26 Savvy Baby Shower Gifts

It's a toss-up as to what weighs more in the first year: the babe or their mandatory bag of supplies. Canadian-made Maxwell Designs' diaper bags offer well-designed, hand- made bags with beautiful graphics, created from organic cotton. Roomy pockets, insulated bottle holder, and anti-macrobial properties are among the interior features and Maxwell Design diaper bags also double as messenger bags.

No one puts baby in a…ridiculous onesie. Using a newborn's body as a billboard for bad jokes may be tempting, but when it comes to tasteful gift giving, these cute, kimomo-style, long-sleeve Sorad onesies (called ‘bumdershirts') with snug sleeves for layering ease, and handy diaper-change access, will fit the bill…and the baby.

There are lucky ducks…and then there are useful ducks. Come bath time, we prefer the latter, as will any bath attendant on wash duty. Skip Hop's Dunck stacking bath toys for 10 months and up offer fun for the little splasher and a rinsing vessel for the adult to use. That stacks up as a winning gift to us.

It's a drop in the bucket of new-baby necessities, but pediatricians highly recommend daily Vitamin D drops for breast or bottle-fed babies. Baby Ddrops are an all-natural option which contain no artificial color, flavour, gluten or soy. It's a small gift but keeping newly minted parental-units from making yet another run to the drugstore will make you a saviour and look like an expert.

Head and shoulders, knees and toes. Before they can sing it, we're literally taking care of all that, which requires some seriously gentle skincare. Earth Mama Angel Baby (how can you not love that name?), a line of pure, 100% natural and organic lotions, offers a gift set that includes body wash and shampoo, calming baby lotion, massage oil and a soothing balm for diaper rash. Not necessarily recommended for eyes, ears, mouth and nose.

Next to the drive home (exceedingly slow speed, with both hands gripped on the wheel), we recall the newborn bath as one of the most intimidating introductions to parenting. PUJ's baby bath eliminates part of the fear (dropping the baby) and foul language (associated with an aching back). The PUJ is soft, flexible and recommended for babies up to 6 months. Now there's no need to wash out a mouth, too.

There's cute (our baby after a bath) and then there is exceedingly, get-the-camera-quick cute (our baby wrapped up in their first bathrobe). Bamboobino's gender-neutral, feels-like-cashmere bamboo hooded towel is a perfect gift for newborns that will fit up to 6 months of age. That about wraps it up.

Before the iPad nursery mobile app is released (it's coming, just you wait…), go old-school soothing with a hand-knitted Blabla mobile designed by a French mother and artist and knitted by Peruvian artisans. The beautiful Blabla line has passed strict US and Canadian safety standards (for construction quality and non-toxic fabric dyes). Sometimes it's the simple things that look, and mean, the most.

There are days when we never want them to grow up (and then there are those other days). Mark the occasion of baby's birth with these life-sized, personalized growth charts perfect for the back of their door or as part of their room décor. Some milestones, like changes in height, are meant to be kept for a lifetime. (What you do with those first teeth is your business.)

The blanket has yet to be improved upon. It provides warmth, comfort, it's a change-pad, it's a playground, it's an impromptu playdate crib bumper. Wee Urban's reversible baby blankets come imprinted with graphic whales, giraffes and dandelions and are made of soft natural fleece in Canada. We like it: one homegrown item to gently cover another.

You can't buy happiness, but we're sure that sometimes it's possible to gift it. Twinklebelle's beautiful Buttersoft cotton knit collection of smooth-as-silk cotton blankets, hats and booties are a gorgeous present, and a soft landing for a baby's first introduction to fabrics. Knitted with superior cotton yarn, the non-irritating fabric won't pill or pull either, and will be a clothing keepsake coveted for years.

Once you get the hang of it, breastfeeding is a breeze. But until then, the benefits of a breast pillow are unbelievable. It can save your back, your nipples (from an awkwardly-latched baby) and a serious case of breast-feeding frustration. The Knuddle Ring fits snugly around the waist, and offers an opening so that stuffing can be taken out or put in depending on the level of cushioning needed. A gift of the Kuddle Ring might be our most supportive act, ever.

We're fans of glass vessels (versus plastic) to house our babies' beverages. Offered as a set, Green to Go bottles are ergonomically designed, include a nitrosamine-free silicon nipple (slow flow for 0 to 3 months) and have millimetre measurements embossed on the side. Although these glass houses are strong and durable, we don't suggest throwing stones at them. Tossing them in as part of a larger shower gift is, however, highly recommended.

