14 Baby Shower Gift Ideas

There are so many adorable gifts you could give to the mom-to-be in your life, but what does she really need? These baby shower gift ideas are all things I actually used with my three babies. Some of them are cute, but all of them helped make that crazy time of life go a little more smoothly!

Check out the ideas below to get a gift that will really help a new mom!

1. Swing

This swing is cute, soft, and for me, it was absolutely necessary for those nights when no rocking or singing would get my baby to calm down. I can’t imagine having a baby without it, and I seriously wonder what mothers did before electricity. 

We had the Fisher-Price Snugapuppy for five years and used it for three babies! My brother also used it for his daughter, so it lasted through four babies and was still going strong before I sold it on Facebook Marketplace. I’d highly recommend this adorable miracle worker as a bigger baby shower gift!

Reasons I’d recommend this baby swing:

• It can be for fun or for calming a fussy baby.
• The seat is adjustable, meaning it can be leaned back so the baby’s head isn’t too far forward.
• It’s easy to move around.
• My babies usually fall asleep in it when nothing else will work.

2. White Noise Machine

The womb is a pretty noisy place. They say it sounds like a vacuum is running all the time, and that’s what babies are used to by the time they join the rest of us here on earth. White noise machines are comforting for babies, AND they drown out the noise of Netflix or noisy cupboards slamming shut or anything else in between. 

I love this specific white noise machine because you can plug it in, but it also takes batteries (this has come in handy for travelling and when our power went out!). This is definitely a useful baby shower gift for new moms!

Reasons I love white noise machines:

• The sound is soothing to newborns.
• It blocks noise so that I don’t have to worry about tip-toeing around the house when my kids are sleeping.

3. Adjustable Swaddle Wraps

People who can figure out how to swaddle a baby with a blanket deserve some sort of honorary degree. I’m a big believer in doing things the easy way when there’s a lot going on! This is a great gift for a new mom who will definitely need some things to be a little easier!

Babies have a natural startle reflex and can wake themselves with their quick and random movements. Swaddling them can prevent that! It also helps them feel comfortable and snug like they were while living in the womb or when they’re held. Swaddles have also proven to prevent SIDS. So there are lots of good reasons to swaddle babies, and wraps make it so much easier.

I’ve tried both the SwaddleMe wraps and the HALO Sleepsack Swaddle. They’re both great, but the HALO sleepsack seems harder to break out of, which is perfect to reduce those middle-of-the-night wakings. I would recommend the HALO sleepsack over the SwaddleMe wrap, but both would be great gifts.

Reasons I love swaddle wraps:

• They’re easy to figure out!
• They’re great time-savers.
• They stay put longer than swaddle blankets.
• They helped my babies sleep well and nap longer.

4. My Brest Friend Nursing Pillow 

Trying to balance a baby while also maintaining the proper breastfeeding positioning and latch can be…challenging. This breastfeeding pillow makes things a whole lot easier and more comfortable. It may not be the cutest baby shower gift, but I bet the new mom in your life will be singing your praises when her middle-of-the-night feedings are so much easier thanks to this pillow.

I love the My Brest Friend pillow because it wraps around my back and is adjustable, so I can make it as tight as I want. This has helped me keep my babies in the right position so we were able to have successful breastfeeding sessions (note: this isn’t so complicated for everyone, but it was for me).

Reasons I love the My Brest Friend nursing pillow:

• It stays in place thanks to the adjustable strap.
• It holds my baby up for nursing.
• It makes nursing soooo much easier.

5. Muslin Swaddle Blankets

Muslin swaddle blanets are adorable and useful: win win! As I said above, I don’t swaddle with blankets, but I still loved having aden & anais Muslin swaddle blankets. I used them for a few reasons: 1) As burp cloths – when babies spit up, they don’t make it a priority to spit up on a tiny little burp cloth. I like putting an entire Muslin blanket out to catch any spit-up. 2) A lightweight blanket – it’s not always cold enough to warrant a thicker blanket, so this is nice when they just need something light.

I know people also use them as nursing and car seat covers too. And of course, for people with more swaddling talent than me, they’re a great option for a lightweight swaddle. This is the perfect multi-use baby shower gift.

Reasons I love Muslin swaddle blankets:

• They offer more protection for clothes (and more) than a typical burp cloth.
• They are lightweight, perfect for days that might be chilly, but not really cold.

