Tips for What to Do and not to Do at Your Upcoming Baby Shower
There’s a lot of advice out there about baby showers. As a company composed mostly of parents, we’ve got our own thoughts on baby showers and are putting our two cents out there. Whether you’re planning a shower, a sprinkle, or thinking about a nesting party, we hope you find this post informative.
Guest List
During pregnancy, emotions tend to be high, and energy low. A huge gathering might not be super enjoyable. When planning your shower, think about who will be there for the baby’s future milestones like their baptism, first birthday, etc. People generally will tend to continue to celebrate you, outside of the shower. Sometimes people who are not invited to the shower will still ask for your registry to gift you something for the baby.
Gender Neutrality
If this is your first child, are you open to future children? No one knows for certain what the future holds. If you would like additional children, sticking with gender neutral colors for the big items like cribs, dressers, etc. and even some clothing can help ensure these gifts are loved again and again.
That being said, if you know the gender of the baby and reveal it, people will still love to get you themed clothing, toys, and the like.
Games
Baby shower games are probably the most hotly debated agenda item for a baby shower. This is probably because you either really enjoy them or loathe them entirely. This author rivals the Grinch on Mount Crumpit when listing off shower games.
Don’t Stop the Flow:
Pick Games that don’t interrupt the whole flow of the party. For those that don’t enjoy games, this can be quite disengaging. Maybe break your party into two areas, one for people to converse and enjoy the day and another for the inclusion of games.
Think About Your Guests:
You tend to know most of the people attending your shower, or if you don’t, you know someone who does. This means that you’ll be able to gauge the group and how they’ll generally like or dislike a type of game. This means that you can pick and choose what works best for the group.
To Open or Not to Open
When you host a party where people will be bringing gifts you have one major question to answer: Will you sit and open the gifts or will you spend your time with your attendees and open them with your family afterward.
We don’t have a solid recommendation on what you should do here, but instead are offering some things to think about:
Timing
How much time do you have for the shower and how many people are you planning to invite? The more people, the more gifts to open. That might be great for you! Or, it might take time away from your loved ones, giving them a brief thank you when you open their gift.
Transportation
Where is your vehicle parked and how many hands do you have to help shlep the gifts out of the party? Having them nicely packaged in boxes and gift bags might make transporting the gifts easier.
Diapering
Diapers are not cheap. Having people gift them at your shower is great! There are a few things that we recommend though when it comes to showers and diapers.
Diaper Cakes
Diaper cakes have arrived. These multi-tiered works of art are crafting cuteness at this pinnacle. In our humble opinion though, they aren’t the best idea for a pregnant mom after the shower. You now have copious diapers to unroll, and find a way to store until they are needed. Most aren’t newborn size diapers so you will likely have to store them for a minute. Rolled diapers don’t lay flat immediately and can get a bit unruly.
Diaper Raffle
A fun alternative to diaper cakes is a diaper raffle. You or someone you know puts together a gift basket. Everyone who brings a box or package of diapers to the shower is entered into the raffle. At the end of the shower, you pick a winner. Including a few different sizes on your registry helps ensure that you receive an array of diapers. Having the next size on hand can help with overnight breakthroughs, or trying the next size before you invest in it.
Talk to Other Moms About Their Diaper Preferences
All diapers are not the same. They’re different sizes, have different strengths, and come at different costs. My neighbor swears by Target Brand, and we love Kirkland (Costco)...we both have boys around the same age. You might find that you have some great resources in your village on things like subscription services, cloth diapering, or how to save money.
Establishing Boundaries
Your baby shower and registry is a great way to establish boundaries around the way you choose to feed your baby.
When you start the conversion around bottle feeding, pumping, biological nursing, supplementing, whatever your choice, it gives people time to adjust to your choices. There will be members of your village with questions. And others will have walked a similar journey or wished they had made that choice.
How and when to introduce solids, sleep products and solutions, and even baby swings are exciting topics where people have varying opinions. People will naturally want to help and weigh in with advice, wanted or not. A shower is a great time and place to initially introduce your plans without being able to get into a ton of detail or discussion with specific people.
Add to Registry
It can be hard to put together a registry. Somehow it feels like you are asking people to buy you things. Keep in mind that people are going to buy you gifts regardless of whether you put together a registry or not, so really you are helping them buy with insight. This ensures that you will be able to use their gift rather than receive three of the same item.
Put Pump Parts on the List
Don’t be shy about putting additional flanges and other spare pump parts, bottles, cleaning products, etc. on your baby registry. It gives other pumping moms a chance to support you in your journey. It also gives others who aren’t as familiar with pumping a chance to learn and grow. They might even ask questions to better understand your choices, and what you are going through.
Your pump will come with the things you need, however having extras can make pumping so much easier. Make sure to include a subscription to our cushions!
Bottles and Systems
There are a lot of different bottle options available for parents now. If you have the time to do a bit of research and a bit of thinking about your family preferences, you can add the bottle system you think you’d like to your registry. Bottles are great to have on hand even if you plan to exclusively nurse.
We’ve mentioned that it’s a good idea to have a pump on hand so of course we’re going to tell you it’s also a good idea to have bottles at the ready. We can prep and plan as much as we’d like but our breastfeeding journeys unfold organically and sometimes there are things that are out of our control. Having bottles on hand can help reduce the stress on mom, allow partners and other family members to cover a feeding, or allow for supplementation if you need a break.
Some bottle systems work with your pump and can help reduce a few steps.
Think Beyond the Newborn Stage
While it's very easy to get caught up in those first weeks and months, adding items you’ll need down the road is key. Some of these items like baby gates, pack n’plays, highchairs, strollers, can get expensive. People can choose either to buy them on their own or go in with another guest or two. It’s also super fun as the recipient, to open up a drawer or closet a year or so on and remember your shower when you unpack a new gift.
Cups and Cutlery
It’s hard to imagine but one day your baby will stop nursing or bottle feeding. And it helps to be prepared. Plus there are loads of options when it comes to cups, utensils, snack cups, plates, bowls you name it. And people will buy them. So it helps to have a little control or influence over what you receive by putting it on your registry.
It’s a Way to Try Something Without the Investment
Wipe warmers, bottle warmers, formula mixers, baby swings and bouncers, there are a lot of different options for new families. While you can talk to the people in your life who have had kids, and who know you to help figure out what you might find useful, sometimes you don’t know until you try it.
If you are unsure of the usefulness of an item, you might not want to spend the money on it. By putting it on your registry, you give someone the option of gifting it to you and gain the ability to try it out.
Cut Down on Surprises
There will always be people who go rogue and buy you something off of your registry. But by fleshing out your registry and giving people lots of options to choose from, you can cut down on the number of times that this happens.
You can keep people to one or two shops, making returns and exchanges easier. It helps ensure there are less duplicates, which means you cut down on the potential number of times someone might get offended if you don’t keep their gift.