Baby Gifts
 

I saw this today while shopping for a friend's baby shower-- the perfect blankie for the baby of a Kappa or Chi-O mom!

http://www.americangiftfactory.com/s...roduct/12-1122

(Mom-to-be is a KD, however! LOL)

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to post baby shower gift ideas here... Everyone is getting married or having kids these days...

I had to stop going into Babies R Us when my sister was pregnant. It made me want to have babies!!!


I always buy a set of unisex onesies to put with any baby shower gift I buy. Babies tend to wear those constantly and they get formula and everything on those so I'm of the opinion a new mom cant have too many of them.

Gymboree used to make the cutest line of clothing with lions on it, and a friend was working there. She used her discount to keep me stocked in the line for a while (but it's dwindling!). Here's two pictures from ebay:

http://www.ssb8.net/users/66549/img_1649.jpg

http://i2.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/bf/c9/89d8_2.JPG


I don't think they're made any more, though.

If I get clothing, I always get at least a size 18-24, if not larger. It makes the "shower gifts" last longer! I usually try to throw a gift card for diapers in there, too.

I now know what this new baby is having for a lovey blankie. My son has the same brand of lovey, only his is the giraffe. They have to go everywhere with us; we have 6 of them we rotate in the wash because they get so disgusting (he sleeps with them, and they always end up in his mouth). Too bad we don't know if we're having a boy or girl.

Burp cloths are always a good gift, too. The last shower I hosted, I put together a "survival basket" for the parents to be of items I liked and used when my son was a baby. I'll usually put in some travel wipes, diaper cream, bath wash and lotion, burp cloths and OxiClean baby. That's always been well-received.

Big Bag O' Fun
 

I did this with my sister, and now that my baby brother is expecting, I'm doing it with him.

I got one of those honkin' big baby gift bags, and everytime I go to the store I pick up something for it. So far I have

1 - Classic Pooh clothing set - hat, booties, gown (with the elastic in the bottom - I remember when they were drawstring!)
1 - Classic Pooh set of two onsies
1 - Classic Pooh bowl and spoon
1 - Classic Pooh Booties (yeah, I like Classic Pooh, and I go to Target a lot)
1 - Classic Pooh finger puppets in honey pot
1 - Little Remedies Kit
1 - Boudreaux's Butt Paste
1 - Burt's Bees Baby Kit
1- Eddie Baurer Flip Down Child View Mirror
1 - Sassy Wrist Rattles
1 - Playtex Nursing Pads (my favorites)
1 - Munchkin Disposable changing pads
1 - Palmers Nursing Cream, Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks, Moisturizing body oil and Bottom Butter
1 - Munchkin Deluxe Dishwasher Basket
1 - Stuffed lamb
1 - 3 piece oral care set
1 - Chuy's fish onsie (makes sense if you are in Texas!)
1 - Avent pacifers
1 - Mam pacifers
1 - Hyland's Colic Tablets
1 - Boudreaux's Baby Kisses (for chapped lips and cheeks - Oct. baby)
1 - NotSox - basically, baby leg warmers
1 - Mumm champagne split (from when I went to the liquor store!)
1 - book "On the Day You Were Born"
1 - Dreft portable pretreater pen

and I have on order from www.spoonsisters.com

The Worst Case Scenario - Parenting Book
The Wheel of Parental Responsibility (a wheel you spin to see who gets to go check on the baby!)http://www.spoonsisters.com/Merchant...0001/44201.jpg


I'm planning to get some more Hyland's tablets (I swear by them) . . . but I'm fast running out of room. In a week or two we will know what sex the baby is - so I may get a few gender-specific items.

and alas, the Gamma Phi Beta version is not out yet!http://www.babyalmamater.com/images/delta3-1.gif

Like ThetaPrincess24, I usually get onsies as baby shower gifts, along with something else from their list.


I'm interested to see what nursery themes others are using.

that's what i do too, if i buy clothes.

in the past i have made baskets that held things a new mother might not think about, but might need at a moments notice:

orajel
baby tylenol(or whatever pediatricians recommend now)
diaper rash cream
cortisone cream
mylicon drops(both my kids were colicky and this was a Godsend)
diaper pins
q-tips
one of those things that suck the mucus out of baby's nose(can't remember the name)
set of baby shampoo, soap and lotion
travel set of wipes
leash for pacifier
rattle

i decorate the basket with paint, lace and ribbon. a thoughtful party goer gave this to me when i was expecting my first baby and it was the most useful gift i got.

Baby Aspirator I think

I love giving bath towels with the little hood made from one corner of the towel. And then I usually give some bath products too.
If I give clothes, I usually go with a larger size.
I just gave a gift of a few books for the little one's library - Eric Carle, Rosemary Wells & a Richard Scary are some of my favorite authors.

We didn't find out the sex with our son, so we went with a gender neutral green nursery. We also live in an older home and we wanted the room to reflect that feel.

We ended up with a cream berber carpet (just a cheap cut piece from Menards that we laid over the hardwood floor without tape or tack strips) and sage green striped walls. My mom made the bedding and window treatments from a cute toile and sage and cream fabrics. I was really happy with how it turned out. Poor kid #2 won't get a new nursery. He/she will be moved into the current one a few months after birth.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...p/nursery4.jpg

That's pretty! I like toile.
I'd never heard of Menard's before a couple weekends ago when we went to Illinois for my cousin's graduation.

