Dwell Studio for Target

If you’re on a budget but are high-design minded and need something for a friend’s baby, gather your patience (or your willingness to pay shipping costs) and head to Target to collect an item or two from their Dwell Studio for Target line.

Let me say up front that I do not understand what Dwell or Target were thinking when they came up with the plan to make these high-quality products in cool patterns and then not distribute them consistently so anyone would be able to get them. Ridiculous.

On any given day, at any given Target, it’s almost impossible to find the Dwell Studio line on the shelves or racks. But you can order them. And you should, because they’re great. And that in-store scarcity means you will look like a genius for finding something unique + the baby will look hip because no one else at Mommy & Me will have what he’s wearing.

(The online stock is sometimes poor too – I keep thinking they’re discontinuing it – but it’s worth five minutes of sifting through the brief search results for “DwellStudio” on Target.com to see if they have a color you like. Their infant clothes are also great, if you can find them and want to skip layette in favor of clothing.)

My three recommendations are

• The double-layer jersey baby blanket, which comes in great boy or girl patterns and is heavyweight enough that Mom will thank you for giving her a real, can-use-it-on-the-floor play blanket. (That said, I don’t love the new blue blanket pattern – but they change it every once in a while, so check back. Or maybe you’ll like the one they have – what do I know??)
• The double-layer jersey sleep sack, also in boy or girl colors. Again, many thanks from Mom for providing an all-cotton but still warm sleep sack to supplement all the muslin and fleece ones everyone else gave her.
• The adorable heavyweight cotton kimono pajamas which wash so, so well and keep baby warmer than all the others.

Get it together, Target! We like this line. So make more and just own it already.

Newborn Girls’ DwellStudio for Target Pink Blanket. Or blue. $12.99 at Target.com

DwellStudio for Target Wearble Blanket (read: sleep sack) in pink stripes (0-6 months only). Blue n/a at time of publication. $12.99 at Target.com

DwellStudio for Target Kimono Sleeper for Girls or Boys, about $8 at Target.com or in stores

Baby Milestone Cards from Double Bravo Designs

Some new parents will keep a baby book recording all their new child’s milestones and footprints and height and the like. Others will not – and that baby book they got at their baby shower will just glare at them judgmentally from the shelf of their child’s room, reminding them that they are not organized or crafty or just plain into it enough to fill it up with mementos and notes. These cards are the guilt-free answer.

They’re single letterpress cards, one for each milestone, that can be filled out in about two seconds but still make lovely mementos of early childhood’s big moments. Buy singles or a set. They’re a great additional small gift for a shower or a little something to send along to mark the child’s birth. The parents will love you for making an often guilt-laden process so much easier but still appealing.

(If you’re really into simplifying the memento thing so that kiddo doesn’t take them to task later for not being Martha Stewart, send the cards with little frames for easy display or in a pretty memory box that mom and dad can add to as they go.)

Cards available singly from Double Bravo Designs at Etsy.com for $3.75 each (First Word, First Steps, Blew First Kiss, Slept Through the Night, Snacking On Your Own)

Baby Gifts: A Note on Bedding

Here’s the deal: baby bedding – bumpers, comforters, quilts – is not a good shower gift. I’m sorry to break this to you. I know: that bumper and tiny matching quilt with the giraffes are so, so cute, but there it is. Just don’t do it.

If mom and dad registered for a set, OK, maybe, but I’d rather you picked out something else for them, just in case they come to their senses.

Why? Because babies do not sleep under blankets or baby-sized comforters. They sleep in swaddles and, a little later, in zip-up sleep sacks, both of which stay on their fidgety selves better than a blanket and neither of which are considered a suffocation hazard in the crib. Bumpers, no matter how adorable, are also a definite “no” and are listed as suffocation risks by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Mama will not use any of the above for Junior in his bed, so move along down the aisle unless you are OK with your gift going un-used. (Or worse: I’ll admit that I dropped off a couple at Goodwill. We just didn’t have the space to store them and they’d have been too small for our daughter by the time it was safe to use them.)

