I agree that savings bonds aren’t the best long-term investment as far as returns, but they are probably the simplest. I believe they can also be used tax-free towards college tuition.

I’ve just started to look into cashing my savings bonds. Half of them are solely in my mother’s name, which is a giant hassle. If she cashes them, she has to pay taxes on the interest income. Transferring ownership in-family is allowed, but is a pain in the neck for paper bonds, and tedious for electronic bonds (savingsbonds.gov).

I think the best way to do this is to assign the bond to the parent with the child as the co-owner, if you think the parent will be more responsible than the child. If not, I’d assign it solely to the child.

I had about $2k in paper savings bonds (face amount) in my name when I was in school. I never had a problem getting financial aid. I’m not sure if the gov’t is completely aware of ownership until a bond is cashed, unless it’s an electronic bond.

I don’t think it’s a problem if you don’t have a SS# for the infant. There are several different numbers on my bonds (parents, purchasers, siblings, etc.) and it hasn’t made a bit of difference. The important thing is to get the name right (no typos!). Unless you’re worried about privacy, using your own number shouldn’t be an issue. Taxes are paid by the cashing owner.

I’ve found these sites pretty helpful:
savingsbonds.gov (treasury dept)
savingsbonds.com