How much should grandparents give at a baby shower? In Australia, most grandparents give $100–$300, with $150 the most comfortable middle ground and $200–$500 common for a first grandchild. That's the short answer — the rest of this guide breaks down what changes for a first grandchild, what Nan and Pop give together versus separately, and how to hand the money over without any awkwardness.
Grandparents sit in a strange spot at a baby shower. You're not a guest in the ordinary sense, but you're also not the host. The usual $50 that a workmate might pop in a card feels light, and yet nobody wants to be the person who accidentally makes everyone else's gift look small.
This guide uses real gift data from baby shower wishing wells run through PocketWell, plus the etiquette norms most Australian families actually follow.
Last updated: August 2026.
Key takeaways
- Australian grandparents typically give $100–$300 at a baby shower, and $150 is the single most comfortable figure if you want one number to work with.
- A first grandchild usually attracts more — $200–$500 is common, and often includes a big-ticket item like a pram, cot or car seat rather than cash alone.
- Nan and Pop giving together give once, not twice. A joint $200 from both grandparents reads exactly the same as $100 each, and is what most families expect.
- The median baby shower gift on PocketWell is $75, based on 358 gifts across 45 Australian baby shower pages — so a grandparent giving $150 is already giving double the typical guest.
- Only 12% of baby shower gifts are $200 or more, which means the larger amounts almost always come from grandparents, parents and siblings.
- Giving less is genuinely fine. Practical help — meals, minding the baby, driving to appointments — is worth more to most new parents than an extra $100.
On this page
- Grandparent baby shower gift amounts in Australia
- How much should grandparents give at a baby shower?
- What is a normal grandmother baby shower gift amount?
- Should a first grandchild gift be bigger?
- What does a baby shower gift from Nan and Pop look like?
- What does the PocketWell data say about big baby shower gifts?
- Is it better to give cash or buy the big item?
- What if you can't give much?
- How do you hand over the money without the awkwardness?
- Frequently asked questions
- The short version
Grandparent baby shower gift amounts in Australia
Grandparent gift amounts run from about $100 for a fourth or fifth grandchild to $500 or more for a first baby where the grandparents are covering the pram. Use this table as your quick reference, then read on for the reasoning.
| Situation | Typical grandparent gift | What it's usually paired with |
|---|---|---|
| First grandchild | $200–$500 | The pram, cot or car seat |
| Second or third grandchild | $150–$300 | A hamper, or cash toward a nursery item |
| Fourth grandchild onwards | $100–$200 | Nappies, clothes, a card with cash |
| Nan and Pop giving jointly | $200–$400 (one gift, both names) | A card signed from both |
| Grandparent on a pension or fixed income | $50–$100 | Handmade or hand-me-down keepsake |
| Step-grandparent or newer family member | $100–$150 | Something practical, kept low-key |
| Grandparents also hosting the shower | $50–$150 | Hosting costs count as part of the gift |
Methodology note: these ranges reflect real gifting patterns seen across PocketWell baby shower collections, cross-checked against common Australian family etiquette. That's PocketWell's own platform data rather than neutral third-party research, so read the figures as norms rather than rules. The specific PocketWell numbers quoted throughout this guide were pulled from live platform data in August 2026.
How much should grandparents give at a baby shower?
Most Australian grandparents give $100–$300 at a baby shower. If you want a single figure that will never look wrong in either direction, $150 is it.
The reason the range is wide is that grandparents aren't really giving a "shower gift" in the same way other guests are. Other guests are marking the occasion. Grandparents are usually helping set the baby up — which is a different job, and a more expensive one.
Three things move your number within that range:
- How many grandchildren you already have. The first tends to attract the largest gift simply because the parents own nothing yet. By the third, most of the gear already exists.
- What you can genuinely afford. Nobody in the family is keeping a ledger, and a grandparent on the Age Pension giving $50 with a hand-knitted blanket is not giving a lesser gift.
- Whether you're also paying for something else. If you're covering the shower venue, the catering, or the hospital parking for the next six months, that's part of the picture.
