Baby Shower Gift?

[rdsx28]

Has anyone seen any great baby shower gifts recently? I need some ideas. The mom is not really the diaper cake kind of girl although they are very cute. I haven't been to a shower in a few years and she only has a few small items on her registry that have been bought. It is a girl, no name yet, and I"d like to spend about $100.00. I hope some of my Dis friends can give me some great ideas. Thanks in advance!!

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

Has anyone seen any great baby shower gifts recently? I need some ideas. The mom is not really the diaper cake kind of girl although they are very cute. I haven't been to a shower in a few years and she only has a few small items on her registry that have been bought. It is a girl, no name yet, and I"d like to spend about $100.00. I hope some of my Dis friends can give me some great ideas. Thanks in advance!!

I am into the practical gifts. After 4 kids you know what you need and what you don't. I stick with mattress pads, extra sheets. Boring but I always appreciated that kind of stuff.

 

[HM]

I also like the idea of giving things that she'll really use. If her registry still has some of those items, I'd think about that.

One other thing that I really liked getting was children's books. If this is her first child, she's not likely to have any yet and having them on hand to look at with the baby and eventually read to the baby would be great.

 

[mrsklamc]

I'm expecting our first and two things I want but can't bring myself to put on the registry are Sophie the Giraffe and the Aden & Anais swaddle blankets. They are very highly reviewed but I have people in my family that I will never hear the end of it from if I register for things they think are overpriced.

 

[trewin]

I always gift a Vera Bradley diaper bag filled w/ goodies she'll need (onsies/burp clothes/blankets)! You can get bags on sale in shops or online. They are all washable too Everybody Ive given one to has loved them, but I am sure not everybody would...

 

[trewin]

I'm expecting our first and two things I want but can't bring myself to put on the registry are Sophie the Giraffe and the Aden & Anais swaddle blankets. They are very highly reviewed but I have people in my family that I will never hear the end of it from if I register for things they think are overpriced.

Good idea- I just went to a shower 2 weeks ago. The baby got a Sophie! I also got one for my 6 wk old

 

[bjgonzo]

I gift Sophie the Giraffe and an amber teething necklace. Those are 2 things some moms won't spend the money are but are totally worth it!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[hlg22]

Hmm, Sophie the Giraffes are ubiquitous here and only like $20, most of my friends got duplicates of them at their showers, so I would not go for that if you are looking for something original.

I like to give a mix of practical, usually off the registry, and cute. It is hard for the practical items if you don't know what she's already got and her preferences. Maybe some cute swaddles? Books? If you give a favorite children's book, you can write an inscription with your wishes for the child inside. I still have the copy of "The Little Prince" that my aunt gave me when I was born with her inscription in it. The only problem with books is again the possibility of duplicates. I have a friend who ended up with five (FIVE!) copies of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Trumpette socks are both practical and cute for girls and come in tons of different styles and colors.

For something cute and different, if the expectant mom has a sense of humor, I have given these t-shirts as gifts a number of times for both boys and girls and they've been really well received - basically it's a cute t-shirt packaged in a cloth bag that informs you that the great Mysterio will predict your child's future. You have to cut open the bag to see what Mysterio's prediction is (on the shirt). It's cute things like "monkey wrangler" and "game show host." Fun to open when everyone is sitting around watching.

If you share a school, hometown connection or interest with the mom to be, you could get a onesie or hat for the baby with her college logo/favorite sports team/political party, etc. When I buy clothes I tend to forego newborn sizes (she'll get a ton) and buy 6 mo or older sizes (keeping in mind the season when the baby will likely wear it when choosing long sleeves/short sleeves, etc.).

I have also given the Winkel toy which babies seem to go nuts for - it's easy for them to grab and comforting to chew on.

 

[JessM]

I always gift a Vera Bradley diaper bag filled w/ goodies she'll need (onsies/burp clothes/blankets)! You can get bags on sale in shops or online. They are all washable too Everybody Ive given one to has loved them, but I am sure not everybody would...

I second a cute practical diaper bag. I have started buying these for my expecting friends/family and everyone so far has loved those!

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

While she only registered for a few small items, those are items she choose and apparently wants. I personally would start with those items. If however you need to deviate from that list, then I would also suggest the diaper bag filled with necessities. I recently gifted the diaper bag filled with a starter Avent bottle pack, burp cloths, wipes for pacifiers, wipes for diapers, wipe holder, butt paste, some breast feeding pads, and breast balm. Most of these were on the registry and I threw in a few extras. I had a gift receipt for the whole purchase so she could return what she wanted. Total cost was around $100. she absolutely loved it and commented how she loved getting something practical since most of her other gifts were cutesy clothes that she can only use maybe once.

 

[rdsx28]

Thanks everyone! Excellent suggestions and very much appreciated!!

