I love baby parties. Showers,Sprinkles Gatherings whatever. I love them. What I do not love is bad gifting.
Lets revolutionize how we think about baby party gifts!
Stop Buying Clothes!
Yes those clothes are super adorable and sweet, but unless you’re a great Aunt or Grandma stop it. You are buying clothes in Spring for a baby due in Summer in size 3 months. A baby due in May will not be in 3 months until late July or August. That long sleeve cardigan and cute leggings that you bought are now useless. The worst is a Winter baby. The kid is due in February, and has a slew of fleece outfits in 3 months. How much Fleece do you need in May?
If your heart is set on buying clothes go with some socks, or an outfit in 12 months. Another clothing option is nightgowns. Yes, even for boys. These little wonders have sleeves that roll up to block night time scratching, and have easy access to changing 2 am diapers. Even better is a Woombie, or as my Dad calls them baby straight jackets. They are like clothes, and they eliminate swaddling. My boy babies have always busted out of a swaddle no matter how tight, or velcroed. If zebra stripes isn’t your thing, don’t worry they have boring options also. I use a Woombie, but there are plenty of other brands out there.
Diapers are king, but not in newborn size.
Newborn sizes only last up to 10 pounds. Some kids come out at 10 pounds. You get about a week or two out of newborn size. Ending up with two boxes of 120 diapers you can’t use sucks. Granted new Mom could lug them and her new baby out of the house to exchange them ,but that is annoying, and the whole point of baby parties is to help out a new Mom.
Buying diapers does not make you thoughtless it makes you brilliant. Maybe no one will owww and awww when she opens the gift, but she will be praising your name when she runs out of a box of diapers in the middle of the night and knows she’s got plenty more on deck because of you.
Put the Blanket down.
Unless you made this blanket with your own hands don’t do it. Trust me. Three other people have blankets already wrapped up in their gift bags waiting to go die in a closet, unused at new moms house. The Baby is going to use one blanket. It is going to be the one Mom likes the most. If your heart is set on buying this blanket you picked up at Babies R US get a gift receipt.
Soap!
Babies need soap. Im not necessarily advocating for those fancy shamcy gift sets unless its a first time Mom. A second time mom is only using lotion, soap ,and bubble bath for her toddler or preschooler. I like to buy a 3 pack of soap on Amazon because the price is right, and I don’t have to leave the house to purchase this gift. Shit, I can mail that bitch wrapped to New Mom.
Oh but Janika none of this is sentimental! No it is not, but I can help you with that.
Make a Card. Seriously go to the craft store, and buy some cute ass stickers and card stock, and break out your crayola collection. She will put this card aside for the memory box because its hand made. If you have not had a baby party yet trust me you will end up with at least 3 of the same card. How many new baby cards do you think Target has? The other great part about making a card is you save 3 bucks. Yes you bought bad ass stickers, and card stock ,but you can make several more cards with that.
Inscribe a Book.
Maybe its your favorite children’s book, but for me I like to give away “Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone.” Start them early on the good shit.
This fantastic idea
Practical and sentimental. Wrap up everyday essentials like baby gas relief drops, pacifiers, snacks for Mom, baby butt cream, and anything else you can think of.Maybe some of those bad ass stickers you got from the craft store.
Think of Mom and Dad.
Yes, this is a party for Baby, but New Mom and Dad are doing all the work. Maybe a restaurant gift certificate for a last hurruah, or first dat night out, a gift certificate for cleaning services! They have them on groupon all the time. How glorious would it be to have someone washing your dishes while you are zoned out on the sofa holding new kid? Anything you can think of for Mom would be more appreciated then that blanket. Even a Coffee gift card. Who am I kidding especially that coffee gift card.
