When a baby arrives, the presents go to two places: the baby, and the new parents. The two people who became grandparents overnight — promoted, with a new name, to Dadi and Dada or Nani and Nana — usually receive a stream of photographs on WhatsApp and very little else.
A gift to them marks the promotion. It can come from the new parents, from the new parents’ brothers and sisters, or from the baby, in the way babies give gifts. And it is almost always made from the one thing everyone suddenly has too much of: photographs of the baby.
When to give it
The first weeks with a newborn are no time to plan anything. Wait for a natural moment:
| Moment | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Just after the naming ceremony | The baby has a name to put on the cover, and the rush is over |
| The first month | There are enough photographs, and everyone is sleeping a little more |
| The first festival together | Diwali, Lohri or Eid with a new face at the table |
| Their first visit to stay | Given at the door, it sets the tone for the whole visit |
| The first birthday | For the grandparents, not only the baby |
Six gifts new grandparents love
1. A magazine of the first weeks
Grandparents in another city see the baby mostly on a phone screen — small, one photograph at a time, lost among the forwards. A printed magazine of the first weeks puts the baby on their coffee table, where every visitor will be shown it, page by page. A Custom Magazine suits this, from ₹499 for 8 pages. Photo gifts for grandparents without a smartphone →
2. Then and now
Find a photograph of the new mother or father as a baby — usually in a family album — and put it beside the same kind of photograph of the grandchild: the first bath, the first smile, asleep in the same position. Families argue happily for hours about whose nose it is. A few of these pairs make a page or two that grandparents return to again and again.
3. A diary to write to the grandchild
A Photo Diary with the baby’s photographs on the cover and in the spreads at the front, and lined pages after, for the grandparents to fill: the family recipes, the stories about the new parents as children, the songs they sing to the baby. It becomes a book for the child to read at sixteen. From ₹699 for 60 sheets, with a golden spiral so it lies flat while they write. The Photo Diary →
4. Prints for the fridge
Thirty polaroid-style prints with a caption under each, from ₹270 — for the fridge door, the mirror, the wall beside the phone. Grandparents who do not use smartphones get to see the baby every day, and a fresh set every few months keeps pace with how fast the baby changes. Custom polaroid prints →
5. A deck to carry around
A 27-card deck of the baby, at ₹999 — a photograph and a caption on each card, pocket-sized, in a printed box. It is made for the grandparent who shows the grandchild to everyone they meet, from the neighbour to the vegetable seller. The Photo Card Deck →
6. Their new name, on the cover
Whatever you give, use the title they have just earned. “Nani’s First Book”, “For Dada, from his grandson” — the new name on the cover is often the part that makes them laugh first.
Both sets of grandparents
Two families have just become grandparents at once, and it is kind to treat them the same way. The simplest route is one book with two copies. A second copy of a designed piece costs less than the first — ask for it when the proof arrives on WhatsApp, and both are printed and dispatched together.
If one family has far more photographs of the baby than the other — usually whoever lives closer — balance it on the page rather than in the gift: make sure both sets of grandparents appear in the book holding the baby, even if that means asking for one more photograph.
When the grandparents live with you
If the grandparents share the house, they do not need photographs to see the baby — they see the baby all day. What they do not see is themselves in it. They are the ones holding the baby at three in the morning, singing in the kitchen, carrying the cradle into the sun, and they are in almost none of the pictures.
Make the gift about that: a magazine of the first months as a household, with them at the centre of it. Somebody else in the family will need to take the photographs, which is half the gift.
What to write on the first page
A line from the new parents to their own parents is the page that gets read first. Keep it short and cheerful: “You taught us how. Now you get to spoil her.” Or simply the date the baby arrived and the date they became Nani and Nana. What to write on the first page →
Choosing photographs of a newborn
A hundred photographs of a sleeping baby look like the same photograph a hundred times. Choose variety instead:
- The details — hands, feet, a yawn, the first frown.
- The firsts — the first bath, the first outing, the first time in a festival outfit.
- The people — the grandparents holding the baby matter more than any studio portrait. If there are none yet, take them on the next visit.
- The house — the cradle, the room, the chaos of a home with a newborn in it.
Photographing a childhood while it happens →
Keep it going
The first book is a gift; a small printed update every few months becomes a habit the grandparents will look forward to. Some families make one book for every birthday, so that by the time the child is ten there is a shelf of them. A birthday book started at birth →
For timing, the rule is the same as for any order: order by Friday and it is designed, proofed, printed and dispatched on the coming Monday, provided you approve the proof when it arrives, and from order to doorstep is 5 to 14 days.
Frequently asked
What is a good gift for new grandparents? A printed book or a set of prints of the baby’s first weeks, with their new name on it. They see the photographs on a phone; printed, they can show them to everyone.
When should we give new grandparents a gift? At a natural moment after the first weeks — just after the naming ceremony, the first month, the first festival together, or their first visit.
Should the gift come from us, or from the baby? From the baby, if you like — “For Nani, love from Aarav” on the first page is a lovely touch, and grandparents enjoy the joke. The letter inside can still be from you.
Can both sets of grandparents get the same book? Yes. Order one designed book and ask for a second copy at the proof stage — extra copies cost less than the first.
Part of our guide to emotional gifts for parents. See also: personalised gifts for grandparents and gifts for a new baby.
For the new grandparents: Personalised gifts for parents · Photo magazines from ₹499