Back in 1999, I picked up a gift pack for a pregnant mom from Sears.  I
don't know if they do this in the USA, but at least here in Canada, we
have the expectant mothers' club where you can sign up for a gift
registry, and take a guess on the arrival date of your baby (if you are
lucky and are on the right date, all purchases made for that baby are
reimbursed up to 500$).  When you sign up they give you a complimentary
gift pack.  In 1999 when I got my gift pack, it had both formula and
soothers in it, as well as bottles.  At the time I didn't think much of
it, because I didn't know about the WHO code and didn't think it was
abnormal for a bf mother to have some formula around "for emergencies". 
;-)

Well, I just signed up for my 2nd child for this and am pleased to
announce that, at least here in Québec Canada, the formula and soothers
are gone from that gift pack!  There are still bottles, which they could
get rid of...but on top of that, there is such a heap of junk in there
that they obviously have no clue what to provide to "replace" the
formula/soothers.

I got a bottle of shampoo...useful, but what does it have to do really
with mothering?  ;-)  I got a pot scrubber.  Hum...just what every new
mother needs, something to keep her busy while the baby is crying and
needing attention.  There were samples of cream, a box of miniature
kleenex tissues, and the best present, by far, I think, was the
(probably 60 cent) bottle of drinking water.  Give the bottle to the
mom, not the baby!  It seems to me that there is work that could be done
on this pack to make it more "new mother-new baby" friendly, without
specifically promoting bf or bottlefeeding in either way, and without
giving such useless or totally "off topic" objects!

My own thoughts were:
-a small toy for a small baby (rattle, or soft stuffed animal...can be
fairly cheap to find)
-perhaps a 3 month sized onesie or a pair of booties or mittens for the
baby, or a hat
-maybe a sample of a heavy duty menstrual pad, whichever company feels
like being a sponsor! (all new moms need some of those for early post
partum days!)
-I also thought of Transport Canada's "1-2-3-4" video about carseats,
their importance, and their installation.  While I think the video could
be much better, it is a beginning and would make for something useful
for a new family to look at (maybe while nursing.  ;-)).
-I don't think the kleenex box was really out of line.  Kleenexes (or
whatever brand) are sure useful for post-partum blues, mopping up a bit
of spit-up here and there, etc.
-I'd definately keep the water bottle, though it could also be a sports
bottle (of slightly better quality, though they're still dirt cheap!)
that could even say "Sears expectant mothers" or something like that,
which would advertise them.  I don't mind them advertising themself
since they give the pack away...as long as they're not doing so with
formula/soothers/bottles.
-Maybe a sample of a disposable diaper?  I'm sure either Pampers or
Huggies would be more than pleased to provide one diaper (individually
wrapped) with their big logo on it, and it would probably come with a
coupon for 1.50$ (or whatever) off another regular sized pack of
diapers.

Any other thoughts?  I'm just brainstorming, because I thought I might
write Sears to congratulate them for no formula/soothers, but to suggest
they re-hash the ideas for the things they put in the gift bag.

Thanks in advance!
Fio
ressource person with Allaitement Québec
Mama to Sandrine, 26 mos and #2, 11/2002

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