Ok, so when this post was active, I was about a month away from getting pregnant....now that I have a 1-month old, I have a bit more insight as to what to get and what not to get for baby shower gifts!

We got so many hand-made blankets, that the store-bought ones were just way too much. We have tons of towels, wash cloths and onesies. If I were to buy clothes, I would get them at least 9-6 month size.
Great gifts were butt paste, hand-made dresses, DIAPERS and baby wipes, footed sleepers, a bouncy seat, a bumbo, a swing, the little head positioner thingie for the carseat...

For my very close friends, I usually knit a baby blanket. I actually have one in progress right now, for my next-door neighbor and her new daughter. I knit 11 squares, then said to myself, "She's not due until April, it's only January, I have time" and put it away. Before I knew it, it was April, and I got an email saying "Baby _____ has arrived!" Oops. :o I've knitted the twelfth square and I'm in the process of sewing the squares together. With any luck, I'll be done before Baby _____ goes to college. :p

For other friends, I knit cotton washcloths, or I buy onesies, toys, receiving blankets, etc. If I buy clothes, I buy 6mo, 9mo, or 12mo clothes. A big baby sometimes won't fit into newborn clothes.

I love that "Wheel of Responsibility" ! If I were to have a child, though, I'd make my own - with every spot labeled "Dad". :p

I usually make a baby blanket for the child and then I add some bottles, the baby set (with brush, comb, nail clippers, and the mucus sucking thingy), and depending on if I have time, I add bootsies and the hand cover thingies.

Gift cards always work! That way mom and dad or whoever can get what they need without having to worry about size, etc. DIAPERS are a great gift. Get some gifts at the 3 to 6 months or older sizes.

I'm a soon to be uncle and I plan on buying/giving a Tummy Tub. I saw it for the first time on the news the other day.

I make quilts for babies, brides, etc. Although I much prefer handquilting, I do machine-piece/quilt baby quilts so that they are durable enough to be used and washed frequently. I always put a hanging sleeve on the back so the mom can hang the quilt on the wall if that is her preference.

This is my current new favorite baby shower gift! It is a great little book about a "tickle monster" and tells all the places he is going to tickle you- it comes with these cute little "tickle monster" gloves to do the tickling! A friend just shared this with me yesterday!

http://www.josiebissett.com/images/t...onster-big.jpghttp://www.josiebissett.com/images/tm-mitt-promo.jpg

I love personalized note cards with just the baby's first name on it. It is something that many people do not think of as a gift. They are usually packaged in a beautiful box and it shows that you put time/thought into the gift. The mom can then use them for thank you notes as she receives gifts and as the baby grows they come in so handy. As the baby gets invited to parties, you can use them as the gift enclosures and such. Mom will be set for quite a while and it is wonderful to know you have them at a moments notice if you need them.

that's a really cute idea!
we had some of those made with our names on them when we got married

The trouble with this is that you kinda have to wait until the baby is born and officially named.

One of my sorority sisters was expecting a girl, and she and her husband decided the baby's name would be "Jane". She told EVERYONE she was naming the baby "Jane". "Jane" this, "Jane" that, "Jane, would you please stop kicking mommy?" But when the baby was born, my sister took one look at her and said, "This is not a Jane. This is a Jennifer." Anybody who had prepared a personalized gift before the baby was born, would have been screwed.

Fortunately for me, I had a (non-personalized) baby blanket all knitted up for Jane - er, Jennifer.

* baby's names changed to protect the innocent

That's crazy, I couldn't imagine looking at Annalisse when they handed her to me and thinking she looked like she should have a different name....
The only way I would have named her something different is if she'd had different plumbing, like what happened to one of MY sorority sisters!
For months, they'd planned on welcoming Fletcher into the family, but in actuality, ELIZABETH decided to make her appearance 3 weeks early!

When I buy baby clothes, I always buy them in a larger size (about 9 mos). As we all know, new moms get tons of clothes for infants and then have little to choose from a few months down the line. I figure it would be nice to have something on hand for when you wake up one morning and the baby no longer fits into anything!

Also, I always include a gift especially for mom; maybe a home spa kit, aromatherapy candles, pedicure set or the like. Everyone is oohing and aahhhing over the baby (and rightfully so!); however, they forget that she's the one who's been carting it around for nine months and will likely be up all night for a number of weeks. The moms always seemed touched that I had specifically thought of *them*.

.....Kelly :)

When I was young, I used to go to tons of Baby showers with my mom. What teenage girl doesn't like babies?
My mom always used to bring similar gifts. I have followed in her wise ways. If the mother to be is asking for diapers, I buy the size they need, but a size up too for the same reason as the clothes.

It is nice to include an older sibling as well. This could range from a coloring book/crayons for a preschooler to an ITunes giftcard for a preteen.

I like to do a diaper and dinner combo as a gift. I get a giftcard to walmart for diapers and a giftcard to the couple's favourite restaurant for takeout.