What to ask for at a baby shower: the complete registry guide

A baby shower is a chance for the people you love to help you get ready for your baby’s arrival. Without a registry, you’ll most likely end up with lots of small, similar gifts, while the big things—the crib, the stroller—never get crossed off. Here’s what to put on your baby shower registry, organized around the moments of your baby’s day, plus the three questions nobody answers: cash or things, how many gifts to list, and how to share it without it sounding like an invoice.

Cash or things: how to decide

It isn’t all or nothing. What works is mixing both, and deciding based on where you are:

• If you have nothing yet, ask for things. A concrete list does the work for your guests and keeps three baby bathtubs from showing up.
• If you already have the basics (second baby, hand-me-downs, or you got a head start on shopping), ask for contributions. Money covers what comes later: diapers, checkups, childcare.
• If what’s missing is one expensive item—the crib, the stroller, the car seat—ask for it to be shared. A gift that’s too much for one person is easy for six.
• If you don’t live in the city where the shower is happening, contributions save everyone the problem of shipping large boxes.

One detail that keeps it from feeling awkward: money is asked for with a purpose. “We’re saving for the crib” reads well; “cash accepted” doesn’t. If you’re stuck on how to put it on the invitation, there are ready-made lines in wording to ask for a cash gift on the invitation, including a set written for baby showers.

For sleeping

• A crib or bassinet, with a firm mattress that fits it exactly.
• Fitted sheets in the mattress size: two or three sets is best.
• A wearable blanket or sleep sack, instead of loose blankets.
• A baby monitor, if the nursery is far from your bedroom.

For getting around

• A stroller: if you can, have them look for a foldable one that fits in your car’s trunk.
• A car seat, if you get around by car.
• A baby carrier or wrap, for short outings and for keeping your baby close at home.
• A diaper bag with a changing pad.

For feeding

• A nursing pillow, if you plan to breastfeed: firm, with straight edges, and for feeding only.
• A breast pump, handy if you’re going back to work or so someone else can feed the baby too.
• Bottles and a sterilizer, if you’ll be using them.
• Bibs and burp cloths: you go through a lot of them every day.

For bath time and diaper changes

• A baby bathtub.
• Hooded towels.
• Diapers in several sizes. One of the most useful gifts there is: they run out fast, and babies move up a size sooner than you’d think.
• Baby wipes and diaper cream.
• A changing table or changing mat.

Clothes

• Onesies and footed pajamas, but in several sizes. Babies outgrow newborn sizes in weeks, so ask for 3–6 and 6–9 months too.
• Socks, hats and mittens.
• Clothes for the right season: think about what time of year your baby will be wearing each size.
• If you don’t know yet whether it’s a girl or a boy, or the news is coming at a gender reveal, ask for neutral colors and leave themed outfits for later.

Health and care

• A thermometer.
• A nasal aspirator.
• Baby nail clippers or a nail file.
• A first-aid kit stocked with whatever your pediatrician recommends.

Gifts for you, not the baby

The least requested and the most appreciated in those first weeks:

• Home-cooked meals, or a fund for ordering lunch during the first month.
• Hours of help at home: cleaning, laundry, someone who cooks.
• A newborn photo session.
• A session with a lactation consultant.
• A voucher for a haircut, a massage or an afternoon off.

What to leave off the registry

Some items look lovely in the store and pediatricians ask you to skip them. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has a page devoted to exactly this—reviewing your baby registry—and it advises against, among others:

• Crib bumpers, padded or mesh: there’s no evidence they prevent injuries, and they carry a risk of suffocation, entrapment and strangulation. In the U.S. they’ve been banned since the Safe Sleep for Babies Act of 2022, along with inclined sleepers that raise a baby’s head more than 10 degrees.
• Sleep positioners, meant to hold a baby in place while they sleep.
• Infant loungers and “nests”, which aren’t safe for sleep.
• Extra-plush mattresses bought separately from the crib: they often don’t fit tightly enough.
• Bedding sets, pillows, quilts and stuffed animals inside the crib. For a cold night, the AAP suggests a wearable blanket rather than a loose one, and advises against weighted blankets.
• Sitting baby walkers: they don’t help babies learn to walk, they’re linked to serious falls, and the AAP has called for a full ban.
• Vintage or secondhand cribs that don’t meet current safety standards.

