Forgive me if I'm less than helpful, but as the mother of two young girls I was always just thrilled when people thought of us with any gift. New clothes are still appreciated, especially since my girls were born six months apart in different seasons. Personalized onesies and little blankies were much loved. New books are always a great gift. Probably the only thing I groaned a little inside with receiving was new crib sized blankets (I think we have about 12-15), except of course one that was hand knitted. Even second time around parents are just glad you are welcoming their little one with warm thoughts and love, the gift itself is just a bonus.

What heja said. And a little something for the older sibling is always a wonderful gesture to help big bro/sis feel like the center of attention for at least a few moments!

Don't assume that the parents have everything they need for the new baby just because they already have a child at home. It may be that the children are many years apart, different genders, born during different seasons or just that Mom decided to clean out the closets for some extra space before she knew she was expecting. Any gift would be appreciated, I am sure. We for some reason received a lot of teething toys for our second child as gifts. She uses a couple of them, but we have more than we could ever use. I really appreciated handmade things - not that you necessarily have to make them yourself, but shops like anything at etsy or local boutiques have very nice and unique things for babies that parents are sure to not already have on hand.

I'm expecting my 2nd, another girl, and my first is 2 1/2. We were able to keep everything from our first. We are fortunate enough to only need diapers and a double stroller. That's it. New clothes are always fun, but I think maybe personalized gifts would be nice. Something for the new baby that will be just hers, not a hand-me-down. Even if it is a blanket with her name on it for example. Gift cards and diapers are always useful and maybe a thoughtful "couples gift" for the expecting parents. Hope that helps.

We switched to cloth diapers with our first so we needed those. We upgraded a few toys, replaced some teething toys, bought lots of motrin/tylenol/teething tablets, replaced some board books.

Our favorite gifts were new board books (popular ones like Goodnight Moon or newly published ones, they usually need to be replaced at some point), a toy or giftie for the older sibling,

But. Argh. I wouldn't suggest clothes. It is really thoughful and generous but odds are, it will be the wrong season, wrong size, or mismatch with the parent's taste. Clothing gifts are really hard.

Another idea is to offer to help with a park playdate or dinner or be willing to check recall lists for all their baby stuff. We had a suprising number of recalled toys. Really depressing.

We recently had a baby boy, and we have a 2yo daughter. I'll third what heja said--all of it. We still had all the main things we used for our daughter, and many of her clothes were fine for the new baby, but a cute outfit especially for him was always great, as were the many thoughtful gifts we got for our older child when the baby was born (after all, she's old enough to appreciate them, and to know when she's being left out!). I'd also say you can never go wrong with books--they provide many hours of enjoyment for both the younger and older child, they're enrichinhg, and they store easily.

You should always bring a little something for the older child but more importantly you should make an effort to interact with that child before you start fawning over the new baby. It only takes a few minutes to ask them to tell you about what they're playing with and it can make a huge difference in how they feel.

Classic board books are usually a good gift because most of them will not have survived the first child intact and it's nice for the new baby to have their own books to destroy :)

Also, I always bring food when I visit new parents. If you've arranged it in advance you can bring a meal for everyone to share and if not something that they can throw in the freezer and cook later is always appreciated. If you're not a cook then a gift certificate to one of their favorite take-out places is nice too. It doesn't have to be pizza or Chinese since lots of restaurants now do curbside pick-up.

My sister and I were just talking about this. . . we both just had second children and have lots of friends having second children. We decided that a small gift or toy for the older child is very nice and for the younger child, things that the older child won't be passing down are good ideas.

I found that I needed/loved personalized towels (the big plush ones that could be used into the preschool years), little lovee (angel dear ones are cute), and super soft, plush baby/stroller blankets (we got a furry "little giraffe" blanket for our second that she loves, but I also love the "my blankee" blankets too).

I also would not suggest clothes for a second. I would secretly take back most of what we received for the baby and buy my older child new stuff - since we already had tons of hand me downs for the baby.

Books are a good idea, but I'm always a little nervous about buying books for a second child because I don't know if the family already has them. If they are easy to return/exchange, then go for the books.

