Stop me if you’ve heard this before. A close friend of yours (or your wife as is the case for me) is having a baby and told you about the planned baby shower at least 2 months ago which gives you plenty of time to get an amazing baby shower gift that will have everyone shedding gigantic baby tears while hugging and spilling mimosas all over the floor. This isn’t going to happen though because you have over 2 months and right now Disney+ has new Marvel series that you have to watch OR ELSE CAROL AT WORK WILL TOTALLY SPOIL IT FOR YOU!
This is the predicament we found ourselves in 5 days before the scheduled baby shower looking at what kinds of gifts we can come up with for a dear friend. Getting the perfect gift has always been a source of stress for us which might explain why we procrastinated so much on getting the gifts in the first place. Whatever the reason, here we are with 5 days before the party which includes a full work week where we don’t really want to go shopping or really have the time. This begs the question:
What are some good last minute baby shower gifts?
As with anything the good gifts depend on the person and what their needs, wants, and personality type dictate. The best gifts usually fall under useful, memorable, or luxurious categories which should be just what mom-to-be is looking for.
This is all obviously assuming that mom-to-be doesn’t have an Amazon baby registry which would obviously make the decision much easier.
Shop Amazon – Create an Amazon Baby RegistryAs always what the best gift is usually depends on the person’s current life situation. For example, the baby shower we’re buying for right now is for an established couple who aren’t going to be struggling to buy diapers or onesies so we will need to make the choice of luxurious or memorable. However, a couple of months ago we were at a baby shower for a very young couple who, frankly, don’t need a $1,600 dollar stroller or a personalized pregnancy painting, so we ended up getting them baby blankets and clothes. That gift was just as thoughtful as any gift bought from a boutique shop ever could be as it served the needs of the couple we were getting it for.
With that being said, here are some gift ideas you can get last minute which satisfy the three criteria:
Useful:
My wife and I generally trend utilitarian anyway so this category is the easiest personally for us. Gifts in this category are things that a new parent need. Socks, blankets, bottles, and onesies all fall into this category. Useful gifts are perfect for all types of people but especially useful when attending a baby shower for an acquaintance or someone who you either don’t know well enough to feel comfortable buying something memorable or just aren’t close enough to have memorable moments or prior knowledge about what they would find special. For this we recommend a set of onesies like you can find here. Onesies are used universally and you cannot have enough of them at a given time so they represent the safest and most useful of all possible presents.
Memorable:
Your best friend is having a baby and that is incredible. You two have known each other for years and have built up lasting and beautiful memories so you want to get something that shows your journey together that will mean something to her. Perhaps this gift is for your wife and you really want to make her cry? Who knows? You’re the one with the memories. This gift category is going to be all about what’s special to mom-to-be. Things like special picture frames and scrapbooks are the ideal. Generally not too expensive but will be rich in memories and emotions. Get the tissue ready because you’re going full nostalgia on top of pregnancy hormones. A great example of this type of present is this scrapbook that you can find here.
Luxurious:
Okay, this person is special to you. Perhaps it’s your wife, daughter, or sister. You know that they’ve been eyeing that expensive stroller but they don’t want to put up the cash needed for such an extravagant item. Now it’s time to earn some seriously good karma and pony up for it. These are the stroller and jewelry purchases. It’s not for everyone and can be cost prohibitive, but if you can swing it will be an amazing gift and a special memory for years to come. Strollers are your go to in this category and there’s a really nice one here.
Hopefully the shower goes off without a hitch and you were able to find the perfect gift. The shower we went to was a great success. We saw a good friend of ours who is about to have her baby in a couple of months. We found a really cool picture frame that caused many tears to be shed and got to eat some awesome food. Best of luck on your gift search!