Since I’ve been off work the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a lot of extra time on my hands to get things done before the baby arrives. Most things are essentials, like doing laundry and organizing, while some things are just for fun, like putting together Liam’s first Easter basket and making favor bags for visitors who come to the hospital when he’s born.
I first got this idea when our childbirth instructor told us that some people bring mini notebooks to the hospital for people who are waiting around to write their thoughts, feelings, or wishes for the baby. It gives people a job, so to speak, so they aren’t bored and they kind of stay out of the way of the parents to be.
With the notebooks as a starting point, I decided to put together a few favor bags for those who are at the hospital waiting for Liam’s arrival. I’m not sure how many people will be there when he’s born, but the bags came in a pack of eight, so I went with that.
I got polka dot favor bags from Target, along with small packages of tissue, pens, the mini notebooks, candy, and hand sanitizing wipes. Then, I punched holes in the bags, filled them, and used leftover ribbon from my baby shower to tie them closed.
I think they turned out pretty cute!
The tissue will come in handy for tears, the sanitizing wipes are to ensure only clean hands hold the baby (though I know the hospital has plenty of hand sanitizer), the candy will satisfy a sweet tooth (real food can be bought from the cafeteria, vending machines, or a subway sandwich shop that is in the hospital plaza). Overall, I think the favors will make visitors feel welcome and appreciated, as they will be!
Did you or would you give hospital visitors some kind of favor?
persimmon / 1465 posts
Ummm no. They were there to see us and i’m pretty sure they didn’t expect a favour bag. We also made sure that no one was waiting at the hospital while I was delivering. We wanted that time and afterwards for ourselves.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
We didn’t want anyone waiting around at the hospital either, but I can understand in some families this would be totally weird. I had no time to put anything extra together, but if I did, I know no one would have used the stuff, esp. the notebooks. Our families aren’t the writing type.
honeydew / 7968 posts
I would feel too rushed to get this ready by Friday, but what a cute idea!
squash / 13199 posts
The bags look cute! But we wont be doing this, we really dont want people hanging around the hospital either. Also I would prefer for them to use the liquid sanitizer that the hsopital provides over wipes, because I think the liquid does a better job
guest
It’s funny to read this (I have a 7 month old)- it’s a very cute idea, but when I think back to the hosipal stay– totally and completely exhausted after an unplanned c-section, I cannot imagine thinking about gift bags for visiters. They were lucky if they didn’t catch a glimce of me attempting to breatfeed with 3 day old unwashed, very knotty hair.
I did bring a journal for me and my husband and I’m very happy to have the memories.
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
Papa Y and I live far from family, and I’m kind of glad we had the time at the hospital to ourselves. I was overwhelmed enough as it was; I can’t imagine dealing with extended family and friends, too. Cute for if you know you’ll have a lot of people coming, though. (Although as far as I’m concerned, it should be the other way around, ha. People should be bringing *us* stuff – haha)
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
Neat idea
pea / 9 posts
I think these are adorable, and a great idea! I think a good alternative for those folks who don’t have time to put together individual bags would be one big basket with snacks and sanitizer/wipes, and maybe one “baby guest book” that can be passed around?
pear / 1764 posts
Those are so adorable! I found little bottles of Babyganics alcohol free hand sanitizer that I had around at our home for visitors to use.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
That is so sweet of you! I would never have thought about doing that. And by the end of my pregnancy I was way too lazy to do anything like that.
cherry / 149 posts
Wow, some people were pretty negative!
I think it’s a fantastic idea, very sweet and thoughtful, and I plan on doing it!
Very cute idea!
GOLD / pomelo / 5167 posts
We didn’t do this, but I think it’s a good idea! I personally never thought about it, nor did I know how many people would show up! (Hope you won’t run out)
bananas / 9227 posts
Wow! That’s so thoughtful of you! I especially love the wipes – a nice reminder for them to keep their hands clean
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
who doesn’t love a favor bag? you’re one prepared lady!
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
@cupcakemama: My friends and family definitely don’t expect them, either, but I think they’ll appreciate them and it was fun for me to do.
@looch: I’m not sure if people will use everything, but these didn’t cost much, so no big deal if they don’t.
@blushink: We probably will run out! I only made 8 because that’s how many favor bags came in a package, but I thought couples could share.
To address the whole people waiting around thing, in my circle of friends and with my family, it’s very common for people to come to the hospital and wait until the baby is born to meet him or her right away. While Mr. TTT and I are pretty sure we don’t want anyone else in the room while baby TTT is born, we both want our parents to be there to meet him right away, depending on the time of day and their availability, of course. My parents live a few minutes away from us and Mr. TTT’s parents live a two hour drive away.
grapefruit / 4400 posts
I think it’s a cute idea– just not for us
GOLD / pomelo / 5167 posts
@mrs. tictactoe: 1 per family/couple seems fair to me. I’m sure I would need like 20! ha.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
Very cute idea. Most of our guests waited til we were home and they brought us food & gifts for LO.
grapefruit / 4817 posts
We will probably have a ton of visitors, so we’re just planning on having a huge snack basket for the nurses and friends/family stopping by. Maybe a bottle or two of champagne and plastic toasting flutes for the immediate family that will have been waiting around all day.
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
@bree72: Great idea! We’ve asked Mr. TTT’s parents to bring champagne because there’s a special type that comes from a winery near their house that we served at our wedding. Plus, they can keep it cold better than we probably can.
pea / 10 posts
Never heard of such a thing! Still a lovely idea though, hope they like them!
clementine / 994 posts
Cute idea! The sanitary wipes are a nice way to remind people to have clean hands, even if they would prefer to use the hospital sanitizer.
In our family/circle of friends it’s also very common for immediate family to want to see the baby immediately and for lots of people to come visit mom and baby in the hospital. Most people do a single guest book for people to sign instead of lots of mini books. My mom brought our actual baby books for everyone to write thoughts and greetings in. As for favors, most people do edible items like candy and chocolate. Chocolate cigars are common, and I had one friend ho have our Hershey’s bars with labels that read HERESHEIS instead. I thought that was cute.
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
Wow, that is sweet! We didn’t have anyone who wanted to wait around at the hospital either but if you do then I think it is very nice that you’re thinking of them since they might be sitting around for a long time!
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
Cute idea! I didn’t even think about making favors for our visitors! They were the ones who came bearing gifts.
I did bring drinks and snacks for me, DH and my mom. We were the only ones at the hospital “waiting” for LO to be born.
persimmon / 1255 posts
Very thoughtful but honestly, it sounds like one more thing to add to the already long “to-do” list, not to mention one more thing to remember to bring to the hospital. I do, however, like @Spaceelephant’s twist on the idea. One big basket of stuff and one book (so you don’t have to consolidate it later).
We specifically asked people not to come when we were at the hospital because we didn’t want the added stress of people waiting. That way, my husband stayed by my side the entire time and we had a few hours of alone time with LO after she was born.
blogger / pineapple / 12381 posts
I love how thoughtful you are! We purposely kept everyone away except one set of our dearest friends, so that we could have family bonding time in the hospital
Some people also do favor bags for people who sit around their child on a plane, which is also very sweet!
pomelo / 5866 posts
Super cute! We had personalized water bottle labels on a case of water….then we left them in the car and my husband never brought them up while we were in the hospital. We ended up giving them out to his coworkers when he returned to work, after his one week of ‘paternity’ leave.
GOLD / grape / 82 posts
Great idea!
guest
I love the idea.