When to Buy a Baby's Christmas Present (and What to Wait On)

It's the end of September, someone in your family has already mentioned Christmas, and there is a baby on the list. Maybe they're here, maybe they're due in November, maybe nobody's met them yet. Either way you're stuck on the same question: is it too early to buy, or are you about to leave it too late?

Short version — buy some of it now, wait on the rest. Here's which is which.

Why buying early is harder for a baby than for anyone else

Buying your brother a jumper in September is easy. He'll be the same size in December. A baby won't.

A baby born in July is a completely different shape at Christmas from one born on 10 December, and the gap between them is bigger than the gap between any two adults you will buy for. That is the whole problem with early Christmas shopping for a baby, and it's why the usual "get it done in October" advice doesn't transfer cleanly.

So the useful question is not when to buy. It is what survives being bought three months early.

What's genuinely fine to buy now

Anything that does not depend on a measurement.

• Keepsakes. A memory case does not care how big the baby is. It doesn't get outgrown either, which is more than can be said for most of what will be under the tree.
• Comforters and soft toys. Same logic. They work at three weeks and they're still working at three years, which is unusual value in baby gifting.
• Clothes sized 3–6 months or bigger. Counter-intuitive, but the larger sizes are the safer early buy, not the smaller ones. Everyone else is buying newborn.
• Anything personalised. This one has a deadline attached, and it's earlier than you think. More on that below.

Our own sets sit in that first group on purpose. The baby hamper gift set in a presentation tray and the compact printed keepsake case are both hand-packed in our UK studio, and the garments in them are 3–6 months rather than newborn. That's deliberate. A gift that fits at ten weeks old arrives when the cupboard has emptied and the visitors have stopped coming, which is a better moment than the fortnight when four identical newborn sleepsuits turn up at once.

What to wait on

Three things, and I would hold all of them.

Newborn-sized anything. If the baby's already here, newborn size is either already outgrown or about to be. If the baby isn't here yet, you're guessing at a birth weight, which is a coin toss. We have written separately on what size baby clothes to buy as a gift and the answer hasn't changed.

Anything with an age rating on it. Toys carry minimum ages for a reason, and one bought in September for a baby who'll be eight weeks old at Christmas just sits in a cupboard for a year. Check the age on the box before you buy, not after.

The big-ticket practical item. Pushchairs, monitors, seats. The parents almost certainly have a view, and it's almost certainly not yours. Ask.

Which one are you?

If you want it personalised, October is the decision, not December

Personalisation is the one thing on this page with a genuine early deadline, and it's worth understanding what you're committing to before you order.

Where a name can be added — on our Character Collection comforter gift box, for instance — it's a single embroidered line of up to fifteen characters. Fifteen is fewer than it sounds. "Alexander" fits. "Alexander James" doesn't.

Two things follow from that. Personalised orders add two days to dispatch, so the cut-off is earlier than for anything else in the basket. And personalised goods aren't returnable: under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, goods that are clearly personalised are exempt from the usual right to cancel a distance purchase, so a misspelt name isn't something anyone can undo. Check the spelling twice. Then check whose name you are actually spelling.

One boundary worth stating plainly, because comforters get given at Christmas more than at any other time of year: a comforter is for cuddles, the pram and the sofa, not for the cot. The Lullaby Trust's safer sleep advice is to keep the sleep space clear — no soft toys or comforters, no pillows or duvets, no cot bumpers — for every sleep until a baby is twelve months old. Give the comforter. Just don't tuck them in with it.

The dates, and who they belong to

Royal Mail publishes its Christmas posting deadlines each autumn, and until they're out, anyone quoting you a December date is guessing. Check theirs directly once they land — and note they're the deadline for the post, not for us.

Our own end of it is the bit you can plan around now. Order before 3pm and it's dispatched the same day, arriving in two to four working days on the standard service, with a priority option if you've left it late. Add two days for anything personalised. Returns are free within fourteen days — with the personalisation exception above.

Which means the honest answer to "am I too early?" is no — not for the things that keep. And you're not too late for anything at all yet.

What if you'd rather buy for the parents?

Often the better gift, especially for a first baby. A baby under one doesn't know it's Christmas. The people who haven't slept since August very much do.

The best thing I was given the December after mine was born wasn't a thing. It was a friend who turned up, took the baby out in the pram for ninety minutes, and let me sleep in the middle of the afternoon. We don't sell that, and nothing we sell beats it. If you can offer it, offer it.

If you'd rather bring something, a gift set that covers both — something practical for the baby, presented well enough to hand over at a family Christmas — does more work than two separate token presents. Most of ours sit under £25 if that's the budget you're working to.

Common questions

So: buy the keepsake, wait on the vest. You're not behind. Buy the things that do not have a size on them, note the personalisation deadline, and leave the clothes until you know what you're dressing. That's the whole job.

What is the best present anyone gave your baby at Christmas — or gave you? I'm genuinely after ideas for the December guide. Tell me in the comments below; they're read before they appear, so don't worry if yours takes a day to show up. Or come and say it on Instagram, @babyboxshop1.