How to Find the Best Baby Shower Gift
So your friend is having a baby... and it's almost time for her highly anticipated baby shower.
Finding the perfect gift to celebrate your friend and her baby doesn’t have to be stressful, even if you aren’t a mom yourself, and don’t have much knowledge about the wide world of baby products.
Using the following six steps, you can sort through the overwhelming options available, and narrow your search to only the best possible products that will truly benefit your friend throughout her upcoming journey into motherhood.
6 Steps to Find the Best Baby Shower Gift
1. Follow the Registry
Always follow the golden rule of both baby showers and weddings alike: if there is a registry, use it. The mom-to-be in question has carefully crafted it to reflect exactly what she needs and wants. However, utilizing the remaining criteria outlined in this guide can help you to sort through the wide variety of options available. On the other hand, if there isn’t a registry, or if you're daring to go rogue, this guide is even more important to make sure you don’t go astray.
📷
2. Watch out for toxins
It’s widely known that babies are delicate beings- they are sensitive to many of the toxins in common products that may not harm adults, but could wreak havoc on a baby’s development and overall health. Therefore, it is crucial that any gift you give be made of high-quality, non-toxic material. Whether it is a toy or a stroller, a young baby will find a way to eat it, and it must be safe for them to do so. Read this blog post for more details about the main toxins to avoid in various baby products.
📷 wunderkids.com
3. Ensure ease of use
Your dear friend is soon to be an extremely tired new mother. Setting up a complicated toy, or worrying about a baby blanket that needs to be washed daily is the last thing she’ll want to deal with. It is always in good taste to buy practical, easy-to-clean products that will make parents’ lives easier. Think baby play mats, diaper bags, and bassinets.
📷 wunderkids.com
By this point, you should have a good idea of which baby shower gifts are viable. However, there is still room for improvement- and a little fun. You can narrow down the remaining options even further by considering the following nice-to-have qualities.
4. Consider the colour scheme
Parents often have a colour scheme in mind when preparing their newborns’ clothing and furniture- whether it be blue, pink, purple or yellow, try to garner what your friend’s plans are, and stick to it. If you aren’t sure what your friend has in mind, if the gender of the baby is unknown, and/or if your gift will potentially be used for multiple babies, neutral items are often a safe bet, and run the lowest risk of disrupting any styling decisions made later on.
5. Align your aesthetic
Much like with the colour scheme, it’s important to purchase your gift keeping the parents’ overall design choices in mind, and make sure that your gift won’t disrupt or clash with the items they’ve already purchased. For example, if the baby’s nursery is jungle themed, don’t buy a rainbow bassinet as the centerpiece.
Overall, the safest method is to buy a gift with the best combination of quality, practicality, and design.
A great option with all the aforementioned factors is the ALZiP mat. Made with buttery soft vegan leather, free of harmful toxins, and being the only FDA approved food-grade mat, ALZiP is easily foldable, water and stain resistant, and available in five different colours to match any nursery theme. The ALZiP mat will allow your friend’s baby to grow and explore freely, without any worry.
6. Splurge with a group
It is entirely possible that you will find a picture perfect gift for your friend, only to be stopped by a hefty price tag. However, if you’ve followed all the steps above, it’s likely that the gift is truly valuable and worth buying. In this case, it’s a great idea to go in on a more expensive gift with a group of friends. You can still personalize the gift with solo cards and/or smaller items, but the soon-to-be parent(s) will benefit from receiving the best possible gift your group can give.
You now have all the knowledge and expertise needed to find the perfect baby shower gift for your friend. For one last tip, have fun- the world of baby products awaits you. Happy shopping!
