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Writing guide

What to Write in a Baby Shower Card (60+ Examples)

Sixty-odd messages sorted by who you are and how well you know them — plus the three rules that make a card worth keeping, and what to write when the situation is not simple.

Three rules, then the examples

Write to the parents, not the baby. At a shower the child is not born, cannot read, and will never see the card. Messages addressed to an unborn baby read as performance to the only people who are actually going to read them. The exception is a card destined for a memory book — and if that is the plan, say so on the envelope.

One specific thing beats three general ones. “Wishing you love, joy and happiness” is three nouns doing no work. “You have been talking about this for six years and I am so glad it is happening” is a sentence only you could have written. Specific does not mean long.

Stop earlier than feels right. Cards are opened in batches, often in front of an audience. Two or three sentences read well aloud. Five feel like a speech, and the room starts checking its phone.

Short and warm — when you do not know them well

A colleague, a friend of a friend, a neighbour. Aim for genuine and brief. Nobody is offended by short; plenty of people are embarrassed by over-familiar.

  • Wishing you both every happiness in the weeks ahead.
  • So pleased for you both. Congratulations.
  • Thinking of you both — what wonderful news.
  • Congratulations. I hope the last few weeks are kind to you.
  • Wishing your growing family all the best.
  • Delighted for you both. Enjoy every bit of it.
  • Congratulations on your little one. What a lovely thing.
  • Best wishes to the three of you.

For a close friend

You can be specific here, and you should be — specificity is what separates a card that gets kept from one that gets recycled. Mention something only you would know.

  • You are going to be so good at this. I have watched you look after people for years.
  • I cannot wait to meet the person who is about to run your entire life.
  • Whatever you need, whenever you need it — including at 3am. I mean that.
  • You have wanted this for a long time. I am so happy it is happening.
  • Congratulations. Save me a cuddle and let me bring the food.
  • The luckiest baby in the world, arriving to the two of you.
  • I am going to be insufferable about how much I love this child. Fair warning.
  • You two are about to be brilliant at something entirely new. Again.

From a grandparent-to-be

Grandparents are usually writing two messages at once: one to their own child, one to the baby. Say the first out loud — it is the part that gets remembered.

  • Watching you become a parent is the proudest thing I have done in years.
  • We have been waiting a long time for this. Welcome to the family, little one.
  • You were this small once. I remember it perfectly. Enjoy every impossible minute.
  • Whatever you need, we are on the next train. Always.
  • Our first grandchild. We are beside ourselves.
  • You are going to be a wonderful mother, and I would know.
  • All our love to the three of you, from the two of us.

From a godparent, aunt or uncle

This is the card that can commit to something. The role is long-term, so write a sentence that will still be true in fifteen years.

  • I intend to be this child’s favourite. Consider this formal notice.
  • I will always be in their corner. That is the whole job, as far as I can tell.
  • Thank you for asking me. I do not take it lightly.
  • One day I will be the one they call when they cannot call you. I am ready.
  • Congratulations to you both, and welcome to whoever this turns out to be.
  • I promise sweets, bad influences and unconditional support, in that order.

A second, third or fourth baby

The most-neglected card at any shower. The parents already have the gear and the confidence; what they do not have is anyone acknowledging that this arrival is its own event.

  • A whole new person, and you already know exactly what you are doing. Congratulations.
  • More love, more noise, more washing. Delighted for all of you.
  • Tell Ada she is going to be the best big sister in the country.
  • Your family is getting bigger and better. Congratulations to all four of you.
  • Second time around, and just as exciting. Wishing you an easy few weeks.
  • You make this look easy, which I know it is not.

When the baby already has a name

If the name has been announced, use it. It is the fastest way to make a card feel written rather than bought, and it is what makes the card worth keeping.

  • We cannot wait to meet Theodore.
  • Welcome, Isla. You are arriving to very good people.
  • Everyone in this house is already extremely excited about Rowan.
  • A lovely name for someone who has not turned up yet. Congratulations.
  • Olivia is lucky, and so are you both.

When it is complicated

Not every shower is straightforward. Adoption, surrogacy, a long fertility road, a difficult pregnancy, or a family that has lost a baby before. The rule is the same in all of them: do not narrate their story back to them.

  • Thinking of you both, today and all the way through.
  • However this last stretch goes, we are here.
  • So glad to be celebrating with you.
  • We have been hoping for this with you for a long time.
  • No advice, no questions — just love. Congratulations.
  • Whatever today feels like, we are glad to be in the room.

Gently funny

Assume it will be read aloud. That single test removes almost every joke that would have gone wrong.

  • Congratulations. Sleep is overrated and you were tired anyway.
  • Enjoy your last few weeks of finishing a hot drink.
  • You are about to become an expert in something you did not choose to study.
  • Wishing you a baby who sleeps. Statistically, good luck.
  • Congratulations on your new roommate. They do not pay rent.
  • Everyone will give you advice. You may ignore all of it, including this.

What to avoid

Anything about the body. Comments on size, weight, how tired someone looks, or how the birth will go are a bad idea in conversation and worse in writing, where they can be reread.

Unsolicited advice. A card is not the place for your view on sleep training. The parents will receive roughly four hundred opinions in the next six months; being the person who did not add one is a genuine gift.

Ominous jokes. “Say goodbye to your life” is funny in a pub and grim in ink, especially to someone who is quietly terrified. Keep the humour on your side of the line.

Guessing at the name. If it has not been announced, do not use it, even if you think you know. If it has, check the spelling — it is the detail people notice.

If you want the card to be the gift

Some of the best-remembered shower gifts are made of words rather than objects. A handwritten letter to be opened on the child's eighteenth birthday costs nothing and is kept for two decades. So does a page of the parents' own childhood stories, collected from their families and printed.

If the name has been announced, a verse written for that name does a similar job and can be framed rather than filed. It also reads well aloud, which matters if it is being opened at the shower itself — see baby shower gifts for how that plays in a room.

Common questions

How long should a baby shower card message be?

Two or three sentences. A card is read once, aloud or in a stack of thirty, so length works against you. Say one specific thing and stop — a short message that mentions something true about the parents beats a long one made of stock phrases.

Do I write to the parents or to the baby?

To the parents, at a shower. The baby is not born yet and cannot read, and messages addressed to an unborn child tend to read as performance. Write to the baby only if the card is going into a memory book, and say so.

Should I mention the baby’s name if I know it?

Yes, if it has been announced publicly. Using the name is the single easiest way to make a card feel personal. If the name is still a secret or undecided, do not guess or ask in the card.

What do I write if it is a second or third baby?

Acknowledge that they already know what they are doing, and mention the older sibling by name. Second-baby cards are almost all recycled first-baby cards, so simply noticing that this is not their first is enough to stand out.

Is it acceptable to write something funny?

Yes, if you would be comfortable with the parents reading it aloud to the room — which is what happens at most showers. Keep jokes about sleep deprivation gentle and avoid anything about labour, the body or how tired they look.

Know the name already?

Read a verse written for it, free — then decide whether it belongs in the card or in a frame.

Read a rhyme for freeSave to Pinterest

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