3 Types of Baby Shower Gifts if You’re Going to Buy Off Registry

Hey you, I see you, trying to find off-registry baby shower gifts because you like a certain version better. And while that’s all fine and good, moms spend an exhausting amount of time putting together their registry and might not want a substitute for a gift they registered for. With the millions of products marketed towards moms, it’s no wonder why putting together a baby registry, takes on average 40 hours. ONE WHOLE WORK WEEK. Between picking out the right colorway you want and debating between models of baby accessories, a lot of thought and care goes into building a baby registry which is why I want to make this next statement very clear:

PLEASE DO NOT BUY OFF REGISTRY FOR A NEW MOM, unless it’s one of these baby shower gifts:

I feel rather grateful that no one bought off registry for the items I had on my registry. The only things people bought off registry we’re fun additions to what I already registered for, cute clothing, and other special items.

If you need help building your registry, check out my ultimate registry post here for all the things I registered for and a complete review.

Best Baby Shower Gifts to Buy Off Registry

Personalized Baby Shower Gifts

Personalized gifts are great (and special) additions for a baby shower gift. Just be sure it “matches the vibe” of the mom/ family. So if she’s a super hippie mom, she’s probably not buying her kids frilly bubbles or smocked dresses with big monograms.

My favorite personalized gifts that I received were this basket with our son’s name on it, custom monogrammed bib with trucks, a hand-knit blanket, a baby blanket in our nursery color scheme, and a monogrammed sweater onesie for fall.

Special Clothing You Wouldn’t Normally Buy

Another great “off-registry” gift is special clothing the mom wouldn’t normally buy. I like buying one special outfit per season per size range for my son. Most of his wardrobe is H&M baby and other basics, but the special pieces come out every so often and makes a regular outfit, extra cute.

My favorite “special” brands are Little English (for sweaters), Cygnet Baby, La Coqueta, Isla Fraser, Minnow, Florence Eiseman, and Baby Luigi (bought at Baby Braithwaite in Atlanta).

Special Milestone Baby Shower Gifts

Let me tell you, for our first Christmas a friend bought us a gorgeous silver bell with our son’s name and birthday on it with the inscription “baby’s first Christmas” and I balled my eyes out.

It was so sweet and special. Any other little milestone marker would make a beautiful gift like a sterling silver tooth fairy box, a silver rattle, piggy bank, even custom monthly milestone cards for baby’s monthly photos (if mom hasn’t registered for it already).

New Model Upgrades

Here’s where you can do better than what mom has registered for. Say she registered for last year’s model Baby Brezza, but they released a new model since she registered for it, then that is an acceptable upgrade. However, if she registered for the Baby Brezza and you bought the Amazon knockoff version instead– well that’s not an acceptable substitution.

While buying off a registry comes from a good-hearted place, for the mom it does come with a bit of disappointment and the hassle of having to return/ exchange/ resell. As a momma-to-be, the last thing she needs is another chore before the baby comes. So if you’re going to buy off the registry, do so for cute things she’s going to love to have and be delighted to open, not substitutes she didn’t ask for.

I hope this post came off in the spirit it was intended- informative while being respectful to new moms! If you have a question about something you want to buy, ask the baby shower organizers or the mom herself.

Oh and one more word of caution against buying clothing, don’t buy more than one season ahead because as someone who had a giant baby, my son outgrew most of his fall stuff by September and it was too hot for him to wear it so unfortunately most of it went unused. A true shame when the clothing items were so cute!