The title says it all-I am holding a baby shower for a friend.
For the gift- I like to give couples a date when they have a new baby. I give a gift certificate to a restaurant and a card that explains that babysitting is included. I have a friends who has a house cleaning business on the side and she gives a few weeks of housecleaning services. If you want a wrappable gift, you canât go wrong with books.
I once went to a shower where the host had asked all of the guests for baby photos of themselves beforehand. Then she put all of the photos into a slides show and we all had to guess who was who.
Another good one was sort of like the Newlywed Game. The mother-to-be was asked a question (things like, â[name_m]How[/name_m] many diaper changes does a newborn baby need each day?â) and everyone had to write down what they thought she would answer.
We also played a version of Taboo but with just baby related words at that shower.
I have been to several where we decorated onesies. That is always a good one. You just need onesies and fabric markers.
At another shower, we all wrote down what we would name the baby and gave the slips of paper to the mother-to-be. She read them off and guessed who had suggested which names. I am assuming that you will like that one since this is a naming website.
I would avoid anything where involving guessing the girth of the pregnant woman or melting candy bars in diapers or anything of that nature.
My mom always told me to make sure the mom-to-be has a cool mist humidifier, so I usually get one of those. My mom said the thing was a life saver when she was raising her six babies! Itâs not super cute or fun to get a humidifier, but the two women Iâve gotten them for recently both have come back to tell me they are so happy I got it for them.
I went to a shower once where everyone was given necklaces with a plastic toy pacifier on it when they walked in. Throughout the whole shower, if you said the word âbabyâ and someone caught you on it, you would have to give up your necklace to that person. At the end of the shower, the person with the most necklaces wins a prize. It was fun and unique, and much harder than it sounds!
You can freeze tiny toy babies in ice cubes & when the ice melts in your drink, and your baby floats you yell âmy water broke!â I think that is hilarious.
In my opinion the best gifts are blankets, board books & anything handmade - they make nice keepsakes, whereas a baby bath tub or something like that is going to be given away when baby outgrows it. Obviously it is great when you can go in with someone else on âbig ticket itemsâ like strollers & car seats & carriers and things like that Maybe you could see if invitees all want to pitch in $10 or $20 to put toward something like that. And gift cards are always awesome for new parents.
Other great small items: nursing covers, burp cloths & receiving blankets.
The last few showers I went to did this game with a thing called a âdiaper cakeâ, which is basically a little tower filled with baby stuff. It would be sitting on a coffee table or some prominent area and as guests arrived the soon to be grandmother would call everyoneâs attention to it and insist everyone take a look. A bit later it would disappear and everyone would be presented with scrap paper and pencils and told to try to list as many things as possible they remember being on it. The person with the most correct answers wins.
At my shower, we did the "donât say the word âbabyâ " game too and it was hilarious. Everyone had a little clothes pin and whoever collected the most won. I lost immediately after reading the first card out loud! Not fair 
Being a guest at othersâ showers, I appreciated games that didnât put anyone on the spot, because I am not the most extroverted person around. I chose to do a lot of paper games: baby word scramble, fill in the blank nursery rhyme, etc.
For shower prizes, we did pretty hair clips, bath sets, stationary sets. No need to break the bank unless you want to.
Iâm a new mom who hasnât had a chance yet to put my gifts to use, but I really appreciated the handmade items I received. Everything though was a nice gesture, regardless.
At mine my friend who hosted it had a styrofoam wreath, slips of paper, and pins, and people pinned their name suggestions to it. Some were serious and some were silly. I loved it so much, I still have the wreath hanging in my bedroom.
I also saw something hilarious, though depending on your crowd may or may not be appropriate, that has someone write down certain comments on the gifts the mom to be makes. Afterwards the host announces itâs a myth that the things the mom says are what she said the night the baby was conceived, and has whoever was writing down comments read them aloud.
First off, I would ask the mom-to-be if she wants you to play any games at the shower. I absolutely hated baby shower games, so when I had my shower, we didnât play any. It is a personal choice, so definitely ask her! I agree that some of the ideas on here are great, but sometimes the games are set up to embarrass people and if they donât have a playful personality, it might not go over well!
