Ultimate Baby Shower Gift Guide: Essentials She’ll Actually Use!

When you’re shopping for a baby shower gift, the pressure is on! You want a present that is unique, personal, perfectly curated and practical. 

While mainstream stores might send you down the muslin-wrap-and-onesie route, we’ve rounded up the best gift ideas from independent retailers, emerging Australian brands and online stores. So you can shop from the comfort of your home (or desk!) and know that your gift will nail it. 

Whether you’re shopping for the baby mama, celebrating the new dad, or buying a little something for the whole family, you’ll find the perfect gift right here.

Gifts for New Mums: Make it All About Her

The best part about being pregnant? A new baby on the horizon. The worst part? The baby-mama suddenly loses her identity and becomes simply a vehicle for transporting the bump. 

Let your friend, sister, cousin or work wife know that you truly *get* her with these baby shower gifts to indulge:

Madre Australia Skincare

Organic, vegan, premium skincare for mums and bumps. We love the Mama Self Care Kit for a little pre-bub indulgence.

Loungewear from The Memo

When getting dressed is too much trouble but slobbing around in trackies is not her style, The Memo takes comfy linen loungewear to the next level.

Maternity Pillow

Giving the gift of sleep? You win the Baby Shower Present Prize! Our maternity pillows are tailor-made for bumps of all sizes, supporting her back and her bump without kicking her partner out of bed. (Check out our Mama-ssentials Pack with pillow, cover, nursing cover and gift box - you don’t even have to wrap it!)

The Maternity Market

You’ll buy safe with anything from The Maternity Market - and to make it simple, they even categorise products by stage, from pre-preggie to post-partum. No idea what to choose? Grab a gift voucher.

Gifts for Dads & Partners: Practical Meets Quirky

Sure, they might not be carrying the bub, but dads and partners deserve to be celebrated too. These unique baby presents are a far cry from the old cigar-and-whisky standby.

Swaddle Sack

This no zip, no velcro, soft-as swaddle sack makes swaddling baby a breeze - no arms poking out, no trailing ends of the wrap. Just a snuggly baby ready for sleep. #dadskills

Nappy Backpack

A nappy bag that looks like a regular backpack, with more pockets than MacGuyver and a USB port? Sold.

Practical Gifts She’ll Actually Use

The handmade lace baby dress might look cute but anything that requires hand washing is OUT. Don’t give a gift that creates work for a new parent. And steer clear of anything that could be itchy, scratchy or irritate sensitive skin.

You can be guaranteed that any new mama will be grateful to receive:

Milkdrop Breast Pump Cushions

When you’re pregnant, all anyone wants to talk about is your bump. When you’re breastfeeding, it’s All. About. The. Nipples. These little lifesavers might just change her life at 3am when pumping sore boobs seems like a life sentence.

Bare Mum 

From postpartum briefs fitted with hot or cold packs for pain relief, to herbal infused pads and even a C-Section Birth Care Kit, this Aussie brand is taking care of mums with practical products you really need after birth.

Bare and Boho Reusable Breast Pads

Disposable breast pads can be scratchy on skin, crinkle like a chip packet and move around in your bra. These gorgeous designs from Bare and Boho are Australian made from soft bamboo and come with a mesh wash bag so they’ll never get lost in the laundry.

Gift Ideas for the New Family

Whether your mates have already got children or are starting their family with this little bump, a baby shower gift that honours the whole family is a gorgeous touch. Try these go-tos:

Baby Bliss Tea

How is tea a family gift? If the baby is colic-crying all night, everybody suffers. Try this Baby Bliss Tea by Mama Body Tea.

First Christmas

Whether your friend is due in February or December, these gorgeous personalised decorations are a sweet way to celebrate baby’s first Christmas. Get a keepsake set for the whole fam. (Check out the Ultrasound Photo Decorations too, for a unique gift idea.)

Real Mums Tell: Must-Have Baby Essentials

We asked our Butterfly Maternity community to share the absolute best gift they received while pregnant. Give a baby shower gift that’s been tried and tested by real-world mums who’ve made it through those early months of new parenthood and lived to tell the tale:

Reusable Breast Milk Storage Bags

Breast milk is liquid gold. Don’t waste a drop with these reusable breast milk storage bags from Marigold Baby.

Lactamo Ball

Created specifically for sensitive breast tissue, this massage ball helps with blocked ducts, undersupply, oversupply and engorgement. One of those gifts you don’t know you need until you try it.

 

Silverette Nursing Cups

Looks like a coffee pod, created from medical grade silver and soothes cracked and sore nipples like a miracle. Antimicrobial, anti fungal, antibacterial and anti inflammatory. Sounds like heaven to breastfeeding mums.

doTERRA Easy Air Oil

For clearing snuffly noses and congestion that can result in a crying baby who won’t feed. Use in a diffuser, rub a little on baby’s feet or the edges of the cot sheet. And it smells a treat.

Got a gift idea to add to our list? Share on Insta - tag us @butterflymaternity