Written by Chris Bajda, founder of Groovy Cigars · Updated August 2026
The baby is here, or nearly here, and somebody told you that you are supposed to hand out cigars. This guide covers the whole thing: how many to buy, which cigars to pick when most of the people getting one do not smoke, what goes on the band, where you are actually allowed to light them, and what to do about the half of your list that would never touch a cigar.
Short answer: Buy 15 to 30 mild cigars in the 4 to 5 inch range, band them with the baby's name and birth date, and hand them out unsmoked in the first two weeks. Do not plan on lighting one at the hospital, because hospital grounds are smoke free. Order the bands before the due date, since printing and shipping take longer than babies give notice. Budget roughly 6 to 10 dollars per cigar plus about a dollar per band.
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Why New Dads Hand Out Cigars
The origins are murky and you will find several confident accounts online that disagree with each other. The one told most often traces it to 19th century Europe, where the father was kept well away from the delivery and waited it out with the other men. When word came, he marked it with a smoke and passed cigars around. Some writers push the custom back further to gift giving ceremonies in other cultures, but that link is thin and worth treating as a story rather than a fact.
What is clear is why it stuck. A new father has an enormous thing to announce and, traditionally, no ceremony of his own to announce it in. Handing someone a cigar is a small, physical way of saying it out loud. That is the part that survived, and it is why the tradition has outlived the smoking.
Is This Still a Thing?
Yes, in an altered form. Two things changed it. Hospitals became smoke free, so the original moment, lighting one in a waiting room, is simply gone. And fewer people smoke, so a cigar handed to a random coworker is no longer a safe bet.
What replaced it is better, honestly. The cigar became a keepsake rather than a smoke. Band it with the baby's name and birth date and it turns into a small announcement card that happens to be a cigar. People who smoke will enjoy it later. People who do not will put it on a shelf, and a surprising number of them keep it for years.
How Many Cigars Do You Need?
Count the people you will physically see in the first two weeks, not everyone you know. Then add about 20 percent, because news travels and people turn up.
| Your situation | Cigars to buy | Who that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping it small | 10 to 15 | Both sets of grandparents, siblings, a few closest friends |
| Most people | 20 to 30 | Family, close friends and your immediate team at work |
| Big family or big office | 40 to 60 | Extended family, the wider friend group, a whole department |
| Shipping some out | Add 10 to 20 | Out of state family and friends who get one by mail |
Bands are the cheap part and the part with a lead time. If you are torn between 20 and 30 cigars, buy bands for 30. Leftover bands cost you a few dollars. Running out on day three, when your cousin turns up unannounced, is the annoying outcome.
Which Cigars to Buy
This is the part people get wrong, and it is worth getting right, because most of the people receiving one are not regular cigar smokers.
- Go mild to medium. A full bodied cigar is a lot of nicotine for somebody who smokes twice a year, and it can genuinely make a first timer feel sick. Mild is the courteous choice.
- Go short. Four to five inches. A big cigar is an hour long commitment. Nobody handed a cigar at an office door has an hour.
- Ring gauge 42 to 50. Comfortable to draw on and easy to band. Our bands are 3-1/2 inches long, and since a 60 ring gauge cigar measures about 2.95 inches around, they still close with room to spare on anything that thick. The band template guide has the full ring gauge table.
- Six to ten dollars each is the sweet spot. Cheap enough to buy twenty five, good enough that the one person on your list who really knows cigars is not offended.
- Buy a box, not singles. Boxes of 20 or 25 cost noticeably less per cigar, and you need a box sized quantity anyway.
If you are not a cigar person yourself and want the specifics, our guide to the best cigars for beginners covers exactly what to look for, and the cigar sizes and shapes guide explains ring gauge and vitolas in plain language.
What Goes on the Band
The band is what turns a nice cigar into a birth announcement. It is also the only part anyone reads, so it is worth a minute of thought.
The layout that works, in order of importance:
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The baby's name, set large
This is the centerpiece. Not It's a Boy, not your last name. The name is the news, and it is what makes somebody keep the band.
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The birth date along the bottom
Write it out rather than abbreviating if it fits. Ten years from now the full date reads better than a string of numbers.
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It's a Boy or It's a Girl across the top
Optional, and increasingly skipped. If the name is clearly gendered it is doing the job already, and the space is better spent on the date.
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Weight, length or time of birth underneath
Pick one. All three at once turns the band into a form. The weight is the one people ask about first.
The printed face of a cigar band is only about an inch and a half across, so two or three short lines is the sensible limit. If you want to design your own artwork rather than starting from a template, our cigar band template and size guide has the exact die dimensions and a free downloadable template.
When and Where to Hand Them Out
Not lit, and not at the hospital. Hospitals in the United States are smoke free and that generally extends to the parking lots and the grounds. You can hand cigars out there, and people do, but plan on everyone pocketing them.
The three moments that actually work:
- At the hospital or on the first visits. Handed over unsmoked, with the band doing the announcing. This is the most common version now.
- First day back at work. The classic. Walk the floor, hand them out, accept the congratulations. Bring a few candy ones for the people who do not smoke.
- A gathering a few weeks later. A christening, a naming, a first barbecue with the baby. This is the one where cigars actually get smoked, because there is time and a yard.
If you are handing one to somebody who has never smoked a cigar, a fifteen second explanation goes a long way. Our guides on how to cut a cigar and how to light one cover what to tell them.