One thing worth knowing before you settle on a figure: on PocketWell, the median baby shower gift is $75. That's the middle of 358 completed gifts across 45 Australian baby shower pages. So even a "modest" grandparent gift of $150 is double what a typical guest gives.
What is a normal grandmother baby shower gift amount?
A grandmother baby shower gift amount in Australia typically sits at $100–$300, and the figure is usually the same whether it comes from the maternal or paternal side.
That last part matters more than people expect. There's an old assumption that the mother's parents give more, and in most Australian families it simply isn't true anymore. Both sides give in a similar band, and the parents-to-be notice a lopsided gap much more than they notice the actual amounts.
Grandmothers also tend to give differently in kind, not just in amount. The most common pattern we see is cash plus one meaningful item — a christening gown, a knitted blanket, a piece of family jewellery held for the baby. The money handles the practical, and the keepsake handles the sentimental.
If you're giving alongside other family members, it's worth a quick chat about who's covering what. Aunts and uncles typically land at $50–$150 — you can see how the family tiers stack up in our guide to how much to give at a baby shower for a sister, which covers the same relationship-tier logic from the sibling side.
A quick term worth knowing: gift-amount norms by relationship tier is the idea that gifting isn't one flat number — it steps up as you get closer to the family. Grandparents sit at the top tier, siblings and godparents just below, then aunts, uncles and close friends, then wider friends and workmates.
Should a first grandchild gift be bigger?
Yes — a first grandchild gift is usually larger, and $200–$500 is the common Australian range. It isn't favouritism, it's arithmetic.
A first baby means the parents are buying everything from scratch: pram, cot, car seat, capsule, monitor, change table, the lot. By the second baby, most of that already exists. Australian grandparents very often step in on one large item for the first grandchild specifically because it's the single biggest line in the setup budget.
Prams, cots and car seats are typically the items grandparents cover. If you're going that route, tell the parents early — nothing stings like two prams arriving. A car seat in particular needs to meet the Australian Standard AS/NZS 1754, so it's worth letting the parents pick the model even if you're paying.
The other thing that changes with a first baby is the timing of the need. Money given at the shower gets spent on gear; money given a few months later often lands better, when the surprise costs have shown up. Some grandparents split it — half at the shower, half after the birth. Both are completely normal.
If you're weighing the pram-versus-cash question, our comparison of essential baby items versus cash gifts sets out what new parents actually end up using.
What does a baby shower gift from Nan and Pop look like?
A baby shower gift from Nan and Pop is almost always one joint gift, signed from both — typically $200–$400 for a first grandchild, and $150–$250 after that.
Grandparents who live together give once. Nobody expects two separate envelopes from the same household, and giving separately can make it look like there's a competition running. A single card signed "Love Nan and Pop" is the standard.
Where it gets slightly more complicated is separated or divorced grandparents. In that case, two gifts is the right call — each grandparent gives independently, usually $100–$200 each, and neither needs to know what the other gave. The parents-to-be won't compare, and if they do, they've got bigger issues than the shower.
Step-grandparents generally give $100–$150 and keep it low-key, especially if the relationship is new. Giving in the same band as the biological grandparents is welcome, but going noticeably above can read as trying to buy a position rather than take one.
For a grandparent who wants to give something with a bit of tradition attached, the pairing that lands best is money for the practical side and one item that stays. A blanket, a first book, a savings account opened in the baby's name — anything the child can eventually hold.
What does the PocketWell data say about big baby shower gifts?
Across PocketWell, only 12% of baby shower gifts are $200 or more — and 47% are $100 or more. In practice, the large gifts on any given baby shower page come from a small group: grandparents, parents and siblings.
Here's the full spread across those 358 baby shower gifts:
| Gift size | Share of baby shower gifts |
|---|---|
| $200 or more | 12% |
| $100–$199 | 35% |
| $50–$99 | 32% |
| Under $50 | 21% |
We can also look at it from the other direction. Across every event type on PocketWell, we found 23 completed gifts where the giver signed themselves as a grandparent — Nan, Pop, Grandma, Nonna, Oma and so on. The median of that group was $250, and a quarter of them were above $450. It's a small sample and it spans weddings and birthdays as well as baby showers, so treat it as a signal rather than a benchmark. But it points the same way as the etiquette advice: grandparents give roughly three times the typical guest.
