The majority of people who attend baby showers are likely to only get gifts for the baby. This is, of course, the idea of a baby shower – to take a bit of the stress, pressure and financial burden off the parents, while at the same time celebrating the new life they’re about to welcome into the world.
However, for most expectant mothers, from the moment they announce they’re pregnant until well after the baby is born, everything is about the baby. With their hormones raging, many new mothers can end up feeling overshadowed and forgotten. After all, she’s the one carrying around a baby for nine months, and doing all the hard work – she deserves some recognition too!
Along with your gifts for the baby, try to get a thoughtful gift for the mommy as well. Or, have all the party-goers chip in some money and get the mother-to-be one big gift. Make sure it’s not just things she can use after the baby is born, because that can feel like a long time away and if it’s something she’s really missing (such as smaller clothes, caffeine, even her favorite alcoholic drink), she’d probably rather not have it. Try to concentrate on gifts that she can use right away.
Following are some great gift ideas for the mommy-to-be.
You can never go wrong with jewelry
Consider a nice necklace, bracelet or pair of earrings. You might think about getting her one of those beautiful necklaces that says “Mother” or “#1 Mom,” especially if she’s a first-time mother, which makes this an extra-special time for her. She’ll likely be very touched that you thought of such a lovely gift.
Treat new mom to a day at the spa
You could get her a gift certificate for a day at the spa, or a manicure/pedicure at a salon. These are places where she can relax, pamper herself and have someone else do the work while she sits back, puts up her feet and forgets her trouble for an hour or two. You might even try to find a two-for-one deal and go with her so you can make it a girls’ day, which may be rare once the baby comes along.
A gift basket full of her favorite things
Pre-packaged gift baskets are nice, but why not try making your own with personalized items you know she loves? A few things you might think about: perfume, cream, make-up, nail polish, chocolates, books, magazines, DVDs. You could also think about getting her things you know she loves but doesn’t often buy for herself because she considers them extravagant. You could get her items to have an at-home spa day herself, like bubble bath, facial kits, nail kits, and nice smelling creams and lotions.
A meal she doesn’t have to cook herself
You might consider getting her a gift certificate to her favorite restaurant so that she and her partner can have a nice night out before the baby is born and date nights are fewer and farther between. Alternately, if the two of you have a favorite restaurant that’s “your place,” you could tell her that as part of your gift to her, she’s to pick a date and you’ll take her to lunch.
Clothes to accommodate her ever-changing body shape
If the mommy-to-be still has several months left of her pregnancy, consider a gift card to a maternity clothing store. If she’s almost due, or if the baby has already been born at the time of the shower, you could get her a gift certificate to her favorite clothing store so she can pick out something she likes. This is probably preferable to actually buying clothes which might not fit and could end up making her feel like she needs to lose the baby weight quickly.
With a gift certificate, she can pick exactly what she wants and try on different things to accommodate her post-baby body. This could also be another opportunity for you to offer to go with her and make it a girls’ day out together.
Offer your services as a babysitter
Another thoughtful gift idea that doesn’t cost you anything but a little time is the offer to babysit once the baby is born. If you like babies, have experience with them and wouldn’t mind donating a bit of your time, you could try getting creative and making some coupons/gift certificates that say something along the lines of “good for one afternoon of free baby-sitting.”
Babysitters can be hard to come by and expensive, not to mention the fact that many mothers, especially first-time mothers, have trouble leaving their babies with strangers. Knowing that she has some free time coming to her once the baby is born, and knowing that her baby is with a trusted friend is a priceless gift to any mother.
There are many gifts you could get a mother-to-be to celebrate this wondrous time in her life. Getting a thoughtful, personal gift just for her, along with a gift for the precious life she’s carrying will likely mean the world to her and be something she never forgets.
