No More Bath Sets, Please! A Guide to Buying Great Baby Shower Gifts
Have you ever wondered what kind of gift to get for a baby shower? I always ended up either buying a bath set or diapers. Who couldn't use a set with lotion and baby wash? After I had a child of my own and way more bottles of lotion than I could ever use, I realized how much better I could have done in picking out gifts for my friends. I've now discovered some gifts that moms can really appreciate.
One of the most appreciated gifts I got were the newborn gowns. You can never have too many of them and they are perfect to wrap up a newborn, especially if they don't keep their mitts on. They're much better than pajamas for changing diapers in the middle of the night.
Moms can also use extra bibs. I prefer the soft kind when they are little to the waterproof ones. They are much quieter when you take them off of a sleeping baby. You can also get the full-size ones that cover their entire front when they are eating solid food. That will come in handy when they are feeding themselves. This brings up another suggestion for buying baby shower gifts. Everyone buys things for newborns and you end up with more than you can use. Then they outgrow them and you have nothing. Moms will appreciate those gifts that either grow with them like bibs or something in a size they can use later on.
If you want to spend more money and buy a bigger gift, one of my favorites was the bumbo seat. That was such a neat gift and I'd never heard of it before my friend gave it to me. My daughter got a lot of enjoyment out of it. I would set it on the couch and she thought she was sitting like "a big girl". The bumbo seat can be used as soon as the baby can hold their head up on their own. They are soft and easy to clean. And they last for several months, until the baby is old enough for a high chair. I used to sit the bumbo seat on the island in the kitchen to feed her when she started eating baby food. It was truly one of my favorite baby gifts.
There are a lot of other fun, practical gifts that you can buy. Car seat toys are popular when the baby is old enough to stay awake on car rides. They help to entertain them until they fall asleep.
The round pillows where baby can sleep in the center is handy for a baby that has trouble sleeping in a crib or for when they are congested and need their head raised.
My favorite thing was the book, "What to Expect the First Year." I read that book a hundred times and referred to it whenever I had a question or didn't know what to do. It made me feel like a better mother.
These are just a few of my favorite gifts that I got as a new mother and really appreciated. Now, I get those kind of gifts for my expectant friends. It's much nicer to know I'm getting them something they will appreciate even if they don't know it yet. They'll get enough bath sets from other people.