Buying baby clothes as a baby shower gift

Whether it's for your best friend or a seldom-seen relative, deciding what to buy as a baby shower gift can be difficult. After all, you'll want to ensure that you get something that's useful but still cute and fun for a newborn, as well as being uncommon enough that another guest won't have bought the same present. Today, many people choose to have a baby shower gift list which, like a wedding list, lets friends and relatives know of the presents that would be most appreciated. However, if you haven't been given a gift list from which to seek inspiration or you want to go off-piste, there's always one gift that mums-to-be appreciate: baby clothes.



Today, there's a huge range of baby clothes available to buy, both on the high street and from designer outlets. But buying baby clothes as a baby shower gift takes some careful thought. Before making a purchase, ask yourself key questions, such as: do you know the baby's gender? Will it be the parents' first-born child? What clothes are they most likely to want? Do the parents' favour eco-friendly, fair-trade or organic clothing?

Once you know the basic qualities of what you're looking for, it's time to start choosing. If the baby is the first-born in a family, it's likely that the parents' will need many basic items of baby clothing: for example, cosy rompers, bibs, fleeces and blankets. However, if they have older children, they may already have kept these items for their newborn. In these cases, choose slightly dressier baby clothes: for instance, dresses for a girl or trousers and a baby shirt for a boy. If you don't yet know the baby's gender, unisex options include t-shirts, jumpers and trousers in neutral colours as well as smaller items like socks.



When buying baby clothes as a baby shower gift, you should always bear in mind the fast rate at which babies grow. This means that any clothes you buy may fit the newborn baby at the beginning of its life but are likely to be too small in six months time. As a result, you should consider the season in which the newborn will wear these clothes. If the baby is due in May, for example, a thermal sleepsuit or winter coat is unlikely to be of use since he or she will have outgrown it by autumn. Conversely, a baby that's due to be born in November is unlikely to wear the newborn-size summer dress you bought as a baby shower gift.



With this in mind, you may even want to forego buying newborn baby clothes altogether and instead opt for clothing to fit a baby aged six months to one year old. Whatever you decide to buy, it's a good idea to keep the receipt in case another baby shower guest has made the same purchase or the items you've chosen don't align with the parents' personal tastes. It might seem like a get out of jail free card, but the parents-to-be are sure to thank you for giving them the option to exchange the baby clothes you bought for something they deem more suitable.



Isla Campbell writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.