Late spring and early summer seem to be baby season. You may find yourself being invited to a friend or relative’s baby shower. Everyone seems to have their own opinion about what makes the perfect, thoughtful baby shower gift. However, based on my experience as a mom to three children, I have found that the following five items make the Best baby shower gifts:
1 – Big Ticket Items
Buying items such as a stroller, play pen, crib, or car seat can cost a bundle. When I had my son, my husband and I were living on less than $40,000 a year in an urban area and were paying off student loans. We literally did not have the money to buy these items ourselves. Receiving these big ticket items as gifts was wonderful! They were all items that we used every day to care for our child, and we needed to have them. Not having to purchase them ourselves was a tremendous financial gift. For each item, 4 to 6 people chipped in money together to purchase the item, reducing each person’s cost to $20 or $30 a piece.
2 – Diapers
True, diapers are not a glamorous gift, but considering the average newborn goes through 12 to 15 diapers a day, most parents-to-be will be very grateful to receive these.
Find out if the parents prefer disposable or cloth. While cloth diapers cost less in the long run, they do require a larger initial investment. Just like big ticket items, if the parents want to use cloth, they will appreciate not having to spend the money for the initial investment themselves. Better yet, determine where they want to buy their cloth diapers and give them a gift card to that location so they can choose their own.
3 – Toiletries
Many people come to a baby shower armed with adorable infant clothing. However, sometimes practical items are much more valuable to the new parents than clothes the baby will quickly outgrow. My aunt got me a clothes basket filled with items such as baby shampoo and soap, nail clippers, a thermometer, Dreft laundry detergent, wash cloths, q-tips, cotton swabs and alcohol. I remember this present because no one else bought these items, and they were all items I needed to take care of the baby.
4 – Medicine
A baby seems to spike a fever in the middle of the night when all of the stores are closed. Even if there are a few open, who wants to drive to the store with a fussy, feverish baby? While the parents-to-be may not immediately appreciate receiving a baby fever reducer, they will be happy when the baby gets sick. Likewise, Little Tummies is a gas aid much like Gas-X and is great for colicky babies. My daughter went through three bottles of this before she was a year old.
5 – Coupons for Services
When a baby is first born, the parents can’t imagine not being with the baby. About month three, many parents are desperate for a little time away from the constant demands of a newborn. Depending on how well you know the mother-to-be, why not give her a set of coupons for your services? Ideas could include watching the baby for 2 hours so mom or dad can take a nap, cleaning the house for the parents, making them a meal, or babysitting so they can have an evening out.
As the gift giver, it is certainly your prerogative as to what to get the parents to be. However, often practical, every day use items may be more welcome than adorable dresses or outfits the baby will outgrow in a few short weeks.
This post was written by staff writer Melissa.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for posting this – too bad you didn’t post this before my brother and sister-in-law’s baby shower which was yesterday. They already have everything they need for the baby (her parents are rich and like to spend money). Seriously, they have clothes, a car seat, play pens (3 of them), medicine, diapers (friend gave them so many diapers that they have to store them in the garage), wipes, toys, safety gates, crib, changing table, rocking chair, formula (even though they are going to breast feed him), bath tub, bedding, towels, wash clothes, bath supplies, baby books – they got everything and they got it before the baby shower. This made it extremely tough to figure out what to get them. I was going to get them a gift certificate to a portrait studio so they could get pictures of their bundle of joy but when I mentioned that idea to my mom, she wanted to do that. I ended up giving them a pack of hangers. I thought it was a cool and thoughtful gift since they already have two full closets of baby clothes. Turns out my gift was lame. Three other people gave hangers with their gift. This just made me look cheap:( Now I feel bad for giving them such a horrible gift. I think I’m going to get them a subscription to Parenting Magazine. I was going to anyways but forgot and didn’t have enough time before the shower. I think they would enjoy it.
I don’t know if you’ll see this reply but thought I’d try anyway.
First of all, if they already received everything prior to the shower they should have definitely had a registry somewhere letting people know what they would still want or need. Definitely nothing you should feel bad about.
I had seen these awhile ago:
http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?ref=auto&q=baby+onesies+by+month
and now regret not getting something like them. It would have been really nice to have something to take pictures of my baby in with each months milestone. You could also get one of those picture frames that have a dozen or so different photo openings for newborn pic, 1 month pic, 2 month pic, etc. to go with it.
Great list. I have also bought clothes in the past but I always buy big clothes; outfits that fit a 2 or 3 year old. That way whatever rate the baby grows, they will be able to wear them.
I’m a first time mom with a 4 1/2 month old baby. I definitely agree that practical gifts are really appreciated. Diapers are great as are receiving blankets (they have so many uses for them!). If you want to get something for a few months down the road then bibs are really useful and the baby will go through several a day so even if they already have some the extras will still be used.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/76089074/baby-shower-sushi-bento-washcloth-set?ref=v1_other_1
handmade things that are cute but also have a real purpose are fun and cute!!
like washcloth baby sushi set
or try something like this, a baby-shower-diaper-flower-bouquet
http://www.etsy.com/listing/76087071/baby-shower-diaper-flower-bouquet-inside?ref=v1_other_1
Practical is definitely better. My favorite shower gifts that I received were, diapers – I didn’t have to buy any until she was almost 4 months old, medicine – you can never have too much butt paste, baby carrier – I used my babybjorn everyday, and a make your own wipes kit – I’ve only purchased maybe 1 or 2 things of wipes and my daughter is now 1 year old.