The Best...Natural Gifts For Newborns

Babies are born in to this world with nothing, but boy is the world quick to shower them with stuff. It can be overwhelming how many people will want to buy presents for your newborn baby. But it's a momentous event, when a new life is safely delivered. Just don't expect the same treatment by the time you have your second child - the excitement will have blown over by then, and you'll be lucky to get a bunch of flowers from the nearest garage.

So if you're buying for a new mum, and you know she's a keen green, all organic, reduce, reuse, recycle kind of gal - what are the best natural gifts to go for?

Here are some ideas:

• Give your time
  What's a more natural element that a new mum will be in short supply of than time? Make up a fancy certificate on the computer if you want to, promising so many hours of help. Or just roll your sleeves up and do the dishes or stick a load of washing on when you visit.
• Take baby for a walk
  Sleep is probably a new mum's most precious resource. But it can be hard to relax if you're always on half alert for baby to wake up, so sometimes new mums can only get a really good sleep when baby's not in the building. So if she'll let you, offer to take junior out for a stroll round the block in the pram.
• Burt's Bees Baby Bee Getting Started Kit
  I've bought these a few times for friends with new babies and they've always gone down well. It's a lovely little bag, containing samples of the range that you can use together or pop in your changing bag for use out and about. They also do a kit containing products for both mum and baby. All full of natural ingredients, like buttermilk and apricot.
• Green Baby
  This company was the first in the UK to produce organic stuff for kids, so they have a great track record. Take a look at the full range here.
• Organic at Heart

  This range includes skin care for both mother and baby, is Soil Association accredited, uses ethically traded ingredients and considers environmental impact throughout the production process. Website on its way here, and in the meantime take a look at some of the products here.

• Bamford Organics Green Baby Collection

  Bamford's lovely, luxury baby products are certified organic and free of irritant chemicals or additives. There's a gift set which includes all the products in the range, plus the softest, cuddliest toy rabbit to encourage sweet dreams. It's not exactly cheap at £99, but you can also buy the individual products from £14.

• Tesco bnatural range
  If you're on a supermarket budget, Tesco have launched a new range of natural baby toiletries. Containing a blend of organic oils and extracts, the new range is 100% paraben and mineral-oil free, and contains no artificial colours or synthetic fragrances. The bnatural range contains everything from lavender scented bedtime bath to organic nappy balm, and each item is priced at only £3.29
• A charity gift
  Tread carefully with these, because not everyone likes them - some people feel that donations to charity should be a personal choice. But if you think it'll be well received Oxfam Unwrapped have a range of gifts for parents - from condoms to training a midwife. Or you can combine a gift with a donation with a gift set sold in aid of Tommy's the Baby Charity.