Need help - baby shower gift - last minute invite

kaper

I received a phone call today from a friend asking if I was going to be attending the baby shower she is hosting for another friend tomorrow.  Apparently the invite went out of Facebook, I didn't see it.  I told her I would attend.  The only other shower I have gone to that I can remember, I went in on a gift with friends and they picked it.  I am clueless.  Are gift certificates ok?  Any other suggestions for a last minute gift? And do I have to bring food?
TIA

ski2play

You don't have to bring food unless you were asked.  You could call the host back and offer too if you are so inclined. 

Gifts; diapers are always needed and can be purchased at the grocery store.  Also, books and gift cards are always appreciated. 

StephBeanWed61502

I don't know about food - the showers I've been to have all been catered, but I don't know if that's common everywhere or just here - but for gifts, I'd think a giftcard to a store like Babies R Us or Target would be totally appropriate.  When I go to baby showers, I usually go to Target and get the new mom a bunch of basics - plain onesies, cloth diapers (apparently these are useful for catching spit-up and whatnot even if mom is planning to go for disposables), hats in winter, that sort of thing, and then a cute, ultra-soft stuffed animal (mainly for the "aww" factor).  Also, I usually buy the 3-6 months size instead of 0-3, because I figure most other guests got the 0-3 size stuff and the baby's going to grow out of it in like two seconds.  HTH!

dumdumfroggie

I like to give a couple of the "classic" childrens books:

Green Eggs and Ham
The Hungrly Caterpillar
Where the Wild Things Are
etc...

Granted the baby can't use them now, but they can start up a nice collection.

Queen Jane

Gift cards, IMO, are good and safe. In my experience, a lot of people bought us clothes we never used because it was either never the right size for the season, or completely opposite of our style.

Maybe the gift card paired with burp clothes or bibs or a cute blanket, if you want to throw in something a little extra.

kcscejal

Diapers and wipes, baby medications.  Gift certificates are ok, but I'd at least get a smaller physical gift to go along with it.

kaper

Thanks so much for the quick responses. 

AmethystMSU

Does the mom-to-be have a registry somewhere? The key stores to check are Target and Babies 'R Us, at least in my circle. Buying from the registry is always foolproof, of course.

PPs have good ideas if she doesn't have a registry.

BMcLeodTeam

In my group of friends the two things I have heard that were the most loved were gift certificates to Babies R Us and Diapers, 3-6 month range.

kaper

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_need-baby-shower-gift?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:922efe5a-cc89-4c8d-a749-64917ec7e163Post:3abd734c-4733-41cb-8c3f-0a6ba61b7d16">Re: Need help - baby shower gift - last minute invite</a>:
[QUOTE]Does the mom-to-be have a registry somewhere? The key stores to check are Target and Babies 'R Us, at least in my circle. Buying from the registry is always foolproof, of course. PPs have good ideas if she doesn't have a registry.
Posted by AmethystMSU[/QUOTE]

We don't have any of those stores around here.  Walmart, Zellers, Shoppers Drug Mart and a small baby/child store.  That's it. I don't know if they would have registries.

MyUserName1

I think size 3-6 mo onesies are always safe.

Sometimes kids grow out of newborn size in about ten minutes, and that's the size most people buy.

Moms can always use more onesies, right?

AmethystMSU

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_need-baby-shower-gift?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:922efe5a-cc89-4c8d-a749-64917ec7e163Post:ae8f922f-3b19-4ca0-b101-ece9cb94b453">Re: Need help - baby shower gift - last minute invite</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Need help - baby shower gift - last minute invite : We don't have any of those stores around here.  Walmart, Zellers, Shoppers Drug Mart and a small baby/child store.  That's it. I don't know if they would have registries.
Posted by kaper[/QUOTE]
Walmart maybe. I know you can have a registry there.

KentuckyKate

I wouldn't get clothes.  Most new parents are up to their eyeballs in clothes, because people have fun buying them, but the necessities are more practical and appreciated.  LVB got my SIL a bunch of different baby medicines at her shower (and also some beautiful homemade burp cloths), and my SIL has had to use all of them so far.  It's something a lot of people wouldn't think about buying until their baby is already sick.

Another friend of mine said the thing she needed most after the baby was already born and didn't have were receiving blankets.  She swaddled the baby with them, and layed them over her shoulder when she was holding her in case of spit up, and put them on the floor for the baby to lay on, and having a lot of them helped because she needed to wash them so much.

Loopyseven

One of my friends commented (offhand, she was totally grateful for what she DID get) about how no one bought stuff off their registry cause everyone bought girlie clothes for the baby and so they had to spend a lot of their own money for the baby necessities.  Ever since then, I shop from the registry for baby showers.  It's not as fun or cute, but the stuff is necessary, and expensive when you have to buy it ALL.

KentuckyKate

Loopy, at the last baby shower I went to, I think I was the only one who bought anything off the registry.  The mom-to-be pretty much got nothing but cute girly clothes.  I bought her cute stuff too, but it was at least off the registry.  I got some of her nursery coordinates, but after the shower, I wish I had gone for the butt paste or bottles or something.

kaper

Turns out Walmart discontinued their registry in Canada in 2009.  The baby store is closed.  Thanks so much for all the ideas. 

Loopyseven

Kate - I had never thought of it from the point of view of the parents to be before.  With wedding gifts, very little of it is necessities in order to function anymore.  Especially in this day and age since so few people go directly from parent to hubby without living independently in between.  I am also determined that even if H and I find out the sex of the baby, we aren't going to tell anyone.  No one seems as interested in buying green and yellow clothes.  I've always seen more registry gifts at "unknown" baby showers, than at ones where people know the sex of the baby*.

* this is a fully unscientific study based solely on my observations at numerous baby showers over the last 2-3 years.

KentuckyKate

Exactly Loopy.  Before you have a baby you have absolutely zero baby items.  Before you get married, you usually have everything you actually NEED to live independently.

BMcLeodTeam

I had never thought about it from that point of view, with having to buy all those 'necessary items' afterwards.... reading this originally I was kinda bummed I hadn't gotten any onesies and stuff like that for the baby shower I am attending tomorrow, but now I am uber happy that I did go ahead and get the stroller off their registry