6. Backpack Diaper Bag

Every new mama needs a diaper bag! I’ve found a backpack diaper bag to be so much easier to carry than an over-the-shoulder bag, especially in those moments when I’m trying to hold a car seat with my big baby and then my toddler in the other arm. An over-the-shoulder bag just wouldn’t fit into this equation. After a lot of Amazon searching, this is the one we decided on.

Reasons I loved having a backpack diaper bag:

• It didn’t get in my way.
• It was spacious!
• It wasn’t not too masculine or feminine – it worked for both my husband and me.

7. Comfortable Nursing Bras

If you know your friend or relative will be nursing, comfortable nursing bras will be so helpful for her! With my first baby, I had two padded nursing bras that I switched between, but I decided to go for something more comfortable with my second. For some reason, I’ve never been a comfy bra wearer, but after I got these, I can’t go back. They are not padded at all, but I didn’t have any problems with that.

Reasons I love these nursing bras:

• They are so comfortable!
• They can be worn any time, day or night.
• They adapt to changing bra sizes.

8. Baby Bouncer

Baby bouncers definitely come in handy with newborn babies! This is the perfect cute, yet practical baby shower gift. I liked to use my baby bouncers to keep my babies upright after feeding, to stay with me while I got ready for the day, and so much more.

I bought my bouncer on a Facebook yard sale page, but it was pretty much a more ghetto version of this one. I’ve rarely seen them cheaper than this, even used (which doesn’t really make sense…).

Reasons I love baby bouncers:

• It keeps babies upright.
• They’re great for traveling.
• It helps the baby be a part of everything going on.
• It’s fun for the baby.

9. Video Baby Monitor

I’ve loved having video baby monitors for all my kids! This would be a great baby shower gift to go in on with someone else. We’ve had a few video monitors, but this one has lasted the longest and has had no issues.

Reasons I love video monitors:

• I can see when my baby is awake from a nap before he cries, so hopefully I’m teaching him he doesn’t have to cry to get my attention.
• I can see when my kiddos fall asleep so I know how good their naps were. This helps me understand sometimes when they’re grumpy.
• I can see when my kid is really ready to get up.

10. Comotomo and MAM Bottles

Good baby bottles would be a great baby shower gift! Both of these specific bottles were lifesavers for me. The Comotomo bottle was the only bottle my first daughter would take, and it was also great for my sister whose breastfed baby struggled with bottles.

My second baby loved the MAM bottles, and they are less expensive than Comotomo. These bottles were both so helpful! I couldn’t pick between them.

11. Snot Sucker (aka Nasal Aspirator)

Okay, this may seem like an odd gift, but it has definitely come in handy in my years as a parent! I never would have known how hard it can be to clean a kid’s nose! This would be the perfect baby shower gift to add to a basket or to another gift.

I found this at the store before I had my first baby, and I still use it with my kids, especially when they’re sick.

Reasons I love the nasal aspirator:

• It helps my baby breathe easier
• It is the only way I’ve figured out to clean my baby’s nose
• It’s easy to use.

12. Diapers

New moms need a LOT of diapers. This would be great to add to another gift or as a gift of its own. I’ve found Pampers Swaddlers to be the only diapers that my newborns didn’t leak in, but I liked the less expensive Up & Up diapers from Target for larger sizes.

13. Pacifiers

Pacifiers are a lifesaver for new moms! This would be another good gift to combine with something else.

My first baby didn’t take a pacifier when she was a baby, and oh man, we could have used one. This is the kind I used for my next two babies, and it worked great!

Reasons I love pacifiers:

• It helps babies fall asleep on their own.
• It soothes upset babies.
• It helps babies fall back to sleep.

14. Hyland’s Baby Tiny Cold Tablets

When I start to feel sick, I usually just take some zinc and my symptoms go away. These Tiny Cold Tablets are almost the same for babies. They are amazing and would be a great gift for new moms (though they are for babies 6 months and older). These tablets usually stop symptoms from progressing and have always helped my kids heal from colds quickly. I wish I could put these in every mother’s hands.

Reasons I love Tiny Cold Tablets:

• They’re homeopathic.
• This is the most effective baby cold medicine I’ve used.
• It seems to stop symptoms from progressing and shortens colds.
• My kiddos loves them! They ask for them.

I hope this list helps! If you’re a mom who has other products you love, let me know in the comments! I love anything that helps make mom life easier!