift is a hard thing to get right. There are a ton of options out there but here are a few that, well let's just say, missed the mark. With the inevitable scary moments of mommyhood ahead, opening her coworker’s gifts should not be one of them.
1. “Vintage” baby clothes
While vintage is all the rage right now, you should avoid gifting second-hand baby clothes as your primary gift. If she asks for it, by all means, send them on over but it should not be included in a well-wishing maternity leave gift. As we all know, used baby clothes tend to come with a few mystery stains that don’t exactly say “Congrats on your new baby”.
DO think of both Mama and Baby in your gift, and don’t forget to include a sweet gift message that we’ll handwrite on the notecard! Find it at Nurtured9.com
“A coworker of mine came to my baby shower with a big brown paper bag filled with second-hand baby clothes. Normally I wouldn’t mind second-hand since most babies grow so fast, they tend to be gently used. But all of these were stained with food and poop and all kinds of stains. A lot of them even had other kid's names written inside, not even her own kids, which means they were, third-hand, I guess.”
2. Misspelled Personalized Items
A personalized baby gift is a great way to take that extra step to make things special, especially if you are lucky enough to know the baby’s name ahead of time. But if you are going to personalize a gift, be extra careful and certain of spelling, dates, photos, or any other specific details. A great gift can turn bad with one wrong letter and that would be tragic.
3. Dry Clean Only Clothes
I don’t know about you, but there is nothing in my closet that is dry-clean only and I go out of my way to make sure none of my pieces need to be because honestly, who has the time? And if I’m not taking the time to dry clean my own clothes prior to having kids, I sure as heck will not be dry-cleaning my baby’s clothes because life only gets messier once the little ones arrive.
4. Anti-Wrinkle Cream
The next two kind of go hand in hand. As if it needs to be said, but here we go, don’t draw attention to a pregnant woman/new mom’s flaws when gifting. She knows she may have a few pounds to lose and a few extra wrinkles and grey hairs that weren’t there before, but a gift should always be uplifting and helpful, first and foremost. If she didn’t specifically ask for these things, it’s best to move on and find something more suitable.
5. Diet Book/Waist Trainer/Exercise Equipment
I love a good piece of exercise equipment but it’s not exactly the first thing on my mind when looking forward to life with my newborn. Anything to do with losing weight or “getting her body back”, sends the wrong message and should be avoided when it comes to a maternity leave gift. Perhaps trade a diet book for a cookbook or baking book that she can look through and look forward to trying out.
“I once had someone give me a Vegan diet book as a gift when I was 38 weeks pregnant. First off, while I don’t think there is anything wrong with being Vegan, I am a known carnivore, everyone at work knows it, so I found it incredibly pushy and presumptuous for her to try to push her lifestyle on me. And second, I don’t really know her like that for her to assume I will want or need to lose weight after my baby comes.”
6. Unpaid Leave
Every company promises a different length of maternity leave and while it never seems like enough, some women have the misfortune of taking an unpaid leave. The last thing a woman should be worried about when heading out on leave is the security of her job, but for one woman, an unlikely shower gift from her boss gave her a huge shock.
“I invited my boss to my baby shower since I invited several other coworkers. She arrived with what I thought was a gift but turned out to be the contents of my desk, saying she didn’t think I would be back considering I’m having twins.”
7. Wrong Gender or Holiday Clothes
I dare you to walk into a baby store and not utter the words “ awww” or “how cute”. It’s especially fun to pick out a few adorable little outfits if it’s something you don’t get to do yourself. Halloween costumes, “my first” everything, Christmas outfits, and all the fun seasonal ensembles are just calling your name and it’s hard to ignore. But it’s easy for this fun shopping spree to go wrong if you get something gender-specific (and it’s the wrong baby gender) or don’t get the right size for the right holiday (ie newborn Halloween outfit for a February baby). It’s all in the details!
Avoid Making The Same Mistake: Become One of the Good Stories With The Perfect Maternity Gift
Although I’ve come across some horror stories out there that can only be termed “lazy gifting”, most are unknowingly inappropriate or inconsiderate and were given with the best of intentions. In time, these “bad gifts” become “good stories”, but I have a feeling you want yours to be a good story from the get-go. And while you could brave it alone and hope for the best, why not turn to the maternity gift experts and avoid the guesswork? At Nurtured 9, we have a team of specialists you can trust to pick out the perfect items that convey just the right message. No second-guessing necessary! Guaranteed to keep you off the “bad” gift list and remembered as one of the most thoughtful and unique gifts she ever received. We’ve done the research and found the highest quality and best-rated items out there with personalized gift-wrapping options for an exceptional gift you can be proud to put your name on.
