10: The 5 Worst Baby Shower Gifts

In this episode I share five of the worst baby shower gifts, in my opinion, that an expecting mother can receive and why. 

 Hello, and good morning. Today's episode is going to be about five of the worst baby shower gifts, and why they are the worst baby shower gifts, in my opinion.  Now, there are probably so many more examples of bad baby shower gifts out there in the world, but I thought I'd just point out five here. 

Recently, I went to a baby shower, and saw some of these. 

Number one is nipple shields and nipple cream.  Let me explain why.  When you give nipple shields and nipple cream to an expecting mom, it basically sends the message that breastfeeding is painful and probably won't work, and you're going to need these. 

My message is a little bit different.  My recommendation is you should not need nipple shields, and you should not need special nipple cream. If you find yourself needing or reaching for these, you need help to find out why, how to use them, and how to get off using them as soon as possible.

Okay, number two is bad outfits. This is so subjective, but it does include things that someone from the family wore like 30 years ago, and you're now going to feel obligated to put your baby in it on a special occasion, or whenever you see that person who gave it to you.  Now, I will say this can also go the opposite direction because I have actually received and really adored some retro sweaters that my husband wore as a little boy that now my son wears and loves too. So there's a caveat there. But when you give moms these old nostalgic things or specific seasonal things (really anything that that mom's style doesn't align with) that she's just going to be cringing when she feels like she has to put it on her kid, it's probably not a great gift.

Please know that mother and understand if she's practical or frilly or, you know, whatever her personal style is, please keep that in mind. Otherwise, you're just setting her up to feel like she's going to have to put this on her baby at some point. 

Okay, number three is literally anything that takes up floor space that isn't used on a daily basis.  Especially if it makes unnecessary, repetitive noise.  So here's why. Your voice and your low music, unless it's like super stressful or crazy music, is perfectly fine for your baby. 

There will come a time when you are listening to their music and their noise and their toys, and it's not necessary now.  In fact, the sound of your voice whether it be language and talking or singing, is the best thing for your baby at this time anyway.

Number four is various bottles. Now hear me out on this one, okay because I know that everybody says, “I'm not sure what my baby's going to like yet” and “I want to have different options so that I can try them out”,  “everybody I asked had a different favorite” and “I'm not sure which one I'll want”. But when moms receive multiple bottles with different types of nipples, what ends up happening is they typically end up using different bottles. 

And different bottles have different flow rates of the milk coming out,  even if they're labeled for the same age or flow rate.  And many parents don't know that.  So what ends up happening is the baby's getting milk coming at them at different rates between different meals.  If you want to learn more about this, listen to Episode 1 on What You Need to Know About Bottle Flow Rates and that will explain why I am so picky about this particular issue.

Number five is stuffed animals. Someone is going to give you a stuffed animal. I know they are. And it's going to be really cute. And it's going to go in their room. And it's going to match with their room. And it's going to look super sweet…

And then, someone else is going to give you a stuffed animal.  It's not going to be as cute, but somehow you're going to think your baby likes it, so you need to keep it. And at the end of the day, your kid is going to end up liking these stuffed animals and you're not going to be able to get rid of any of them.

You're going to think that you're really good at cleaning out, and making hard decisions.  Then two years later you're gonna turn around to a large pile of stuffed animals and think, how did this happen? Why do we live with so many stuffed animals?  But you won't know which one you can get rid of because it'll be sentimental or all of a sudden your child starts playing with it. 

Or you're gonna think, he's gonna ask for this as soon as I get rid of it.  Trust me on this one. Try to avoid giving any unnecessary stuffed animals that will become tomorrow's room clutter.  

That's all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed this mixed list of both professional and personal baby shower gifts that I believe have the potential to be the worst gifts of all.

And stay tuned because next week I'm going to talk about the five best baby shower gifts that you could consider gifting a mom or requesting for yourself.