For context, the median gift on a PocketWell wedding page is $200, from a much larger pool of 1,700 gifts. Baby showers sit lower across the board — smaller occasions, smaller guest lists, and gifts spread across a longer run of milestones from the shower to the first birthday.
One pattern worth flagging for anyone hosting: the typical PocketWell baby shower page receives 6 gifts. Baby showers are intimate. A handful of larger gifts from family carries more of the total than a crowd of small ones.
Is it better to give cash or buy the big item?
Cash is more useful; a big item is more memorable. Most Australian grandparents do a bit of both, and that's the right instinct.
Cash wins when the parents haven't finished deciding. Prams and car seats are personal choices tied to the car they drive and the footpaths they walk, and a well-meant guess is an expensive one to return. Money also covers the costs nobody registers for — the pharmacy runs, the extra bond on a bigger rental, the weeks of unpaid leave.
The big item wins when the parents have already chosen it and it's simply out of budget. Paying for a cot they've picked and can't yet afford is a genuinely lovely gift, and there's a photo of it in every family album twenty years later.
If several family members want to go in on one large item together, that's group-gift pooling — everyone contributes toward a single named goal instead of buying separately. It's how families end up covering a $900 pram without any single person spending $900. A baby shower wishing well page makes the pooling straightforward, because contributions land in one place and the parents can see the total building.
Australian government payments cover some of the early costs — the Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement through Services Australia are worth a look, and Raising Children Network has practical guidance on what new parents actually need in the first year. Neither replaces family help, but they're useful context when you're deciding how much is enough.
What if you can't give much?
Give what you can. A grandparent giving $50 with a genuine card is not giving a lesser gift than one giving $500, and any new parent who thinks otherwise has lost the plot.
This is the part of the etiquette that gets skipped, and it shouldn't. Grandparents on the Age Pension, grandparents supporting other family members, grandparents who've already helped with a house deposit — all of them turn up to showers feeling like the number is a report card. It isn't.
What new parents consistently value from grandparents, beyond money:
- Time. A standing afternoon each week where someone else holds the baby is worth more than any single gift.
- Meals. A freezer stocked before the birth gets talked about for years.
- Practical help. Driving to appointments, doing a load of washing, taking the older sibling to the park.
- Hand-me-downs. A cot or high chair that's been in the family already, checked against current safety standards.
- Knowledge, offered lightly. Answering questions when asked is welcome; advice unprompted is a different sport.
If money is tight and you'd rather nobody knew the figure, giving through a digital wishing well helps — the amount goes to the parents, not onto a table where guests can eyeball the envelopes.
How do you hand over the money without the awkwardness?
Give it privately, keep the card simple, and don't explain the amount. Those three things solve almost every awkward money moment at a baby shower.
The awkwardness usually comes from one of two places: giving in front of other guests who gave less, or attaching a speech to the gift. A card handed over quietly at the end, or a transfer made before the day with a text, both sidestep it entirely.
If the parents have set up an online wishing well, that's the cleanest option going. Contribution gifting — where guests send money to a shared event page instead of handing over cash or envelopes — means nobody sees anybody else's amount, and the parents get one tidy list instead of a pile of cards to reconcile at midnight.
Not sure where to land? The gift amount calculator gives you a suggested figure based on your relationship and the occasion, if you'd rather have a number to react to than start from scratch.
A few lines that work on the card, if you're stuck:
- "A little something to help you get set up. So happy for you both."
- "For whatever you need most — you'll know better than us. All our love, Nan and Pop."
- "Put this toward the pram. Can't wait to push it."
Short beats sentimental here. The gift says the thing.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How much should grandparents give at a baby shower in Australia?
A: Most Australian grandparents give $100–$300 at a baby shower, with $150 sitting comfortably in the middle for a typical situation. A first grandchild often attracts $200–$500, particularly when the grandparents are covering a large item like the pram or cot. For context, the median baby shower gift on PocketWell is $75 across 358 gifts, so $150 already puts you at double what most guests give. If you're on a fixed income, $50–$100 with a thoughtful card is completely appropriate — the amount isn't a measure of the relationship, and no new parent worth the title is keeping score.
