I once had a friend who told me I was so lucky to be on bed rest with my pregnancy. Lucky? It was literally one of the hardest things I have ever done. Not only do you have to turn over control to everyone else in your life from everything like helping your children get dressed and pick up their rooms to dinner. The most frustrating part? The boredom. I have never been so bored in my life. I use to crave normal things like shopping for shoes with my daughter or even seeing a newer movie like Pitch Perfect 2 that isn’t on Netflix. If you are looking to make a mom who is on bed rest’s life a little easier here are some gift ideas that can make a hard time a little better.
VidAngel Credits: VidAngel is kind of like an online Redbox. You pay $1 for each movie, but their selection is fantastic.They have new releases like Divergent that aren’t on Netflix. I also love that they have old relevant favorites, like a lot of Halloween movies right now. You better believe we will be watching Hocus Pocus before Halloween! Even now, that our little one is 18 months old, my husband and I still don’t get to the theater that often. We are excited to start catching up on everything we have missed since I was on bedrest.
Online Shopping Gift Cards: I used to window shop using my computer all the time. It helped me feel more normal and when I could buy household products on Amazon, I felt like I was helping out too.
Adult Coloring Books: Have you checked out all of the amazing Adult Coloring Books that are on the market now? A coloring book and a set of colored pencils would make a fantastic gift that would keep mom occupied for awhile.
A couple hours of your time: One of the hardest things for me was turning over all cooking and laundry duties to my husband. He was already so busy and stressed and I felt like I kept piling it on. I could fold the laundry after it was washed and dried but not a ton else. If you have a couple hours to pop over and run a couple loads of laundry or wash the kitchen floor, I am sure they would really appreciate it.
Dinner: We ate a lot of take out. I couldn’t stand on my feet long enough to cook much and my husband was really busy, so we ate out a lot. Double your favorite meal one night and bring over half. I had a friend bring a few meals that I could put in my freezer and then pull out one night. I absolutely LOVED those.
Games: I played a lot of games with my daughter during this time and it was a fun way for us to connect. Think of games that don’t have a board or if they do have a board, don’t have pieces that can slide all over the place. Some of our favorite games to play were Go Fish, Uno and paper games like Hang Man. We also played I Spy. A LOT, so a friend bought us one of those I Spy books, which was a blast.
Books: Whether you bring a giftcard for a electronic reader, let her borrow your favorite books or just pick up new books for her from the library, books are one of the best things you can bring someone who is one bed rest.
Healthy Snacks: It is so tempting to drown your sorrows in a bag of Oreos when you are on bed rest, but you need to keep strength up. Find out what her favorite fruits, veggies and protein bars are and help her load up on those.
Being on bed rest is really tough, but little things like these can make it so much better. Have you every bought a gift for a friend on bed rest before?
So thoughtful! Love the coloring book idea…and food! Food is always good!
I can only imagine how frustrating and boring mandatory bedrest would be–you can only sleep so much, right?! Definitely seconding the gift cards (I seem to go on my worst shopping binges when I'm home sick and can't get the gumption up to do anything else). Also, I'd never heard of VidAngel–I'll keep them in mind next time I need to track down a title!
I have to say the coloring book is my favorite one! Thanks for the great ideas 😀
I haven't heard of VidAngel! How neat! I definitely think bringing meals would be the absolute best.
Ahh I can't imagine being on bed rest! I would definitely go crazy! I love the idea of online gift cards! Duh! 😉
These are some awesome ideas, I am loving adult colouring at the moment it is so relaxing. x
A great list! I like the idea of the coloring book – that is a great way to be creative and idle away some time. AS much as I think having bed rest would be relaxing – I can only imagine how confining it would feel after a day or two.
I love the coloring book idea! and the things to get someone on bedrest. What a great idea for a post.
What great ideas! I never would of thought of those. I can't even begin to imagine the difficulty of being on bed rest! I will keep these in mind for the future! Just in case! Thanks for sharing!!!
I was gifted a coloring book and love it! Great post!
These are some great ideas! So thoughtful, especially the coloring books!
Bedrest sounds like a really awful time. 🙁 Sometimes, I think I would love to lay in bed all day… but even then, I know I'd want to get up and do something. These are all good ideas.
Coloring books, definitely. I love mine. It's such a peaceful and relaxing thing to do. I even have an app on my iPad for if I go somewhere and forget a book.
What a great idea for a gift basket! When my sister was on bed rest, she learned how to sew and we bought her magazines and coloring books.
These are great! Having been on bed rest these would have been awesome!
Totally agree! Coloring could amuse me for hours, so I can imagine it would make a great gift for someone on bed rest for sure!
These are SUCH great gift ideas!!! Thanks for putting the list together! <3
Love the coloring book idea! I was on 5 months of bed rest almost 6 years ago now. Those awesome little books did not exist yet…but would have been awesome to have!
These are thoughtful gift ideas. I love the adult coloring books.
Yes to coloring books! Everyone likes to color! LOL!