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An important part of a baby shower is helping the soon to be parents stock up on needed items. When asked what they may need some new parents may be confused on what they need or they may just answer with the standard "diaper" answer.
One great gift to give a new parent is a baby monitor. These are great to help ease the mother's mind. With them the parents can leave a sleeping baby safe in it's crib without checking on them every 5 minutes. The newest models can detect the smallest sounds, some can even detect the baby's breathing. You may also want to look into a video monitor. These are great because instead of just hearing the baby, the parents can also see what their baby is doing. Depending on the type of model these may be fairly expensive, so you might want to look into making this a joint gift from multiple people.
Another great gift is a baby sling. Baby slings are believed to help create a closer bond between the child and parent. Slings are also great because they allow the parent to have their hands free when holding the baby. Any mother will tell you that being able to multitask while holding a baby is a great help.
Many parents stock up on the essentials like diapers, clothes, and blankets. What they may fail to realize is that babies grow fast and then they are suddenly left without toys for their child. A great baby toy is a play gym. These can provide hours of entertainment for children. They are also great for stimulating the child's development. A lot of play gyms can be converted to also help encourage a baby's tummy time.
If you do go for the traditional gifts of clothes and diapers, make sure to include sizes that the baby can grow into. Babies grow really fast and you don't want the mother to wake up one day to find she has nothing for the baby to wear.
