Expectant parents choose to maintain a gender-neutral approach because they want to be surprised when their baby arrives or to give their child the chance to tell them who they are once the child figures it out. Even if you’ve been through it several times and have a good idea of things new parents need, you may still encounter oceans of pink and blue when you need something more universal.
These five great gender-neutral baby shower gifts should please the parental guests of honor at the event and give you confidence that they will appreciate your present.
Whether the infant will be a couple’s first baby or their fifth, you know that parents appreciate practical gifts that support infant development and make parental life easier. Try some of these suggestions.
Board Books
It’s never too early to introduce an infant to the joy of books. Publishers make board books with thick cardboard “pages” that are easy for tiny fingers to flip over. Books about animal sounds, shapes, colors, or numbers are great for development and simple enough for a very small child to enjoy.
Burp Cloths
Parents with adult children still reflectively fling dishtowels over one shoulder, a habit acquired during the spit-up years. Cloth diapers make great shirt and blouse protectors, as do burp cloths that come in multi-packs. Toss in a few baby bibs with cute animals, sea creatures, or pictures of perky peppers or pasta on them for when the child advances to the high-chair, food-painting phase.
Receiving Blankets
We all remember our initial failures at the fine art of swaddling, but with enough receiving blankets and practice, we got it down. New parents will love a variety pack of receiving blankets with gender-neutral geometric patterns, stripes, polka dots, or stars. Choose colors that would be at home in the gender-neutral nursery the parents have created, such as yellow, grey, shades of green, or a nice neutral beige or tan.
Baby’s First Year Scrapbook
By the time the second or third comes along, parents often abandon the obsessive documentation of the baby’s every developmental advance, from first words to first steps. But first-time parents can get very invested in preserving every milestone. A baby’s first year scrapbook gives them a way to organize their memories.
White Noise Machine
Technology has improved the science of sleep soothers, and white noise machines can be a godsend to parents with a new baby in the house. These machines seem to magically give an infant’s brain something to focus on that comforts them by mimicking the sounds they heard in the womb. While they shouldn’t get used all night, they can be a miracle worker in getting a fussy baby to fall asleep.
Gender-neutral baby showers have begun to replace the over-the-top gender reveal parties of the past. They give guests greater flexibility in choosing gifts that will get appreciated no matter who shows up on “labor day.”
