Choosing the right gifts for a baby shower can be overwhelming. For experienced moms who understand that babies need ALL the stuff, it can be difficult to choose between so many options. And for those baby shower guests who aren’t parents it may be even more difficult, because they also know that babies need tons of things, but might not have a clue what that stuff may be. A baby registry may sound like a foreign language to a non-parent. And because, typically, a shower includes many guests, how can you ensure that your gift is unique? While baby gift registries can offer choices, how can you choose a needed baby item and still make your gift stand out?
The Baby Gift Basics—With a Boost!
One way to make your gift stand out in the crowd of pink and blue wrapped and beribboned gifts, is to create a gift bundle. For instance, you can choose to purchase one of the best baby bath tubs for the coming baby, and fill it with rolled and ribbon-tied hooded baby towels with funny animal ears, soft infant washcloths, some beautiful organic baby bath wash, and shampoo. Top with an adorable rubber ducky, and you took a basic baby necessity and turned it into a beautiful gift that will be the star (or stork!) of the shower show.
You can choose to get one of the best video baby monitors listed on the mom-to-be’s registry, and then pair it with a soft sleep sack. Top this with a snuggly teddy bear or a lullaby-playing music box for a unique baby-sleep package that both baby and new mother will enjoy.
Another unique baby shower gift idea that both baby and mother will appreciate is a sick baby basket. While this doesn’t sound particularly cheering, the new mother will thank you for the first time there is sniffle or fever, and the new parents don’t have to make a midnight run to the closest all-night superstore. Fill a beautiful basket with a baby thermometer, infant gas drops, infant acetaminophen drops, infant ibuprofen drops, teething tablets, and over-the-counter infant sore throat and cough medicines. Tie a freezer boo-boo bear or boo-boo bunny to top it off in the center of a large gift bow for a beautiful gift basket that’s certain to be appreciated when the time is right.
These are just a few examples of how you can take the baby basics and boost them into a beautiful gift!
Unique Gifts For Newborns
If you prefer to stray away from the baby basics and find a more unique gift for baby, there are lots of great ideas that will earn the oohs, and ahhs at a baby shower. One great gift idea is to book a newborn baby photo session with a good local baby photographer. There is nothing as special as those beautifully staged photos of a cuddly newborn and mother. The new parents and family and friends will enjoy them for years to come.
Monthly milestone blankets are also a lovely and unique baby gift. These are often handmade in your local craft stores, or they are easy to make yourself. Typically these blankets include a baby message such as, “A Year of Love,” and include the months one through 12 with a decorative wooden frame to be moved to each number. The point of these blankets is for the new parents to take a photo each month for posting on social media and as a keepsake. By the baby’s first birthday, the parents will have an entire collection of photos that chronicle their baby’s development month by month.
Marvelous Gifts for Mums
New mothers also need love and care from their family and friends during this important part of their life. Baby showers are not only to shower the new bundle of joy with gifts but also to give great gift bundles to the mother, who needs TLC more than ever before.
Experienced mothers share their tips on what helped them the most in those rollercoaster-like days after giving birth.
Have their home professionally cleaned! This is absolutely one of the best gifts anyone can give a new mum. Arrange for a professional house cleaner or a cleaning agency to come to the new mom’s home before she brings home the baby and to clean it thoroughly with non-toxic, baby-friendly cleaning products, so she can keep things tidy, but not have to worry about deep-cleaning for some time during those exhausting early days at home with a newborn. The new mother will never forget what you did for her!
A more budget-friendly option is to create a new mum gift basket. This can either be a hospital gift basket with such comfort items as deodorizing wipes, dry shampoo, lip balm, concealer (for those dark circles of exhaustion!) chocolate, and herbal teas with blends like raspberry leaf for feminine healing or mother’s milk teas for nursing mums. You can also add a cute and comfy pair of slippers and a new robe, depending on your budget.
You can also plan a gift basket ) for those first days at home. Fill it with paperback novels, magazines, healthy snacks, a cute water bottle (breastfeeding mothers experience tremendous thirst in the early days!), healthy snacks, chocolate, herbal teas, dry shampoo, concealer, and lip balm so she can make herself feel human between showers. Spa-type items like body lotion and scented candles for relaxation are also appreciated. You could add “gift certificates” for things like an evening you will babysit or a day you will bring the new parents dinner to be cashed in as needed.
Special Mother and Baby Gifts
Another great shower gift is a great baby book or a motherhood journal where the new mum can chronicle her early experiences as a mother. Some of these books are truly lovely, with places to put photos and to fill in information about the new baby’s development that both parents and children will one day look back upon with pleasure. Some motherhood journals include spaces to write a small note every day during the first year so that the child can look back on it later to learn about their early days from their mother’s point of view.
If the mother has an older child, a great gift idea that she will truly appreciate is a gift for the older child so he or she doesn’t feel left out during these busy early days when everything is about the new baby.
Whatever gift you choose, it’s sure to be appreciated during this very special time in a new mother’s life. And you got to play a part in the joy!
The Cradlewise Smart Crib is an interesting gift for sleep deprived parents