Q: Do both sets of grandparents give the same amount?
A: Ideally yes, roughly. Australian families increasingly expect both sides to give in a similar band, and a large gap between the maternal and paternal grandparents is the thing parents-to-be actually notice. That said, nobody needs to compare notes or match to the dollar — $150 from one side and $250 from the other is unremarkable. It only becomes awkward when one side gives $500 and the other $50 without any context. If you know the other grandparents are stretched, keeping your own gift moderate is a quiet kindness.
Q: Is $100 enough from grandparents at a baby shower?
A: Yes, $100 is a perfectly reasonable grandparent gift, particularly for a second, third or later grandchild. It sits above the typical Australian baby shower guest gift and covers a genuine chunk of the nappy, clothing and formula costs in the early months. If it's a first grandchild and you can comfortably do more, $200 is the more common figure — but $100 with practical help attached beats $300 given grudgingly. What matters more is whether the parents feel supported, not the number on the transfer.
Q: Should a first grandchild gift be bigger than the others?
A: Usually yes, and most families understand why. The first baby means buying every piece of gear from scratch — pram, cot, car seat, capsule, monitor — while later babies inherit most of it. A larger first grandchild gift is covering a real cost difference, not showing favouritism. If you're worried about how it will look later, the simple fix is telling your kids up front: "We covered the pram for the first because there wasn't one. We'll do something equivalent for each of the others." Said once, it never becomes a thing.
Q: What should Nan and Pop give if they're giving together?
A: One joint gift, signed from both, typically $200–$400 for a first grandchild and $150–$250 after that. Grandparents living in the same household aren't expected to give twice, and a single card from both is the Australian norm. Separated or divorced grandparents are the exception — there, two independent gifts of $100–$200 each is right, and neither of you needs to know what the other gave. Step-grandparents generally give $100–$150 and keep it understated, especially early in the relationship.
Q: Is it rude to give money instead of a baby gift?
A: Not at all — money is often the most useful thing a grandparent can give. New parents face costs that don't appear on any registry, and cash covers the gaps that a wrapped present can't. If you'd like it to feel less transactional, pair the money with one small keepsake: a blanket, a first book, something that stays. Many Australian families now set up an online wishing well specifically so guests can give money without the envelope-on-the-table moment. Our guide on what to give at a baby shower as a coworker covers the same question from the other end of the guest list.
Q: Does it cost anything to give through an online baby shower wishing well?
A: For the parents, no — PocketWell is free for hosts, with no setup fees and no subscriptions, and they receive 100% of the gift amount. Guests cover a 3.5% platform fee plus standard payment processing, shown clearly before you confirm. You can pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay or a debit or credit card, and leave a message with the gift. Payouts to the parents go out weekly on Tuesdays via Stripe, with the first payout taking 5–7 business days while Stripe completes its verification checks. The full breakdown is on the PocketWell FAQ page.
Q: When should grandparents give the money — at the shower or after the birth?
A: Either works, and splitting it is a good option. Money given at the shower goes toward the setup costs, which is when the pram-and-cot spending happens. Money given after the birth lands when the surprise costs show up — the extra appointments, the formula that finally worked, the weeks of unpaid leave nobody budgeted for. Plenty of Australian grandparents give half at the shower and half a month or two in. If the parents have a wishing well page still open, adding to it later is simple and doesn't need another card.
The short version
Grandparents give $100–$300 at an Australian baby shower, $150 is the safe middle, and a first grandchild fairly earns $200–$500 — especially if you're covering the pram. Nan and Pop give once, jointly. Both sides of the family should land roughly in the same band.
And if the number is tighter than you'd like, give what you can and add your time. Every parent we've heard from remembers the meals and the afternoons off far longer than they remember the figure.
Family setting up a baby shower collection? Create a free wishing well with PocketWell — it's free for hosts, guests can give from their phone with Apple Pay, Google Pay or card, and every gift lands in one place instead of a pile of envelopes.