A baby shower is a party thrown most times by the parents in honor of an unborn baby. A baby shower gives family and well wishers an opportunity or avenue to show love by presenting gifts or sometimes , offering help to the parents.
As you know a baby shower isn’t complete without gifts, everyone who is invited is expected to come along with a present for either the mom or the baby. But here comes the problem, how much is reasonable to spend on a baby shower gift? What is too much and what is too little?
When buying a baby shower gift, you should put the recipient into consideration and try to get a valuable or useful gift while sticking to a price range that you are okay with. Try to remember that the Shower is just for fun to celebrate the new baby and the parents so you should not try to overreach yourself, anything you bring with the right intention will he highly appreciated.
How Much To Spend On Baby Shower Gift
It is recommended that you spend #25-$50 minimum or $50-$200 maximum on a baby shower gift depending what kind of relationship you have with the expectant parents you might decide to exceed this budget. The most important thing to note is that a baby shower gift should be useful and something that will help the new parents to get through the first few months or longer of parenthood.
Can I get offer a gift card as a baby shower present
Yes you can offer a gift card as a baby shower present and the new parents may find it helpful because they can either cash the gift card or use it to get something that they really want and might not have gotten it from the registry they prepared for the baby shower.
When offering a gift card it’s reasonable to spend what you might have spent had you bought a gift and that price depends on your relationship with the person getting the baby shower gift, so you may offer a gift card of $25-$150.
Can I offer money as a baby shower gift.
It is okay to offer money as a baby shower gift and the parents may find it useful because they can use it to start a savings account for the baby or buy other items that they may not have received from the baby shower, just like with a gift card you should offer am amount that you would have spent if you had bought a gift.
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How much to spend on a baby shower gift depending on your relationship to the recipient of the gift
When buying a baby shower gift, your relationship with the recipient of the gift is very important, for example the baby shower gift for a sister is significantly more expensive that the baby shower gift of colleague or co-worker.
Having said that, here are 3 types of relationships and how much to be spent on a baby shower gift for a person with whom You share such a relationship:-
- Family member’s baby shower: a baby shower of a family member makes the event extra special because you are welcoming a new member of the family, the party will no doubt be full of your loved ones and as such you should get a gift that is personal and would prove to be very useful to the new parents whether It is for the mother or the baby.
How much you spend on this baby shower gift now depends on your financials( because you can’t possibly get into depth because you want to buy a gift) and how close you are to the person for example a cousin or niece may spend $25-$50, while a sister may spend $50-$150, and a grandma/grandpa or an aunt/ uncle may spend significantly more.
But on an average family can spend $50-$200 on a baby shower gift. If there is a registry for the baby shower gifts you might want to look through it and find something that has not already been bought or unique compared to the others.
Since it’s a family baby shower personal gift are most encouraged especially if you’re going to be in the life of the child a lot. Try to buy lots of little gifts or lots of not so little gifts that the baby and parents will enjoy, you might take something that’s homemade or a couple or well thought out gifts with you if you are financially tight or broke but make sure it’s some thing that will be appreciated.
- Baby shower of a distant relative: for a baby shower gift of a distant relative you should spend on a range of $40-$80, however what you may decide to buy with this price range depends on what the mom to be wants or what’s on her registry.
- Baby shower of a close friend: for a close friend especially a best friend, you might want to go all out to buy things for her and her baby, but try to stick to a budget and get things that are useful rather than fanciful but you have to agree that a gift for a best friend or close friend demands that you think a lot more and buy things that are lovely and will be enjoyed buy the parents and the baby. Again you might want to look through the parents registry(if there’s one) to see what has and hadn’t been bought so you know the parents really need. On an average you can spend $50-$200 on a baby shower present for a or close friend but might send more on a gift for a best friend.
- Baby shower gift for a friend or co-worker: for a baby shower gift for a friend or co-worker, your budget should be around $30-$80, however you should try to get something that she will find useful, if there’s a product that you have used and appreciate you may get it for her but to be on a safer side add the receipt to the gift so she can exchange the gift of she doesn’t like it. Sometimes a gift card and a sweet thing for the baby is enough for a co worker.
- Baby shower gift for an employee or a client: When buying a baby shower gift for an employee or a client it’s very important to avoid buying from discounts stores as this might give the wrong impression (especially to a client) about how much you value them. Your employee or client having a baby shower is an opportunity for you to show much you value their services and/or patronage so you should spend with a price range of $50-$150. You should try to buy a few items from a higher end store and buy items that are useful and valuable.
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Tips for buying a baby shower gift when on a budget
When buying a baby shower gift You may be confused on what to get, here are some tips on how to get ideal baby shower gifts.
- When there’s a baby shower registry: most expectant parents like to include a list of carefully selected gift that they want into the baby shower invitations, this list is kind of like a guide which gives you a sense of direction when buying gifts and also ensures that you don’t buy something that they don’t need.
Some hosts tend to have bigger expectations or more expensive items on their lists so you may want to decide on a item on time so you don’t end up with the really expensive ones.
- When there’s no baby shower registry: when there is no baby shower registry you may find yourself in a bit of a dilemma as to what to get but it’s not that difficult; for first time parents you can get practical things and other necessities that a parent needs right after the baby is born like diapers, feeding bottles, clothes (onesies, sleep suits, two pieces etc.), baby strollers, car seats, high chairs etc.;
If they are not first time parents you can choose to get them items that are a bit more advanced or frivolous like books, toys, clothes, candles, bath salts, body lotions and all those type of things are always appreciated.
- When you’re on a tight budget: if you’re on a tight budget remember that the baby shower is just for fun so you don’t gave to overreach yourself, something homemade or practical that may not be expensive or attractive but still very much useful like diaper bags, baby wipes, nipple cream, cotton buds, nursing bras etc. will suffice. You might even chose to get a photo album for the baby and pajamas for mom, these 2 items can be bought on sale and will likely be in your price range.
If you choose to go with cheerful and cheap home made or self assembled gifts you can pick a theme and buy gifts to fill that category for example: “feeding time” with gifts like feeding bottles, a bowl, a cup, a cutlery set for babies, burp clothes etc. Will be appreciated.
- Shop together: if you’re one of a group of friends, family members or colleagues at work who are all attending the baby shower or know the recipient, you all can sit down to think of gifts that will be very useful or decide to shop together or even make contributions to buy a very expensive gift like a car seat, high chair or baby stroller although this will only be beneficial for first time parents but you get the idea. In the event that the receivers are not first time parents you can get lots of small items that will be very helpful to the parents.
- A lack of inspiration or last minute decision: if there is no registry for the baby shower or all the gifts in the baby registry has been taken up or you don’t know what to get for a baby shower gift.
Maybe you are attending last minute you might choose to offer a gift card for a restaurant, grocery store, baby shop, or even a cosmetics store to the parents or you might choose to go with cash because money is universally acceptable as a gift and might be very useful to parents especially first time parents who don’t know what they are in for an may need money for the first few months of parenthood.
Ignoring the registry is considered impolite so if you have another gift you really want to get for the parents you should at least get a little item from the registry. You may want to get something for mom like a skin care product, nipple cream, nursing pads, maternity wears, breast pump etc.
Or something for the baby like a cup, bowl, nail cutters, a sleep suit, diapers, baby wipes, etc. But whatever you choose to buy try to stay within a price budget that you’re comfortable with.
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