Best Flowers for a New Baby & New Parents

The best flowers for a new baby are actually for the new parents: an easy-to-style bouquet, delivered to their home instead of the hospital, in colors and moods that fit who they are and how the birth went. That might mean brightly colored ranunculus to celebrate, something clean and green like white callas if they’re more of a minimalist, or something lower maintenance (read: a plant) that'll help them while away the next three months hibernating with their new, semi-nocturnal addition. Ultimately, the right pick means considering the context!

Because here’s the thing about flowers to celebrate a new baby: the baby doesn’t know or care. It will take at least another 18 months before that baby even learns what a flower is, and a few more years before it begins to understand the underpinnings of social graces like sending a bouquet when someone you love celebrates a milestone like giving birth (side note: does Peggy Post write children’s books?). The baby is only concerned with trying to figure out what it means to exist in such a bright, noisy place and why it’s been so long since it last ate.

Note: Peggy Post is an American author, etiquette consultant, and the great-granddaughter-in-law of renowned manners expert, Emily Post.

The flowers are for the people who are jumping through hoops over any potential sign of hunger or discomfort, who did one of the most physically demanding things a human body can do and then was handed a car seat, a real life version of that egg your health teacher gave you in seventh grade and you toted around to homeroom and Algebra, and (lest we forget) the crushing weight of the responsibility of caring for the physical, mental, spiritual wellbeing of said “egg” in perpetuity. So first and foremost, skip the delivery to the labor and delivery suite at the hospital. Land the flowers to their doorstep, preferably a week or two after they’ve gotten home and are pretending they’ve wrapped their arms around this whole parenting gig.

After that, consider the people next. If you don’t have kids yourself, or even if you do and they’ve just outgrown the glow worm to tiny, tearful tyrant (repeat) cycle already, it can be hard to sympathize with the kind of trench warfare they’re in the midst of. And of course, there is all kinds of hard in life. Having a newborn is just one of them. We’re not comparing. We’re just saying that for folks in the middle of this particular brand of difficult, because of its specificity, and the wonders a lack of sleep can work on your memory, it’s difficult to relay exactly what this period feels like to outsiders, even those who have been there/done that.

But before they were overtired, under fed, questionably (?) groomed caretakers of the aforementioned “egg,” they were people. Bright and brilliant, maybe aces at pub trivia, or the friend you texted immediately after a first date. Or the person who always had a recommendation for the best white t-shirt, or walking trail, or new place for brunch on Sunday. Remember that person/those people and shop accordingly.

What kinds of flowers should you send for a new baby?

The best flowers for a new baby are easy-to-style picks that match the parents: a colorful mixed bouquet to celebrate, clean white calla lilies for minimalists, or a low-maintenance plant if the homecoming was a hard one. Reminding someone that you love them with flowers, and then showing them you know them because of the flowers you picked, is just about the best feeling in the world. Trust us.

Here are some of our top picks for new baby sends!

• Bright and Celebratory: for the queen of your group chat who’s never missed a birthday or a break up, something as colorful and celebratory as they are! Our Lindy Hop comes vase ready after a quick trim and blooms into a mix of peaches, light pinks, warm purples, and whites.
• A Softer Landing: want something a little more understated, but don’t want to give up color completely? A bunch of peach and pink ranunculus still says sunshine but is a more subdued statement than a mixed bouquet. Bonus points? These benefit Every Mother Counts, an organization with a mission to make childbirth safe for every mother, everywhere.
• Easy Does It: if the journey home had a few bumps, sometimes something more low-maintenance is in order. A chlorophyllic companion that will throw up the white flag when it needs some water (i.e. a peace lily) is a great option that tells you exactly what it needs, and when it needs it. Sounds familiar? We promise it’s H20 needs aren’t every two hours.
• Less is More: for the more minimalist mom or dad, a chop-and-drop bunch of calla lilies takes about 30 seconds to get into a vase once you open the box. It couldn’t be easier to add a little put-together-ness to a home, especially when it’s feeling anything but after a long night of repeat wake ups.
• A Breath of Fresh Air: a hand-made wreath with fresh eucalyptus is an out-of-the-box option that adds a fresh scent to a space, even and especially when new parents may be wearing eau de spit up around.

What flowers should you avoid for a new baby?

Skip high-maintenance flowers like garden roses and pollen-heavy ones like Oriental lilies. New parents don't have time for removing thorns, guard petals, or pollen stains. They have their hands (overly) full with feeding schedules, appointments at the pediatrician, and where they left their last pair of clean pants so they can get to said appointment in what some may call a socially acceptable state.

That means more finicky favorites, like garden roses, which can require some more careful preparation for the vase (i.e. removing thorns, foliage, guard petals) are out. We also tend to avoid oriental lilies (we prefer to call them “ories”) for this same reason. While they’re very straightforward to style, once they open the pollen pods can cause staining to fingers or, if they’re nearing the end of their vase life, on whatever the pod alights upon once it falls off the flower. While it’s not impossible to get out using some stain removers, anything that requires special laundering instructions is strictly off limits for the time being.

