Shopping for Gender Neutral Baby

Jamie was actually the one who suggested I write this post on here. Since deciding that we were going to wait to find out the gender of our baby until they are born we have been met with quite a few questions concerning our plans. "How will we know what to get your baby if we don't know what it is?" "How on earth are you going to prepare for them if you don't know if its a girl or a boy?" "So are you just going to go out and buy a lot of pale green and yellows?", etc.

Here are some suggestions we received from friends and family who decided to wait until the delivery room on how to prepare for baby.

-Not knowing the gender helps you to remember to buy the bigger items in neutral colors that can be used again for future babies. The funny thing is if you get gender specific items it is hard to share them with the next baby. If the furniture comes in neutral colors you won't feel weird about putting your son in a pink carseat or visa versa. I watch a little boy who is the 4th child, only boy. His carseat is pink, his blankets are pink... I feel for the kid. He's only 3 months old so he doesn't care but I hate having to tell people he's a HE when I go shopping!
-If you don't have any girl clothes go buy 2 or 3 items just in case. Then stock up on a few gender-neutral outfits just to last you a week or so until you can do some serious post-labor shopping.
-Bring a girl AND boy outfit with you to the hospital. Whichever one you don't end up using you will most likely have a friend or family member who could use it for a future baby shower or baby gift.
-If your family and friends are concerned about not knowing what to get you tell them that you will be happy to have a 'welcome to the world' party instead of a baby shower. That way the baby will be born already so they won't feel like they have to stress out over what to get you. My mom was upset that she couldn't run out and get girl/boy things for us so she decided just to wait until Rosalee was 2 weeks old when she came to visit and then we went shopping together for things that I needed.

I mentioned this in a previous post, but I ran across a website a few weeks back that had some really good gift ideas for a gender-neutral baby shower. It gave us some good ideas of things that we can still plan for even with out knowing if our 'bump' is a girl or a boy and we were actually able to come up with a few of our own. I think coming up with a list of things actually helped Jim get a little more excited because he knew there were still things we can do to prepare for a baby even with out knowing the gender. We actually even went through and looked at different things already to see what our tastes are. James, I found out, thinks a lot of the gender-neutral things I picked out were on the boyish side, so I have to make sure I keep that in mind as I search. I think the hardest thing for us will be if we decide to buy clothes and baby bedding before the baby gets here.

Here is our list of gift ideas for a gender-neutral pregnancy and/or shopping ideas for the parents of said pregnancy:

-Sign up for a gift registery. There are a variety of stores that offer free registeries. This makes the guests gift selection process a lot easier and they're not as much at a loss of what to get your new bundle of joy. Even if they wanted to get you something that wasn't necessarily on your registery they would still have something to refer to and see what your baby style is.

-You don't HAVE to buy clothing. There are a lot of other options out there for you. But if you absolutely have to buy clothing a good idea would be a pack of onesies (white) that will never go to waste in a household with a new baby. There are also plenty of funny shirts that will work for a baby, especially ones that are white with writing on them. We found a lot of cute items at babygap that we liked a lot. Something they suggested that I personally cringe at is the yellow/green outfits that could go either way. I personally don't like them that much, but you might be able to find some that are cute that you like AND it would be able to tide you over until you find clothes you like after the baby is born. They will still get use out of them and they can be saved for another baby. I didn't think these ones were that bad. Socks or white/neutral leg warmers are also always a good addition! We always run out of those.

You can never go wrong with diapers and wipes. Even moms that are using cloth diapers need a break every once in a while! If you wanted to go the extra mile you could even check to see which brand of wipes she plans to use, since doctors now recommend you stick with the same brand and type.

Burp Cloths or cloth diapers to use for burp cloths are good things to stock up on.

Every mom will need a good diaper bag. A lot of department stores carry durable, affordable diaper bags with a variety of colors. All my sisters (and me included for the first 6 months) used the free diaper bag they gave you at the hospital. Those worked and did the job, but it might be fun for them to have a few different options. I think this is a good idea because it's kind of like your purse in many respects so it is nice to have a few options. :) For my baby shower my visiting teaching companion gave me a cute tote to use as a diaper bag with a book inside and some diapers and I think it was one of my favorite gifts. The other nice things about diaper bags is you don't have to get a blue on if you're having a boy, or a pink one if you're having a girl. Just get one that you think is cute!

A mom could always use extra washcloths and towels. I remember going through washcloths in particular so quickly with Jack. They are easy to buy too as colors don't really matter if it's for a boy or girl, since the only ones who are going to see them are mom and dad.

Blankets are another option. There are a variety of neutral colors out there to choose from - like whites, yellows, tans. This might actually be nice for the mom - My sister said that she would purposefully keep out one of her boy's baby blanket to use to cover up her baby daughter when she would take her out because she found that strangers didn't try to bother her as much as when she traveled around with her pink blanket. So it might save them from troublesome strangers??? :)

You can also buy extra fitted sheets for the baby's crib. A pack of white fitted sheets would match ANYTHING the mom decided to decorate with.

Toys are another safe choice. They suggested Baby Einstein toys because they help with learning and are fun for the baby. She also liked the mirror/game combo that hangs in the back seat of the car to entertain the baby while you're driving. (James could never figure ours out unfortunately, haha, so Jack didn't use his very much) Bath toys are always a good choice too.

Gifts for mom are another safe idea. There are a bunch of different gift sets that a mom might like. Pampering the mom, especially during her 'waiting' period, is always a good idea. I had a friend that was really into doing things on her own and she loved this book I found about preparing your own baby food. There are a lot of different options out there for the mom. Maybe just putting together your own "pampering kit" would be a fun option for you!

Baby books is another safe option. Reading to your child, even from their infancy, is important. You can't go wrong with a good children's book.

A Boppy, or nursing pillow, was one of my favorite baby shower gifts. My husband used it when he fed Jack too. If they have a boppy, you could try to get them a new boppy slipcover. I know that I had to wash and switch out my boppy cover a lot, especially when Jack and I were learning how to breast feed, so I was grateful that I had a few options to choose from. Plus you just get plain sick of seeing the same one every day so it's nice to have options to switch them out. They might appreciate a new cover because it's not really on a priority list for mom but would be a nice gift. The design would be to fit the mom - so it doesn't have to be baby gender specific.

If you know they are planning on nursing, you could get them a nursing cover - or even for those talented enough, you could MAKE them one. There has got to be some tutorials online somewhere if you know how to sew. I know Jim promised me a nursing cover this time around because it was hard enough first of all nursing in public without the headache and hassle of covering our son up with a blanket that was constantly falling down, made him too hot, etc. A nursing cover would be a nice investment to keep yourself and your baby covered, and light weight enough that baby isn't sweating by the end. Nursing pads may also be another option. They are very useful, especially for a first time mom.

And if all else fails? Get them a gift certificate so they can pick it out. :)

I'm sure there are more ideas out there. If anyone has any more for us drop a comment and let us know!