It's a Girl Cigars
The tradition started out lopsided, and for a long stretch the cigars only came out for boys. That is long gone. It's a Girl cigars are ordered just as often now, usually in pink or rose, though plenty of parents skip the color coding entirely.
Everything above applies without changes. The only decision is the palette, and the honest advice is that a name set cleanly in a single color looks more expensive than anything heavily themed, in either direction.
Gender Reveals and Baby Showers
Two variations worth knowing, because they are ordered often and they need different timing.
Gender reveals. The cigars carry the announcement, so the band is the reveal. Order both a boy design and a girl design, keep the right box sealed until the moment, and hand out the correct one. It costs a few extra dollars in bands and it is far more fun than the alternative. Some parents have a third party do the banding so the parents genuinely do not know.
Baby showers. Showers usually happen weeks before the birth, so the name, date and weight are not available yet. Use a design without them. A band that reads the family surname and a line like Baby Miller, Coming June 2026 works, and it gives the dad something to hand out at an event that is otherwise not aimed at him.
The People Who Do Not Smoke
On any list of thirty, a good number will never light it. That is fine and it does not mean skipping them.
- Bubble gum cigars. The standard answer, and genuinely the right one for an office, for kids at a family gathering and for anyone who would be uncomfortable being handed tobacco. They band the same way.
- Chocolate cigars. A step up in feel, and they photograph well on a table at a party.
- Give the real one anyway, as a keepsake. Plenty of non smokers keep a banded cigar in a drawer for years precisely because it has the baby's name on it. Hand it over with the band facing up and say it is for keeping.
The most common approach is a split order. Real cigars for the handful of people who will enjoy them, candy cigars for everyone else, one band design across both so the whole thing looks intentional.
What It Costs
Realistic numbers for the middle case, 25 people.
| Item | Typical | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cigars | $150 to $250 | 25 mild cigars at $6 to $10 each, cheaper by the box |
| Personalized bands | About $25 | 25 bands at 99 cents each, printed with the name and date |
| Candy cigars | $10 to $25 | Optional, for the office and anyone who does not smoke |
| All in | $185 to $300 | For the version most people actually do |
The bands are the smallest line on that list and the only one anyone remembers, which is the entire argument for personalizing them.
A Timeline That Works
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Four to six weeks before the due date, order the bands
Due dates move and printing plus shipping takes time. Ours ship in 8 to 12 business days, so this is the step to do early rather than the week of.
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Decide now whether the date goes on the band
If you want the exact birth date and weight printed, you cannot order until the baby arrives. The workaround most parents use is a first order with the name and It's a Boy or It's a Girl only, then a small second order afterwards for the keepsake versions that carry the full details.
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Buy the cigars in the last couple of weeks
A box keeps fine. Store it somewhere stable and out of the way, and if you have a humidor, use it.
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Band them the night before you hand them out
Not weeks ahead. Paper and adhesive left in a humid box will soften.
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Keep five back
One for you, one for the other parent's father, and three for the people you forgot. There are always three.
Personalized bands for the announcement
We print custom cigar bands with the baby's name, the date and the weight, on matte label stock, at 99 cents a band and any quantity. We do not sell the cigars, so buy those wherever you like and put the names on them here.
See personalized cigar bands and labelsFrequently Asked Questions
How many cigars do you hand out when a baby is born?
Most new dads buy between 15 and 30. Count the people you will actually see in the first two weeks, which is usually immediate family, the closest friends and your team at work, then add about 20 percent because the news travels and people appear. If you are shipping some to family in other states, count those separately.
What kind of cigar should you give out for a new baby?
Something mild, short and mid priced. Most of the people receiving one are not regular smokers, so a heavy full bodied cigar is wasted on them and can make a first timer feel unwell. Look for a mild to medium cigar around 4 to 5 inches with a 42 to 50 ring gauge. Buying twenty of something in the 6 to 10 dollar range is the sweet spot.
Do you still hand out cigars when a baby is born?
Yes, though the tradition has changed shape. Hospitals are smoke free, so almost nobody lights up on site anymore. The modern version is handing out unsmoked cigars as keepsakes, usually banded with the baby's name and birth date, and people either save them or smoke them later.
Is it only for boys?
No. It used to be, going back to when the tradition formed, but that has not been true for a long time. It's a Girl cigars are just as common now, and plenty of parents skip the boy or girl framing entirely and put the baby's name and birth date on the band instead.
What do you put on a new baby cigar band?
The baby's name is the centerpiece. Around it, the most common additions are the birth date, the weight, the length and sometimes the time of birth. It's a Boy or It's a Girl usually runs along the top. Keep it to two or three short lines, because the printed face of a cigar band is only about an inch and a half across.
Can you smoke a cigar at a hospital?
No. Hospitals in the United States are smoke free, and that almost always includes the parking lots and grounds. Hand the cigars out at the hospital if you like, but plan to smoke them somewhere else, later.
What can you give people who do not smoke?
Bubble gum cigars and chocolate cigars are the standard answer, and they work well for coworkers, kids at a party and anyone who would never light a real one. Many parents order both, real cigars for the few who will smoke them and candy ones for everyone else. You can band either kind the same way.
When should you order new baby cigars?
Order the bands before the birth, because due dates move and printing plus shipping takes time. Our bands ship in 8 to 12 business days. Leave the exact date, weight and length blank if you like and add them to a second small order after the birth, or order a design that carries only the name and It's a Boy or It's a Girl.