Baby Showers Are Back: A Late-Summer Gift Guide That Isn't Another Onesie
August-September is peak baby-shower season. Late-summer babies mean late-summer showers, and the gift pile is going to be a lot of onesies, a lot of blankets, and a lot of things that get quietly regifted. There's a better move.
Three gifts, each one for a specific person on your late-summer gift list, and none of them are another onesie. Print this. Save it. You'll use it three times before Labor Day.
1. Name Stories — For the "She Has Everything Already" Shower
If the mom-to-be is a fourth-time mom, a boy-mom having her first girl, or the friend who has been organizing showers for everyone else for a decade — the last thing she needs is another blanket. She needs something that gets kept.
Name Stories makes hand-crafted personalized artwork built around the meaning and origin of a child's name — $29–$120. Wall art. Actual heirloom quality. The kind of gift that ends up above the crib and later in a college dorm.
Why us moms like it: It's a real gift. The recipient parents actually want it. It stays.
Best for: "She has everything already" showers, second-baby-shower awkwardness, sip-and-see gifts, grandparent gifting.
2. Wusic Tech — For the First-Time Mom Who Wants to Bond During Pregnancy
There's a specific kind of first-time mom who wants a real, sensory way to bond with the baby before birth. Not a book about bonding. The actual tool.
Wusic Tech makes pregnancy-tech products — belly speakers, baby heartbeat monitors, and shared-experience music systems designed to let parents and family members bond with the unborn baby through sound and music. $30–$100+. Under-gifted. Wildly appreciated.
Why us moms like it: It's the gift that makes the second and third trimester more experiential and less about counting weeks. Both partners can use it — grandparents too.
Best for: First-time expecting parents, IVF-journey parents, dad-focused shower gifting, grandparent-inclusion gifts.
3. Flying Toyz — For the Older Sibling Who Also Needs a Gift
Here's the shower move nobody teaches you: bring a small, separate gift for the older sibling. It changes the whole dynamic. The three-year-old who was resentful about the new baby is now the kid holding something that's just for them.
Flying Toyz makes high-quality boomerangs — a $25–$90 category that combines active outdoor play with actual skill-building. Not another stuffed animal. Something they'll learn to do.
Why us moms like it: The older sibling always remembers the person who brought them a gift too. And the mom-to-be will never forget it either.
Best for: Second (or third or fourth) baby showers, sibling-inclusion moments, gift-runs where you want to bring something the older kid will actually use outside.
Three gifts, three distinct shower archetypes, zero onesies. The next time your calendar shows a shower and you don't want to just grab something off the registry — try one of these. And tell us which one you brought and how it landed. We're keeping the winning list.
One or more of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, we will earn a slight commission if you click through and make a purchase. Each of these products is chosen by a trusted member of our team