If you are willing to cook, making food that is easy to heat up is a great idea. Anything that makes life a little easier in those early days is much appreciated.

Personalized items, for one or both, are great! And anything that makes the older child feel special is wonderful.

Also, so much stuff gets tossed out between kids: infant medications, pacifiers, some parts of bottles, stained clothes and supplies... there are definite needs, but it is kind of hard to predict what.

Ours are the same gender and exactly the same season, so clothes aren't needed as much. But for sure, diapers (not newborn size---they're outgrown so quickly), gift cards, meals, etc. are always appreciated. And actually, anything you do to celebrate the second-born is really nice.

My two boys are 25 months apart. Even though their birthdays fall one month apart, my younger son has turned out to be MUCH smaller than my older son and so all the clothes I saved have been the wrong season or else they just don't work (younger guy is super skinny, big bro was more of a chunk). Even if the parents think they have everything they need, they probably don't. My boys are complete opposites about almost everything. The older one spit up constantly and we needed loads of burp rags, the younger never did. The older one could use any brand of diapers, the younger one had to have super-hypoallergenic/organic/cholorine-free/insanely expensive ones. The list goes on and on. I also found I needed to wear the younger one more due to maneuvering with the older one.
I would suggest giftcards to help with the purchase of a double stroller, a baby carrier, diapers, wipes, etc. Also let me second the small gift for the older child. It helps SO much to make them feel more secure about their place in the family, etc.
My sis-in-law who has three girls would always answer (when asked what to get the baby) that if people wanted to buy gifts to be helpful, the oldest girl was usually in need of far more than the baby. This is another reason why giftcards are so helpful to the parents - especially if they will have more than one in diapers at a time. That alone can be a HUGE expense. Gifts for the mom are also nice and bringing meals, offering to watch the older child for a while, those kinds of services are SO helpful.
One thing I would advise against buying: toys. Heaven help us, we are drowning in toys due to other people's generosity...

I have two little boys, born at the same time of year (though their sizes were still drastically different). We received quite a few generous gifts, even the second time around, but I'm realizing that my youngest has very few things that are "his", and even fewer things that are handmade. For instance, things like stuffed animals (groan) that his brother has TONS of, he has NONE.

I would suggest a small gift for the oldest (something on the order of a book). For the youngest, the easily gifted necessities are often covered, though clothes are always appreciated. But personal gifts that don't get handed down from older siblings (eg. personalized or hand made things, stuffed animals, lovies, piggy banks) are great.

I will follow up with just one specific recommendation of a gift that I thought was brilliant: Personalized large tote bag (i.e. LL Bean) with my daughter's name. I have been using it almost every day for three years and I never would have thought to buy it myself. It has been used for swimsuits/towels, beach toys, library books, and the farmers market. It has been her "luggage" for weekend trips, and extra toy storage. A great, great, gift. I loved it so much I bought one for my second daughter myself.

I'm having my second son in about a month so this is something I've been thinking about. My first is 3 1/2 years old so it's very important to me that he isn't left out. I hope people think to bring him gifts. My sons' birthdays will be about 6 months apart so I could use some new clothes. The new baby could also use a few stuffed animals (my older son is retaining all of the ones I received when I was pregnant with him) and some new board books. The good board books were well loved (meaning, pretty much destroyed) by my first. I could also use gift cards but I need them now, not after the baby is born. I need new bottles, pacifiers, bassinet pads, etc. but I want to buy those things before the baby is born. I also need a double BOB stroller but it's unlikely anyone will give me an REI gift card as a baby gift...

Our favorite gift for our second daughter was a blanket with her name embroidered on it. The two are expected to share most everything, so it is nice to have something that is clearly hers.

I never give baby clothes anymore, except maybe sleepers just because you never know what size they are going to be wearing during which season (my son is 16 months and is wearing 9-12 month clothes!) I try to give "disposable" gifts for the second baby like diapers, formula/bottles, bubble bath and bath towel, gift cards, etc. I do like the idea of personalized gifts, that is something I will certainly keep in mind.