As for gifts, personal gifts are definitely the best. I got a number of personal gifts at my shower, most of which came from either my mother or my husbandâs mother. [name_f]My[/name_f] mother got me a baby strand of pearls for my daughter, which was special to me because we both wear them regularly. She also got a baby doll exactly like the one I cherished when I was younger, and that meant a lot. As someone else said, the things people get will eventually be forgotten about or gotten rid of. The things with special meaning are the ones that they will hold on to and remember who it came from!
It all depends on your friendâs personality. If sheâs more on the introverted side, I would stick to something like giving everyone a plain white onesie to decorate. There are all kinds of fabric dyes, fabric markers, iron-on patches, etc at craft stores for that. Iâve been to a baby shower where everyone was asked to bring a childrenâs book (Dr. Seuss, Disney, something like that) and at the shower we all sat down and wrote a letter/message to the baby in the inside cover. In that case Mom had announced the babyâs name, so that might not be a good idea if your friend isnât announcing the name or sex before hand.
When buying baby shower gifts, my mom and I stick to onesies and diapers unless the expectant mom has requested something specific. We havenât had the opportunity to give any âspecialâ gifts yet.
I agree with those who said to make sure you know what the mom-to-be will enjoy. When I threw my best friendâs shower in [name_f]October[/name_f], I made sure to incorporate the few things she said she would like (dessert from a specific bakery, books instead of cards, and no games that involved measuring her belly). I also avoided some of the âusualâ games, because I knew she wasnât a fan. We did one that I got, believe it or not, at a craft store, ready-made, which listed definitions of words that are also names (examples: a cut of beef = [name_m]Chuck[/name_m], a tree that produces oil = [name_f]Olive[/name_f]). Everyone had a limited amount of time to figure out as many names as they could. The other game we did was one I found on Pinterest, with some old wivesâ tales about how to tell if youâre having a girl or a boy. Everyone guessed if the given item indicated a boy or girl, and then we shared answers. Since my friend was keeping name choices a secret and did not find out the sex of the baby in advance, these games kind of went with that. For prizes, I got bath poufs and smaller-than-average-but-larger-than-travel-size bottles of body wash, and made tags that said," From _____'s shower to yours." Gotta love something that is both cute and useful!
The other activity we did was a âwishes for babyâ book. Everyone got a page to fill out when they arrived (modeled on something else from Pinterest) that started a bunch of sentences like, âI hope you loveâŚ,â âI hope you learnâŚ,â âI hope youâre not afraid ofâŚ,â and everyone completed the sentences with their own thoughts. It was meant to be something for the baby, but about half the guests misunderstood and ended up writing messages to the mom-to-be. The end result was actually kind of nice, though! While people were eating and mingling we mounted the pages and put them into a book, and presented it at the end of gift opening.
As for gifts, I always give some of my favorite books (anything by [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] [name_m]Wells[/name_m] or [name_f]Sandra[/name_f] [name_m]Boynton[/name_m]) that are fun for kids as well as adults. I also try to go for something fun that the parents-to-be will enjoy but wouldnât necessarily register for or get for themselves. [name_f]My[/name_f] best friendâs husband loved [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] the Pooh when he was little, so I got their little one a [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] the Pooh hooded towel and washcloth set.
For a close friend or family member, Iâve also come to appreciate the idea of a gift that is given over time. When I was very little, a close friend of my mother sent me a place setting of high-quality stainless steel flatware. I got one set every [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] and birthday until I had 12 place settings, then serving pieces and the case for them. When youâre six, flatware is not a great giftâŚbut now that Iâm an adult, I appreciate the thought that went into it. Plus, I have something I wouldnât otherwise have, âin-betweenâ utensils that are not for everyday use, but arenât silver either. I like the idea of starting a gift-giving tradition like that at a baby shower.
The last baby shower I went to we played a game similar to âThe [name_m]Price[/name_m] is Rightâ. We didnât play with the actual gifts from everyone, we bought separate gifts, little things like pacis and nail clippers etc for the game. It was fun & different.
The mom requested that instead of cards you get a book and write a message to mom and baby inside the front cover, I thought that was a sweet idea.
As for gifts, go off the registry! Mom registered for those items specifically. If there isnât a registry I agree with most about the essentials; blankets, onesies, etc. I also like the idea of a date night for mom and dad.
If your friend likes it you could get her a massage for post baby. Maybe a massage and a mani/pedi?? I have not had a baby but I assume that once you do all time for yourself sort of goes out the window! Maybe offer to babysit the day mama schedules her spa day?