Brought to you by Aldi.
After months of waiting patiently to meet the newest member of the family, parents and friends could be forgiven for descending on a new mum and her baby like starving ants on a melted ice cream.
However, as most parents will agree, those first few precarious and emotional days are not always the best time to welcome a stampede of excited visitors into your home.
Make sure you're the guest who keeps on giving by following these five tips to the letter.
1. Be proactive
Offer to do a crappy job; if you see dishes, wash them. Empty the dishwasher, make the tea, take out the wheelie bins. Be available for short bursts of time so mum can take a shower or dad can sleep. Offer to walk the dog or run to the shops.
2. Bring food
Figuring out how to sterilise a bottle or breastfeed a baby is tough going for a new mommy and daddy; meals are not a priority. A basic lasagne that can be heated and devoured in portions (at any time of the day or night) can be a godsend for a frazzled couple. Earn extra points for providing foods that can be eaten with one hand while mom and dad hold the new arrival in the other (crudité and dip; quiche, cupcakes).
3. Offer to babysit. Then offer again.
While the babysitting offers tend to come thick and fast in the first few weeks, most new parents find they usually peter out eventually. Offering to sit with the baby for an hour or two while mummy and daddy go out for lunch or mum nabs a hair appointment can be a godsend - just long enough to relax without the separation anxiety of a full night out.
4. Spend time with older children
A new baby can take up a lot of the attention normally reserved for older kids. Planning a cinema trip, a game of football or a pizza party at your place will give the exhausted parents a night alone with their newborn, guilt-free in the knowledge the rest of the brood is having a blast with you.
5. Skip the flowers
Sending a gift from afar? Flowers are pretty but they don't last long. Book the new parents a one-hour visit from a cleaner instead. That's the gift that keeps on giving. Alternatively, muffin and biscuit baskets are usually well received too.
For more information on the award-winning Mamia range, visit the Aldi website. 