The same goes for anything lent or handed down: the AAP notes that many of these products still turn up at resale shops, markets and online marketplaces (HealthyChildren.org, AAP and its safe sleep guide, consulted on September 17, 2026). For any specific product, ask your pediatrician.

How many gifts to put on the list

The eternal question. A rule that works:

• One and a half to two options per guest. Expecting 20 people? List 30 to 40 options. Fewer, and whoever shops last has nothing to choose from; many more, and nobody scrolls to the end.
• Split the prices into three tiers. A third inexpensive (diapers, bibs, wipes), a third mid-range (bathtub, diaper bag, clothes) and a third expensive, meant to be shared (crib, stroller, car seat).
• Always keep something cheap available. It’s what saves the guest who opens the link the night before.
• Top it up during the week. If your registry shows what’s been completed, add two or three options when the cheap tier empties out.
• Don’t list two versions of the same thing. One bathtub model; if you want to offer choices, make them different price points.

How to share your registry

• One link, for everyone. Don’t answer one by one about what you still need—that’s how duplicates happen.
• On the invitation. The natural place is the same invitation you send over WhatsApp, in its own section, not in the middle of the text.
• With one short line. “We put together a list so nobody doubles up. If you’d like to give us something, here it is” is enough. No amounts, no “required.”
• Early: with the invitation, two or three weeks ahead. Anyone ordering online needs the runway.
• Coordinate with the host. At many showers the host is your mother, your sister or a friend: send her the link so she can answer when people ask.
• Afterwards, thank people by name. If you know who gave what, every message writes itself. Here are thank-you messages for gifts.

Tips that make a registry work

• Split up the big gifts. A crib or a stroller is a lot for one person, but easy for a group.
• Ask for bigger sizes. It’s the easiest way to keep everything from being outgrown at once.
• Think about the weather. On Peru’s coast, a winter baby needs more warm clothes than a standard list suggests.
• List diapers in several sizes, not just newborn.
• Review the list a week before and take off whatever you’ve already bought yourself.

What people ask before the shower

Who builds the registry, the parents or whoever is hosting?

You do, because you’re the only one who knows what’s missing, what was handed down and what’s already bought. The host has a different job, just as useful: sharing the link, answering questions and keeping half the guest list from messaging you the same week. If your host is your mother or your sister, send her the link and let her field the replies.

Is it okay to have a registry for a second baby?

Yes, and the list changes shape. You already have the big things, so ask for what gets used up—diapers, wipes, clothes in the size and season that are coming—and for replacements of whatever didn’t survive the first round. Say on the invitation what you already have: it’s the fastest way to keep a second bathtub from arriving.

Do you open the gifts in front of everyone?

At many showers, yes, and it’s part of the program. If you do, have someone write down who gave what as you go: that’s the only moment when the information exists in full. With a big guest list, open a few at the party and the rest at home. And if you’d rather not open them at all, that’s fine—you thank people by name either way.

Can you have the shower after the baby is born?

Yes, and it’s more common than it sounds: births come early, and family often travels in to meet the baby. The registry gets better too. You already know the size, the season and what’s actually running out, so it fills up with diapers, the next size of clothes and help around the house, which is what that month really needs.

Your baby shower registry with parati

With parati for baby showers you create the invitation and the gift registry on the same link, and share it over WhatsApp.

• One gift, several guests. Pricey gifts can be split into parts so several people share them: the crib stops being impossible.
• El Sueño (The Dream). If what you really want is to set up the whole nursery, it’s a big gift for the whole event, with no stock—just the goal and the minimum contribution you set. Each guest gives what they like and watches the progress bar. Everything contributed to El Sueño carries the same fee as any gift: if your guests cover it, it reaches you in full.
• Your guests never sign up, to RSVP or to give: they give from their phone by card or Yape (Peru’s mobile payment app).
• You know whom to thank. You see approved orders with each guest’s name and the note they left you; they only see how much is left to complete each gift, never who chipped in or how much.
• It starts private. Your celebration is a draft only you can see until the day you decide to publish it.

Creating, designing, publishing and sharing your celebration is free; parati charges a fee on the gifts bought from your registry, and you choose whether your guest covers it or you do. The details are in our FAQ.

Still planning the rest of the party? We have baby shower games, ideas for doing it remotely and, depending on who you’re expecting, baby boy shower ideas or themes, a dessert table and games for a girl.