15 of the best first Mother’s Day gifts you can give a new mom

Flowers? For Mother’s Day? Miranda Priestly wouldn’t be impressed, but trust us when we say that new moms can never have too many flowers, especially if it’s an extraordinary bouquet like the Secret Garden Peony Bouquet from 1-800-Flowers. Women tend to buy themselves flowers a lot of the time, whether it’s on a weekend farmer’s market run or a quick trip to the grocery store. But gift her a bouquet that’s much more elegant than what she normally picks up from Walmart, and she’ll be over the moon. We love 1-800-Flowers because they create easy-to-gift bouquets that designed to stand out, and can be delivered anywhere in the country.

You can be sure she’s drinking enough water when she has one of these Stanley Quencher insulated mugs. These 40-ounce containers come in 20 different stylish colors, and come with a lid and straw. Reviewers say that it’s “worth the money,” making it Amazon’s no. 1 best seller in the home and kitchen category.

Let’s be honest, new moms aren’t spending much time in anything other than loungewear. Even if she is no longer on maternity leave, a well-made robe is something she’ll use for years. I highly recommend these “super plush” robes from Brooklinen that are made with 100% Turkish cotton and feature deep pockets, cuffed edges and a piped collar. I’ve owned one for years and it’s still still the robe I reach for every morning. I love that it’s thick enough to keep you warm on a cold morning, and plush enough to use like a bath towel after a shower, if that’s your jam. Best of all, it keeps its fluffy feel even after dozens of washes. That might not mean much to you, but to the new mom who is adjusting to a new routine full of messes to clean up, she’ll be grateful for a cozy gift that’s easy to clean.

I like to say that women need day PJs and night PJs. Night PJs are for, well, sleeping. But day PJs are a sort of nebulous wardrobe, not quite for sleeping and not quite for lounging. So, if she’s all set in the robe department, a nice set of fancy daytime PJs are another option. She’ll appreciate having some luxurious PJs just for herself, especially after her first few months postpartum when sleepwear meant whatever was clean and easy for breastfeeding. These PJs from Eberjey are designed with the classic contrast piping associated with menswear and are made of a soft, flexible modal and spandex material that feels luxurious.

Bath bombs are a solid gift, but why not gift her something a little bit more unique? These “milky” and «clear» hot springs bath salts are the next best thing to soaking in a Japanese onsen (kind of). They aren’t perfumes or bubble baths, but instead are minerals designed to promote circulation and warmth. Many reviewers say that these bath salts leave their “skin soft” and that they’re good for “aches and pains.» 

It’s hard to buy makeup and beauty gifts for someone, but what we love about this TULA under-eye brightening balm is that you don’t need to know someone’s complexion number or shade preference since it’s good for every type of skin tone. It goes on with a cooling sensation, and is formulated with skin-loving probiotics to help brighten and refresh tired skin over time. As a devout user of this eye balm, I also recommend using it like a highlighter, putting just a dab on cheekbones and brows for some extra brightening power.

If the new mom is too long distance for you to hand-deliver some homemade baked treats, Milk Bar’s cookie sampler is probably the next best thing. The sampler includes six assorted cookies, one Milk Bar Pie slice, a three-pack of chocolate birthday cake truffles and a three-pack of regular birthday cake truffles.

If there’s one thing you know about parenting, it’s that new moms are probably running on less sleep than ever before. While it might be tempting make jokes about all of that sleep deprivation, the Breville Bambino Plus espresso machine might actually help her conquer it. Family and friends know that I’ve long been a fan of Breville’s smallest espresso machine, the Bambino, due to its ability to pull a quality espresso shot in a compact size without sacrificing taste. Not only is it easy to use, but it includes single and double-shot features. There’s even an automatic steam wand for milk texturing. Pair it with some cute espresso cups, and you’ve got a gift she’ll use for a very, very long time.

She’ll love this mulberry silk eye mask that looks a lot more expensive than it actually is. It also includes a silk-wrapped elastic band that won’t pull hair while sleeping, which can happen with eye-masks that are designed with Velcro closures.

These Birkenstock Clogs can be slipped on or off hands-free — important for new moms! — and are comfortable enough to wear all day, with or without socks. Plus, they’re not all that terrible looking for when you need to step outside for a quick stroll to the mail box or a grocery-shopping errand. After all, practical gifts oftentimes make the best gifts of all.

Speaking from experience, these gel under-eye patches are like a cool glass of water for your under-eye. These ones, in particular, deliver a cooling sensation — though I, personally, recommend keeping them in your fridge so you get a really refreshing blast when you put them on. They’re made with cloudberry oil and bakuchiol to firm up and refresh your under eyes. Each box comes with a set of five under-eye masks.

Low effort, tasty and healthy: those are the three biggest selling points of Blue Apron’s pre-portioned meal kits and prepared meals. They also happen to be three big must-haves that new moms are looking for when it comes to preparing easy meals with a newborn in the house. Blue Apron is not only our top-tested meal kit for seniors, it’s our top-recommended meal kit for everyone.

AOL’s very own April McCormick, who calls her «a meal kit connoisseur,» has tested several meal kits through the years. «One of my all-time favorite weekly meal delivery services — and the one I recommend the most — is Blue Apron.» Choose from meal kits with pre-portioned ingredients or prepared ready to heat-and-eat meals with more than 80 choices for breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts and snacks. New moms will enjoy having ready-to-eat meals that not only taste good but are good, meaning they’ll finally take that break from Seamless.

«The bottom line is that Blue Apron saves me time from planning meals each week and creating a shopping list, and money from not having to grab a large cart when going to the grocery store and inevitably filling it with junk I don’t need,» McCormick writes.

Girl math is having 10 nice purses, but still using a canvas tote bag nearly every day. Mom’s have a lot of stuff to carry, after all. If she’s going to gravitate toward a tote bag, it might as well look nice and be sturdy, like this striped Duck Bag from Baggu. It comes in many other colors and prints, too.

Taking care of a new mom’s wellbeing has never been easier. Gift her a Soothe gift card so she can book an on-demand massage, facial, hair appointment, nail appointment or other beauty service — right to her door. Appointments are available daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. so she can book at whatever time works best for her and baby’s schedule. It’s an especially thoughtful way of gifting a new mom some time to treat herself, but without needing her to leave the house and be far from baby.

Treat the new mom to something that’ll make her valuable shut-eye time a bit more luxurious. Silk pillowcases have been a favorite among those with curly hair for a long time, but they’ve been mainstreamed recently as a must-have for beauty lovers and skin care obsessives. Out of more than 46,000 reviewers, many say they «highly recommend» this pillowcase, and that it’s good quality. Choose from over 30 prints and colors.