Baby shower gift ideas

[Shagley]

My cousin will be having her first baby in February. I need help thinking of a nice gift to get her for her shower. She has tons of friends, so I am sure that she will receive the majority of things from her registry along with plenty of baby clothes. I thought maybe you could give me some ideas of things she will need that she may not even realize she needs. Some ideas I thought of were... a light weight stroller (like a Combi Savvy) because I think she will put a large travel system on her registry - a box of safety items such as outlet covers, toilet lid locks, cabinet locks, door knob covers, etc. - a temporal artery thermometer (the type where you just scan the forhead) - a few Wal-mart gift cards to use for emergency diapers, formula or whatever - etc.

Any better ideas? I don't have kids, so I don't really know what to get. Was there something you wish you would have received at your baby shower that you didn't even know you needed until later?

 

[dzneelvr]

Your ideas about the safety item package is a good one. another direction to take it that would earn you alot of points with the mom is to get her something for HER. Along the lines of manicure/pedicure; massage; half day at a spa; gift certificate to a Bath and Body Works type of retail. I know the shower is for the baby, but you can't go wrong when you think about the mom at least for a part of the gift package.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

When my dd was born, my mil gave me a beautiful silk baby blanket while I was still in the hospital. We have used this more than any other gift. I have the best pictures of dd wearing a gorgeous smocked dress and wrapped in that blanket. Dd is now 2.5 yo. She calls the blanket her "princess blanket" and does not like to go to bed without it! I have given several of these to my girlfriends. They run between $60 and $80, depending on the pattern.

When my sil had her twins, I gave her a big wicker laundry basket filled with children's books. Her twins are now 3 and still enjoying those books!

 

[OhioTony]

Mrs Ohio Tony here:

I make fabric covered picture or scrap books for all the wedding or baby showers in my family. I use fabric that matches the "theme " of the nursery. Everyone "oohs and Ahhs " over them so I guess they really like them, and they aren't expensiveor difficult to do.

 

[PatricenPete]

I usually make a gift basket. I take a baby bath tub (whatever one she registered for) and then just load it with stuff, shampoo, rubber duckies, body wash, wash cloths, q-tips, baby lotion, tub toys, etc., etc., etc......It usually ends up being a big hit.

 

[laurietg]

My aunt bought me diapers in different sizes-starting with size 2. Loved it!!!! Another aunt bought a Toronto Maple Leaf jersey for my soon to be born DD, as my husband is a huge TML fan. We also loved that gift.

 

[laurietg]

Your ideas about the safety item package is a good one. another direction to take it that would earn you alot of points with the mom is to get her something for HER. Along the lines of manicure/pedicure; massage; half day at a spa; gift certificate to a Bath and Body Works type of retail. I know the shower is for the baby, but you can't go wrong when you think about the mom at least for a part of the gift package.

I love that idea!

 

[lissawynn]

I like the ideas for a gift for the mom. Also, I received a Vera Bradley diaper bag from a friend, and when I came home from the hospital she bought me the matching VB wallet w/strap. I also got a gift cert. for a pedicure. New moms also appreciate a casserole or other dinner item when they get home. That way they don't have to cook when they're exhausted.

 

[Shagley]

These are all great ideas ! I knew I would get great suggestions on the Dis boards!

 

[Parkerpooh]

Two things I would have loved to receive are batteries(sounds odd,I know!) and any gift certificates for take-out food,walmart whatever. We were constantly running out to buy batteries for the swing,bouncy,monitor,crib aquarium... and lived on bagels and cream cheese until my mom came to the rescue!! Jen

 

[barkley]

my favorite gift to give is the largest size cool mist humidifier available (never need one until baby is congested in the middle of the night-and unless there's a 24 hour walmart nearby you're stuck sitting in the bathroom with the shower running ). i also like to throw in a couple of dimmer switchs that the parents can swap out in the nursery and thier bedroom-it's so much easier to check on, change or nurse a little one in the middle of the night if you can just turn a low light on). a last suggestion would be an amazing invention i found in a catelog (firststep i believe)-it is a metal frame with wheels that any standard size baby carrier snaps onto and becomes a stroller. we had strollers for each of our kids when they were babies, but esp. in bad weather it became such a hassle to pull the stroller out of the car and put it into postion, get the baby out (both myself and the stroller would get soaked in the rain)-this gadget fit right behind my seat in the car, i could reach behind, pull it out and it popped right into place-the baby stayed in it's carrier which just snapped onto the frame.

 

[madelyn]

Barkley, I think you are referring to the Snap N Go stroller frame made by Baby Trend. There are now models made by Kolcraft, which I think is called the Universal Carseat carrier and there is also one made by Combi (Strolee) as well. One product that I think would be neat is the Bumbo Baby Sitter Seat:

http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.js...itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=279755&change=117

And another product that someone gave me when I had my second child was the Floppy Seat shopping cart cover:

http://www.floppyseat.com

There are also tons of varieties on-line, many made by WAHM. The Floppy Seat is now even available at Babies R Us, Toys R Us.