Check swaddle-stress off the list. For weeks we struggled with blankets, trying to replicate the perfect hospital or doula swaddle, but our baby burrito looked more squished than serene. TrueWomb replicates the in-womb experience for newborns up to size XL, offering the babe room to stretch their arms and legs, yet remaining contained in a snug, sleep-inducing fetal position.

Teething bites. If the side-effects (discomfort, crying, fevers) are painful for us to live through, we can only imagine what it feels like for a 4 month old. When little angels turn into teething terrors, parents will get—and give—some relief with a Ringley all-natural teething toy. Made in Toronto using untreated maple-wood and 100% organic terry cloth, these teething toys are easy for babies to grip and will also satisfy their tactile tendencies. Terrific.

We rarely recommend plunging objects into orifices (especially around curious young siblings), but for babies who can't blow away the gunk in their nasal passages, a gift of the Nosefrida Snotsucker Nasal Aspirator may save some sleepless nights for a new mother or father. Whether it provides short or long-term relief, it's not (get it?) known.

Can we get a doctor in the house? We may not have gone pre-med, but thankfully we can rely on mothers who did. Baby Silk by MD Moms is a line of skincare for babies developed by pediatrician mothers who wanted hypoallergenic, gentle and great-smelling products for their babies. Now that's a prescription for a perfect gift.

We love receiving personal mail and our favourite kind of snail mail comes from Speckles and Weeds cards. Funny, irreverent and touching, their take on motherhood, parenthood, childhood and more will be a perfect complement to your thoughtful shower gift.

Our quest for maintaining dryness (diapers, sheets, bodies) ends with the air in the baby's room. Graco's Cool Mist Humidifier is able to properly maintain the humidity level for up to 1200 square feet (that's one giant nursery). It also offers dishwasher-safe components and quiet, running noise for uninterrupted sleep… A gift that truly won't leave a dry eye in the house.

Eventually the butt becomes, well, the butt of jokes during their potty humour stage. But in those early months, our babies bums require serious consideration when it comes to over-the-counter medication. Diaper rash is no joke, and left unaddressed can result in chronic flare-ups. Dimpleskins Bum Bum Balms are great gifts for anyone about to experience (and endure) years of diapering—100% natural, zinc-free, cloth diaper friendly and…we're not kidding here, very effective.

Before we had kids, we too had strongly held beliefs about everything baby-related, (even though we didn't actually have the baby yet). We would refuse epidurals, pacifiers and pre-made baby food. New parents have the same rite of temporary denial, but experience has taught us to never say never (just like the Bieber himself). An adorable clip for that pacifier they'll ‘never' use from Canadian-made Etsy store Abby-Luv Baby, may end up being the most used gift of all.

The most confusing part of parenting is the ‘does she or doesn't he' have a fever game. We're always one roll of the dice away from a panicked call to the pediatrician, but beating the odds gets easier with the Braun ThermoScan Ear Thermometer which can accurately (according to the manufacturer as well as anecdotal reports) give a reading in mere seconds. We'll bet the house you'll score major points with this useful offering.

Just because we're sentenced to hard labour, is it necessary to sport hospital gowns that look prison-issued? Add some style to any delivery room with Dressed to Deliver's line of pretty and modern birthing gowns made of comfortable jersey knits. With great support and easy access snaps for heart-rate monitors, epidurals and breast feeding, think of it as the LBD (or floral or patterned) for the little babe's delivery.

Embracing technology is easy for us. We gladly hand over the hand-washing of clothes, dishes and linens to a machine, but when it comes to hand-holding and soothing our babies, that's still a mother's right…right? Then we saw the MamaRoo Orange Bouncer Swing Seat and we realized we don't mind out-sourcing a little cuddling as we attend to necessary modern pursuits (photo uploading, app downloading). Can natural nurturing be improved upon by modern technology with a cool aesthetic?

Sometimes we just hit a wall and after all the planning and prepping for our baby, we run out of time for nursery décor. Give the gift of great design before or after birth with Penny People Prints' beautiful and occasionally humorous wall art that celebrates the child's name, the beauty of typography, and classic numbers and letters. Created to fit in any generic size frame (read: Ikea), these are the kind of individual prints you won't mind hanging around your baby.

We have days where we are reluctant about the gym—there's all those creatures watching us, the lights, the sounds... So when Cariboo, the New Zealand toy company, came out with an appealingly modern and less manic baby gym, we couldn't wait to see how it worked out. Handcrafted using New Zealand pine with lead-free paints, this is one unintimidating—but still stimulating—gym that is a fit with any home environment…and the global one.

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