Top 5 Essential Baby Shower Gifts: Ideas for First Time Parents



Anytime you ask first-time parents-to-be what baby shower gifts they would like to receive, you’ll likely be met with looks of confusion. Or perhaps they’ll come up with a stock response, such as “diapers” or something similar.
What the new arrival will need is not always obvious to someone who has never had a baby before. And all too often, guests aren’t much better themselves when it comes to deciding which baby shower gifts to give the first time moms and dads.
Now of course there’s a lot more to a baby shower than just giving gifts. But an important part of the event is to help parents to stock up for the new arrival.
If you are looking for ideas, here is a list of the top five baby shower gifts guaranteed to please and to make life easier for baby and the new parents.
Baby Monitors
A baby monitor is an excellent anxiety-buster, especially for first-time parents, and for this reason they hold the No.1 position on this list.
baby monitor with wifi baby shower gift idea

If they can listen to the baby from anywhere in the house, parents will find their confidence levels zooming. The latest monitors are quite sensitive, able to pick up the slightest sounds from the baby, even his/her breathing.

If your budget allows for it, you may consider taking it a step further and buying a video baby monitor. That will really ease anxiety. These however are a lot more expensive. One option is to buy it as a joint baby shower gift, if you can pool resources with another guest.
A playtime mate for baby
Babies love to play, and anything which helps them play and get active will not only keep them engaged, it will also help stimulate all-round development of the baby.
An activity gym or playpen is one such product – a great baby shower gift idea. A playpen is a soft cloth mat typically surrounded by a baby-friendly structure – bars and arches with lots of different toys suspended at various points. It allows baby to play in a safe environment.
The basic activity gym is an excellent baby shower gift. The more advanced types also include noisemakers and a variety of toys guaranteed to keep baby busy. The objects that come suspended on these playpens come in a variety of colors and textures to help develop the baby’s cognitive abilities.
Portable gyms and playpens are available that can be very helpful when parents need to move around with the baby. Portable playpens are lightweight, designed especially to be easy to carry around comfortably.
Baby sling
Most babies love being carried around in a sling, and for sure it’s the next best thing to being cuddled in their mom’s arms. It has been the experience of many parents that babies got restless and cried when carried in other types of carriers, but they immediately calmed down upon being put into a sling.
extra comfortable ergonomic baby sling for newborn
A baby sling is believed to foster a closer bond between parent and child. But whether this is true or not, slings do offer another great advantage to the mom or parent: carrying your baby in a sling leaves your hands free to do other things. This is a big plus and for this reason alone a baby sling is one of those baby shower gifts that will be highly appreciated by the recipient.
The baby travel pack
Carrying your baby around can be a chore.  Not least because of having to pack a seemingly endless list of baby stuff, even for a short outing.
A baby travel pack is one great way to ease the problem. It helps to have one or more of these handy. A travel pack is basically a diaper bag filled with baby necessities, such as disposable diapers, a small toy or two, a bib, a complete change of clothes for the baby, stuff like safety pins, etc.
It is great if the parents receive more than one travel pack, because then one pack will always be kept ready whenever they need to go out. This is a great time saver that cuts through the inconvenience of ferreting through the mess to pick up and stuff items into a diaper bag at the last minute.
Car seat
Many parents agree that a well-designed car seat is a very useful baby shower gift to receive. In fact, a car seat will be useful from the moment the parents leave hospital with baby.
You have infant car seats and infant-toddler convertible seats. The former are designed to be used only until the baby is around 22 pounds or so while the latter can be used till the baby is one year old.
If you can ensure that these top 5 baby shower gifts are part of the event you host, your guest of honor will end up thanking you long after the party is over.