Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Baby Shower Gifts to Make Momma Smile!
By Rachel H
When your first friend finds out she’s pregnant, it creates a snowball effect. Before you know it, everyone is having babies, which also means everyone is having baby showers! Whether you are attending a shower for a first-time mom, a veteran mom, or a mom of an adopted child, you want your gift to be one that is not only appreciated, but remembered!
I have gathered an assortment of unique baby shower gifts that I wanted to share with you. I also emailed a few friends, and want to thank to Ann, Sally and Angie for telling me about your favorite gifts that you received at your showers!
Readers, please add your favorite gifts at the end of this post!
The Ultimate Crib Sheet
I never had one of these, but I must have missed out. The sheet snaps on so that you don’t have to pull everything apart when you change the crib sheets. And we all know that the changing of the sheets happens way more often than we would like! No need for a mattress cover when you use this.
The Floor Nanny
We did a giveaway with this product last summer and it is still one of my favorite things for new moms! This is a great group gift. We gave one to a friend of mine who had twins, and I cannot tell you how cute those little babies looked all snuggled up in this Floor Nanny. It is a safe place for babies to sleep, play, and explore while Mom gets things done!
Personalized Items
You can choose an item off the registry, or pick up a blanket, bib, burp cloth, onesie, etc. to have it monogrammed. This adds such a special touch to a gift and makes mom smile the first time she sees her baby’s name written on something! A few of our favorite places to have outside items monogrammed are Designs N' Stitches in Greensboro, The Logo Shop in High Point, Patti McCormick in Winston www.mimismonograms.blogspot.com (Pmccormick@triad.rr.com), Monogramming Momma Melissa Maltzahn in Winston (mamaltzahn@gmail.com), and Harry Smidgepodge on Main Street in Jamestown (336-254-8328). PLUS, I got a sneak peak at the Buckhead Betties sale, which starts tomorrow, and they have the most adorable bibs and other baby items that can be monogrammed on the spot at the sale! Stock up on some shower gifts while you are there! 
The Padalily
I mentioned this in my show and tell blog a few weeks ago. This is a carseat handle pad that keeps your poor arms and hands from hurting while toting around your bundle of joy. They are adorable and come in an assortment of patterns. You can check them out on the website above, or they are also sold all over the Triad in boutique shops like Hip Chics, Gazoodles, Polliwogs, Splurges, and Taji Baby.
Childcare
This is a great gift for moms who are having a second or third child. You can make a coupon book with coupons for babysitting from you, or pick up a gift certificate from an hourly child care center like BiziKidz, KidSpot, or Drop-N-Play. We reviewed a few of these in this blog. * Note that the W-S BiziKidz is now KidSpot, but the GSO and Burlington BiziKidz are still available.
Meals
Homemade meals from friends are great once the baby arrives, so at the shower you can choose to have guests sign up for meals and dates to deliver. Another option is gift certificates from Dream Dinners, Sociale Gourmet, or Let’s Dish.
Spooneez
These are the coolest way for moms to tote spoons, and other feeding accessories without leaving a huge mess in the bottom of a diaper bag! Spooneez come in travel size (which are even great for toothpaste and brushes), mini size, and even matching bibs! You can read more about Spooneez on the website above or our previous blog here. 
Stationary
If mom already knows the sex and/or name, personalized stationary is the way to go! Calling cards, thank you notes, note cards, tags, etc. are all available at local stationary stores. I also loved the "Notes for Babysitter" notepad with our last name on it. So cute!
Coming home basket
This is a fabulous idea from the group. Each guest is asked to bring one specific item baby needs...Vaseline, cotton balls, alcohol (rubbing), 
teething ring, outlet covers, diaper rash cream, comb, tylenol, ibuprofen, baby vicks, clippers, travel wipes, disposable baby spoons, nursing journal, formula travel dispenser, sunscreen, car shades, the list goes on and on. These are all combined into the “coming home basket” and presented to mom at the shower. It saves a ton of money for the mom to be and she will already have the emergency stuff you didn’t know about!
1-800-diapers
Why not schedule a delivery for the mom to be? You can never, ever, have too many diapers! If you have used this service below, let us know what you thought about it by commenting below.