Receiving blankets? Yes. Swaddling blankets? Yes, please! Soft fitted crib sheets from the baby registry? Hello! A soft fuzzy blanket big enough and tough enough to use on the floor for playtime or in the stroller for a walk? Fine. Not very soft or thick mini quilts that won’t provide much warmth out in the weather or down on the floor? Nope. A full-size quilt that you have no expectation you will see on Baby’s bed until she is at least four? Fine. She will appreciate it then, as will her mom. We have a gorgeous one from my aunt – hand quilted, no less – that could not be more perfect for a little girl’s room. When she’s in a toddler bed, that is. (Please note the emphasis on “full-size” so it will still fit her bed by the time she can use it!)

OK, I’m done. I’m so sorry if you had your heart set on sending a tiny comforter. I know you meant well and just thought it would be wonderful and adorable. But do the right thing and get little Murgatroyd something else wonderful and adorable instead. Really.

Petunia Pickle Bottom Layette

In case you haven’t run across the name before, Petunia Pickle Bottom is a company that got famous making pricey diaper bag/backpacks in all kinds of nice prints. Very popular with the celebrity crowd. Some moms love them. I personally found the backpack too heavy + didn’t like that I couldn’t detach the built-in changing pad, but whatever: save that info for when you’re looking for a diaper bag!

The company has branched out from that success and has launched a new layette line which you might want to consider if you’re looking for a kind-of-expensive but not-everyone-has-it gift for a mom-to-be for her baby shower (or, if you’re really generous, at the birth of the baby.)

The best gift options are the Social Set (side-snap bodysuit + hat + pants) and the traditional layette combination of blanket + one-piece pajamas + hat in the Snuggle Set. All pieces are 100% organic cotton, and all patterns and colors are subtle and tasteful. (They also sell dresses and bodysuits individually, but for a shower, I prefer the idea of the set.)

Bonus: if mom doesn’t love it, she can exchange it for another pattern or put it towards one of their bags.

Social Set $44 in one of four color schemes, sizes 0-3 months or 3-6 months (I’d get 3-6, since babies grow so fast!), available at Petunia Pickle Bottom.com or, in San Francisco, at Day One in Laurel Heights

Snuggle Set $60 in one of four color schemes, 0-3 months only, available at Petunia Pickle Bottom.com or, in San Francisco, at Day One in Laurel Heights

http://www.petunia.com/layette/social-set/gardenlatticegirlssocialset

Carter’s Patterned Onesies

Carter’s cute patterned bodysuits are the perfect quickie gift for

a.) a baby shower gift basket,

b.) a newborn as a little extra, “Welcome to the world!”, or

c.)  a not-close-but-I-still-like-you friend or co-worker who just had a baby.

That last category can be tough because you don’t want to spend a ton of time or a lot of money finding a small, useful-but-cute present. A friend of a friend whom we don’t see very often sweetly sent Astrid a pack of these when she was tiny and it was the perfect, “Hey! We’re thinking about you! Congratulations!” small gift.

They come in packs of three or four and I’d recommend the subtler patterned ones, since they’re cute but not tacky and suit any taste. For God’s sake, don’t get the ones that say “MOMMY” in giant magenta letters on them. Just don’t.

If you want to spend a little more, get one pack of patterns and add in a four-pack of the plain white long-sleeved ones: there is no parent who does not need more white onesies. Also: be kind and order the 3 or 6 month size. (Newborns can’t wear bodysuits until their belly button heals and babies grow so fast, they grow out of the Newborn size before you know it.)

Target has the widest selection of patterns but inconsistent in-store stock. If you’re going anyway, get them there. Or order online. Macy’s carries them in-store for the lowest price but they also have limited stock in the patterns. (Inexplicably, Carters.com doesn’t carry nearly as many patterns as Target does and Amazon is a total loss and usually sends you to Target.com anyway.)

Carter’s 4-pack short-sleeved bodysuits with little tiny elephants, stripes, etc. in brown, pink, or blue, $9 at Target