 

[CoP Luv]

I would get practical gifts too. We had a baby earlier this year and these were my favorite items:

1. Fisher Price Rainforest play gym (you can find it on Walgreens.com for much cheaper than many places)
2. Halo sleep sack swaddles (in fleece bc we had a winter baby). These were much better than any other swaddles we had.
3. A cloth crinkle book. I think ours is the Bright Starts brand. People don't think to gift toys, but there are so many inexpensive ones that help with development.
4. Razberry teething pacifier (all silicone). DS loves loves loves this. Its not a pacifier to suck on but just looks like one and is easy to hold.
5. Outlet covers - its inevitable that she will need them eventually
6. Lamaze toy. We have the moose
7. Ergo carrier. Best. Thing. Ever. DS did not want to be put down for the first six weeks of his life and would only sleep in the carrier. Made me a little less crazy. Make sure you get the infant insert.
8. Boppy pillow (2). One for our room and one for the living room.
9. Hungry Little Caterpillar and Little Blue Truck books
10. A basket for the changing table. I saw some cute ones at Pottery Barn Kids, but I think ours is from Michael's and works just fine.
11. Planet wise wet bag...seriously every mom needs this in her diaper bag. We cloth diaper so that is what we use it for, but a lot of my friends use it for dirty clothes, etc. size medium works best.
12. Diaper Dude backpack diaper bag. Its huge and DH has no problem carrying it around. I actually got it recommended from someone who uses it as thei WDW park bag.
13. Naturepedic crib sheets and waterproof crib fitted pad ( I love all things Naturepedic)

 

[sksjasams]

What about a baby bathtub, filled with bath products, hooded towels, baby washcloths, couple bath toys, stacking cups (nice for rinsing), etc?

 

[JennyKS]

I bought the giraffe thing for my son, he is probably the only child not interested in it.

But I would second the pratical gifts. I wish nobody would have bought me clothes as I always think thats the most fun thing to do.

Bath soap, lotion, that deft laundry soap, wipes, I use cloth diapers as burp rags, I absoluetely love those little blue bags you use to put used diapers in when you are out, that vicks baby vapo rub, johnson and johnson also makes a vapo bath soap (all kids get sick and I know you cant use that stuff until they are 3 months old but still, wouldn't it be nice to have on hand when they do get sick). I bought this little stroller fan that just hangs on the stroller from wal-mart, I think it was about 8 bucks and EVERYONE has made a comment about it. I have a warm blooded baby so it works out perfect. Sun shade for the car, I always forget to get one. Books.

Pacifiers and bottles are so baby specific. I use dr brown bottles but the silly boy wont use the normal dr brown bottles he has to use the wide mouth dr brown bottles. I bought 3 or 4 different binkies and he won't use any of them so I just gave up. Guess in the end its a good thing he won't take a binkie.

 

[simonsmom]

I got a bunch of outfits in different sizes for my sister. Along with some booties,socks, hats,small blankets, and a teddy bear. Then I hung them all on a clothesline with wooden clothespins and put them in a basket. You have to get a couple of people to hold the chothesline as she pulls it out,

 

[eduk8r26]

I love to give board books of classic children's stories. You can often find them cheaper at Costco/Sam's/BJ's or Marshall's or TJ Maxx. And if it is a first child, a copy of Love You Forever. Guaranteed to melt even the hardest of hearts!

 

[rdsx28]

Thanks again all!! Great ideas.

 

[Robbi]

My daughter just had a beautiful baby boy. The gift she uses often is the swaddle me 3 pack like these:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=swaddle me

The baby wasn't sleeping because he'd flail his arms as babies do and wake up. These have been a lifesaver-I know because I stayed with them for 2 weeks. The regular swaddle type blankets were useless because he was working himself out of them.
Another great gift are the little mittens to prevent him from scratching himself.

As gifts go, these 2 gifts were among the least expensive but it terms of uselfulness, they're pricelss.

 

[Pooh2]

Not sure if it's still available, but disneystore.com had an adorable layette set with knit mickey ears that I got for my cousin's shower this summer. You can personalize the baby's name if she has already chosen the name. It was a big hit.

 

[maplevale]

Another practical gift giver here!

I LOVED my aden + anais blankets and sleep sacks. They are a little more $$ but are SOOO worth it!

I stay away from any creams or lotions. Our DD was sensitive to lots of them so we just used plain water.

Larger outfits (think size 12 months) in basics that are fairly season less (T's and basic pants) so they have something as the baby grows.

A little different (especially if they didn't register) is gift cards for either the grocery store or WalMart type of place... I loved it because I could get stuff for the baby as I needed it - or being on a longer maternity leave with little pay could use it to grab groceries. Pre-making some nice meals would be a nice touch to that too.

The best gift I ever gave (in my mind!) was to a good friend - I had a baby 14 months older then her.... so I had made a list of all the 'cool things to do' in town with a baby (Mommy's groups, fitness, places with awesome nursing rooms etc).