Great baby shower presents include bunches of baby clothes pretending to be a bouquet of flowers, bunches of nappies pretending to be a cake! Dinky three piece sets of newborn clothes in Italian or French designs, small paniers of exotic toiletries, a baby massage book, a thick cotton, baby bath towel in an apron style for mum to wear, and of course the cutest of all - anything to do with babies feet!

Christening presents are traditionally more serious. There's a levity that comes with welcoming a baby into a faith, so the gifts tend to reflect that solemnity. Silver and pewter ware is classic, although the egg cup and spoon have moved over to make room for the more modern baby photo frame, mini tankard or birth certificate container. A christening is the occasion to buy a children's bible, book of prayers or poetry.

Yes even at this very young age it is perfectly acceptable to give presents that may not come into any use until years later.

A gift is only really a gift when its given with thought. Its the planning that matters, so its important that customers feel they can identify with the item. Not everyone wants to be too serious, of course. www.inthepaper.co.uk has come up with a winning idea for example that enables the buyers to write and design the front page of a bogus newspaper to announce the good news. Babyexperiences.co.uk lets the customer adopt a donkey or pony for the little one, although it may be difficult to explain that the animal doesn't actually come and live with you! And if someone really wants to make a big impact on mum and dad, they can actually have a star named after the baby at http://www.starlistings.co.uk/ for only £25.

To get a good taste of the range of wholesale gifts available the best way is to set aside a whole day and visit one of the big gift fair such as Top Drawer at Olympia , London from 14th - 16th September. Here you can compare prices, notice the trends and push for really good trade deals with the horses mouth.