Another product I thought was great for my 2nd child was a Me Too portable high chair:

http://www.babyage.com/i_644_cp_goog644_4321r_me_too _me_too _hook_on_high_chair.aspx

It attaches directly to the table and only weighs 2 lbs and its folded dimensions are 13 x 9 x 1 so it was perfect for travel or to keep in the car, stroller basket or diaper bag.

Diapers are always wonderful as are wipes or vouchers for babysitting or home delivered meals!

 

[RichNKatHolly]

Diapers are a great idea! I had a friend make a "diaper cake" for a recent shower. You just keep layering the diapers into a tiered wedding cake shape. Each layer is tied with ribbon to keep together. You can also roll a burp cloth or something and stick it into the top to look like a candle. Put it on a round cardboard and decorate with some little chewy toys, etc. Wrap in cellophane. Very cute.

One thing I did that was a HUGE hit was to get a clothesline (or nice thick ribbon). We purchased all the little bibs, onesies, socks, etc. I painted wooden clothespins pink (or blue or yellow) and pinned the items to the line. You put the whole thing in a wicker basket with one end sticking out that says pull. Really works out so cute!!!

If you got through this long message - congrats!

Have fun at the shower!

 

[disynut]

In addition to these great ideas(everybody here always amazes me with their wonderful ideas!) one of my favorite things with my baby was the Halo SLeepsack. Because of SIDS you aren't supposed to use a blanket with young babies, but these wearable blankets keep baby warm and toasty. The Halo ones are endorsed by the SIDS Alliance, so I felt safe with them.

Have fun!

Jennifer

 

[surfgirl]

My kids have loved their taggie blankets (www.taggies.com) - can get a boy or girl color or neutral. My 1 yr. old hugs it to sleep every night - definitely a need comfort item!

If you want to be really extravagant and doing something that will be remembered (not totally practical), get a silver rattle from Tiffany's... comes in the beautiful blue box with white ribbon. I've given them and got many oohs and aahs and I've received them and felt really special.

Good luck!

 

[rt2dz]

With a first child it is soooo nice because you have so many choices. By the second they have picked a brand of diapers & wipes they prefer and already have a ton of stuff.

One of my favorite things to do is get a medium to large wicker basket, paint it to match the nursery (or pink for a girl or blue for a boy) and stack it full of the stuff they haven't registered for with a few practical extras. I like the huggies wipes for diaper bags that come in disposable packages--holds more wipes, holds up better, & really takes up less room than those dumb plastic wipe containers. I go by the dollar store and pick up some baby books--get a series or two and wrap them with a nice ribbon. I pick out some toys for the diaper bag. Get some burp rags, go to the embrodery store and have cute animals and the baby's name put on them (always a HUGE hit--started doing that after I received some for #2). Get a baby medicine/medical emergency kit from Walmart (no one ever thinks of that). Put in some parenting magazines or get a years subscribtion to one. And then maybe a larger (2T, 3T) outfit or two. I wrap it in cellephane (decorated), tie it with a beautiful bow and tie on a couple of cheapie rattles for decoration. It sounds like a lot, but it truly never costs me that much.

 

[PneumaticTransit]

I recently ran across Sadie's photography at the Mall of America. They do AMAZING childrens portraits. I already bought my best friend shower gifts for her baby, but if I hadn't I would have definitely bought a gift certificate for this! Pricing seems reasonable enough, you could even buy a club membership. They have a store in Northbrook, IL - sorry, I don't know how far from Peoria that is.

 

[LynnTH]

One of my favorite items for my kids was the Fisher Price Aquarium that attaches to the crib. My kids loved this. It would play different melodies or aquatic sounds while the fish swam around and it lit up. It also shut off automatically after 7-10 minutes. This was a huge hit at nap and bed time. After they got older of course they could turn it on and off by themselves and switch to different tunes. When my son moved into a big bed at the age of 2 because we had his little sister then - we had to go buy another one because he took that one with him to his room and put it on the night stand and would turn it on every night. I always give this and bouncy chairs as gifts because these were 2 items that were lifesavers in my household.

 

[Shagley]

Oh my gosh, I am going to spend a fortune because all these ideas are great. How am I ever going to decide?

 

[CindyBella]

For my SIL baby shower I knew she would get tons off of her registry so I went to Pottery Barn and bought these great wood blocks. They were so cute and classic. I grabbed one of their baskets with the gingham liners and ran to Target and filled it with classic board books for baby.

After I wrapped it in cellophane and made a big bow, I took a step back and could not believe how great it turned out!!

Oprah always loves to give books for baby gifts too.