Author’s note: if said parents are also parents to a four-legged friend, we more emphatically suggest choosing something other than lilies. While no flowers make proper food for a cat or a dog, lilies can be toxic and life threatening.

Can you send flowers to the hospital after a baby is born?

You can send flowers to the hospital, but we recommend sending them to the new parents once they’re home instead. Many maternity wards and NICUs have security measures that make direct delivery difficult or against policy. And new parents have their hands full following the birth and don’t need to juggle a flower delivery and a car seat on the way home.

Trust us, this is not the answer we want to give. But maternity wards and NICUs have policies in place to protect patients and babies that often mean deliveries cannot get further than reception desks or loading docks. In these facilities the priority is patients, medical supplies, and medical staff — not flowers. And rightfully so.

When should you send flowers for a new baby?

Send flowers once new parents have arrived back at home, ideally one or two weeks after leaving the hospital when the first wave of gifts and visitors has died down. Settling into a new routine is difficult, especially when the source of the new routine likes to switch things up just after new parents think they’ve got this whole infant thing on lock. Waiting a bit means they’ll have a little more bandwidth to appreciate and enjoy anything you send, flowers or otherwise.

Also, remember that our brains are discounting machines. We get busy with our own “babies,” be they chubby-cheeked and sweet-potato-loving, four legged and incredibly furry, or four-walled and full of people and processes that all come back to y-o-u. So the next best time to send flowers is right before you might forget, because it’s probably when other people have started to get wrapped back up in their own routines, too. It will, inevitably, also coincide with a sleep regression, or a third week of reflux, and that new parent is going to need a metaflorical pick-me-up to remind them there’s not only a life outside of this new baby bubble, but a beautiful one.

Fresh flowers are always a great reminder that a little time and a little water make everything better. Whether that water is in the form of a shower or a tall glass of it is all up to them.

What should you write on a card for a new baby?

Keep it short, be yourself, and tell them that they most definitely deserve a nap.

It sounds simple, but for a lot of folks (ourselves included) writing a thoughtful note for a gift like this is hard.

People can be so funny. You spend fifteen years creating a secret language that’s an amalgamation of every drink ever shared. Every text to the group chat eked out at 1:00 in the morning, one eye closed, grasp on grammar questionable so you could get a reply in before you hit the hay. Every show you hit “play now” on simultaneously even though you were 3,000 miles and three time zones apart.

You live the most wonderful and the most mundane parts of your life with people and then something monumental happens and words fail you. It can feel like you have to put on some extraordinarily scholarly hat to say “I’m sorry” or “I love you” or “I wish I could be there.” You stare at that little blank portion of the checkout and don’t know where to begin. Or how to sign off.

And it makes sense. Life is big — sometimes bigger than the few hundred characters in our message section can fit. But our best suggestion is to try. And to be you. Because you’re the one who was there for all the chapters before this one. Especially now that they’ve done this huge and wonderful thing, sometimes they need to be reminded where they end (the dark undereye circles and the coffee cup) and the new baby begins (look for the tiny pajamas with the feet).

If you need a place to get started, here’s a few suggestions:

CARD MESSAGES FOR NEW BABIES AND NEW PARENTS

Dear Baby, I know you’re not actually reading this, but if your parents read it aloud to you and you, by chance, have spontaneously developed comprehension skills since your birth but days ago, please be as kind as this age possibly allows. And that includes gifting your guardians a stretch of sleep at least three hours long whenever possible.

Love,

Your Aunt

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Welcome to the big leagues, little one. You’ve got some of the best coaches I’ve ever met to help you figure out this game of life. And I’m here on the sidelines to help, too. I’m officially out of sports metaphors (your parents are way better at this athletic stuff), but know I love you so much already.

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You’ve got this. I love you. You’ve done more in less time/subsisted off of less sleep in college/can’t start backing down now because that kid is going to have you wrapped around its pinky finger before it hits preschool.

I’m here for the 2:00p AND 2:00a wake ups.

xx

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A BABY! My biggest accomplishments this year include finally changing the battery in my tv remote (though I was able to manage a few extra months by changing the AAs around every week or so) and finding time to meal prep a lunch or two every week for work. So it’s big news all around then for the both of us!

I love you so much and am so proud of you for making an entire human from scratch!

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A million congratulations on your newest arrival! Wishing you all the snuggles and some rest!

Love,

The Team

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What flowers should you send to a coworker with a new baby?

Buying a new baby gift for a coworker? Or your boss? There are times when you may not know the new parent all that well - or all that well outside of a professional setting. In those cases, we recommend keeping it simple, and avoiding more personal picks that you might be more apt to choose for a best friend. Gerbera daisies are a 72 degree day with not a cloud in the sky - in floral form. A pastel bunch of those (just don’t forget to add a vase) is always a great place to start.