A Big Ol' Tub of Jelly Bellies
Costco is one of my favorite places ever, and they carry this huge tub of Jelly Belly candy. What could make mom happier than a sweet treat to satisfy those cravings? You can also play a "guess the number of jelly bellies" game with this and give a prize to the winner at the shower.
Of course gift cards for the store where the mom-to-be is registered are always much appreciated. If you are currently expecting your first child, scroll down the left side of our website and click on the “pregnancy,” “age 0-1” or “gear” categories for links that will give you more great ideas of baby items that are must-haves! We have some fantastic ideas to put on your registry.
We would also love to run a few blogs on unique and creative baby shower ideas. Have you thrown a shower that was truly unique? Have you come up with different games other than the usual measuring the belly with toilet paper or taste-testing baby food? If so, we would love for you to be a guest blogger on TSP! Email us at triadsmartypants@gmail.com and we'll get you started!
And of course, tell us about your favorite baby shower gifts by leaving a comment below!
9 comments:
THE best gift is a gift certificate to www.momsoncall.com. Two moms of 4 who are pediatric nurses from ATL put this together...just the basic knowledge they have gleaned from over the years.
It is essentially giving a new mom (and dad) the gift of SLEEP! It takes some of the concepts from Baby Wise & combines them with a super-tight swaddle technique.
I was gifted with this and had a 4 week-old sleeping 8 hours & by the time he was 3 mos. old he was sleeping 12 hours a night!!
Here's my blog about it (back from when I was in the middle of early, early motherhood): http://willisbaby.blogspot.com/2009/09/schedule.html
Wow Courtney! I could have definitely used that with our first and can definitely say that it would have been a priceless gift. Very cool!Fortunately we were blessed with a second baby who slept that way on her own!
That Floor Nanny is adorable. I didn't know about Smarty Pants last summer, so I must have missed that giveaway. I'll have to register for one of these with my NEXT child! :)
I also loved photo albums as gifts. I am not much of a scrapbooker, so a quick way to keep up to date was to just drop photos in an album.
Sharon
Best gifts I have received:
1. Definitely the meal. Nothing is harder than coming up with dinner when you have a new baby. As a friend of mine said after their first child was born, "We ate chips and salsa for two months."
2. If there is an older child in the house, give parents time with that child. Ask to hold/watch the baby while mom takes the older, recently displaced kid out for one-on-one. This time alone also works for displaced spouses, too, who will feel like ships in the night for a while.
3. Outing help. It's a big deal to take a new baby out into the world. Offer to go with mom on a shopping trip, to lunch, or to coffee. Hold her hand as she freaks out a couple of times.
4. Something really cute and extra that she probably wouldn't get herself—along the monogrammed bib line, but it could be really cute stripey socks, polka-dot baby spoons, a hand-knitted hat or blanket, or some tiny, spiffy baby shoes.
5. If you are a close-enough friend, just checking in often is a big help. I had my first baby in the late fall and felt really isolated for a while because we had to stay in so much. One of my coworkers called me to catch up and it was a gift I remember to this day—adult conversation!
I love The Ultimate Crib Sheet! I still use mine today, though my kids are out of the crib. I used to put one under the sheet of the toddler bed, and now I lay two across my youngest's twin-sized bed before I put on the fitted sheet. It works like a mattress pad - but they are easier to wash and I already had them on hand! They don't cover the entire bed, but they cover the top half (or so) of the mattress, which is all we need!
Truly one of the most useful gifts I received - over 6 years and two children ago!
The must have things that I found when I had my second child were Padalilys... which save your poor aching arm; Hotsling... to save your aching back and give you two hands to keep track of other children, push a cart, or cook dinner; and the Bebeaulait nursing covers... which give you the security and privacy you need when nursing your baby! All of the these products I could not live without and will be buying all over again as I am expecting baby #3!
Excelent!its a really impressive & attractive post i like so much baby shower gifts.Pakistan flowers
Very nice blog. I love it. So much thanks for sharing your nice sentiments.
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I agreed with linsay, She makes handmade gifts that are sooo cute!
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