Mum and dad found theirs SO useful with my little sister - they have given it to us now.

They said with a baby, they went to other people's homes for dinner more often (rather than going out) so it was great to be able to put her down to sleep.

I love the idea of using it as an outdoor playpen too - great idea!

As for other gifts... I have put the word out that we desperately want lovely hardcover books of all the classics (Snugglepot, Charlotte's Web, Peter Pan, Garden of Verse etc).