Baby Shower Ideas

by

Jessica Hudson

(Owner Eva Lillian Maternity & nursing Boutique)

Your baby shower can be one of the most cherished memories of your pregnancy, or be a more stressful event than your wedding day.  And you're kind of at the mercy of your friends and/or family, whomever is gracious enough to take time out of their busy schedules and money out of their pockets to throw you this "all-important" party.  But you do have some say in what is done (providing it's not a surprise shower), and here are a few great baby shower ideas, from fun activities to proper baby shower etiquette.

Baby Shower Gifts for the Hostess

Did you know that it is proper form to give a gift to the woman or women that hosted your shower?  A small token of appreciation is all that is required, after all you are the one about to bring a cute little money pit into your home, but some sort of acknowledgement for the wonderful thought is appreciated.  There are, of course, a plethora of little dust collectors and one-day items (things they keep for the one day it takes them to realize they don't need another useless fill-in-the-blank and chuck it) you could purchase as such a gift, but we prefer to give (and receive) gifts that 1. have use, and 2. are things we would love to have for ourselves, but would never spend the money on ourselves.  Below are some suggestions for wonderfully pampering products that make truly useful and treasured gifts for that well-loved friend or relative.

v    Soothing Herbal Aromatherapy Wrap is good for so much more than just labor pain.  It's works wonderfully to relax muscles all over the body, relieve neck tension, ease sinus pain or earaches (in little ones, too) and more!

Prizes

Along the same lines as hostess gifts, these gifts are usually something either decorative (but keep in mind that your decorative tastes are almost definitely not mine, nor the any number of guests, male or female that you may have at your shower), or luxurious.  Some of the same gift suggestions are made here, since so many of the gifts are unisex (they could use the baby soap as a wonderful guest soap, if all else failed) and wonderful for any age.

v    Chocolate Bellies are an incredibly original maternity gift or baby shower favor.

Shower Alternatives 

The traditional baby shower ideal of an afternoon of tea and cucumber sandwiches with the ladies from your church is on the decline.  Today many more expecting couples are having co-sexed couples parties.  I've even seen a shower held online!  Also, tradition has dictated that those having their second or more baby do not get a shower, but many parents of the second or more realize that this is pure folly.  While these parents may not need all the baby items of toys and clothing given at a traditional first-timer's shower (unless there is a large age gap between children and they have given away or sold their baby stuff) they definitely do need things.  There are many options for these showers.  First is the diaper shower, where each guest brings diapers and diaper coupons.  There is the casserole shower, where each guest brings a casserole or some other easily reheatable dish for the early weeks after the baby's birth.  And finally (my personal favorite, and the shower I hope will be held for me with my next baby) is a favor party.  Each guest brings a card listing a favor that they will perform for the new family in the weeks after the baby's birth, whether it be doing a load of dishes or laundry, bringing dinner on a specified date, or just holding the baby while mom gets a nap.

Unique Games and Activities 

v     Guess the Diaper Contents

*This game is great for co-ed showers, to keep the men involved

Take 5 candy bars with various interesting fillings.  Place each in a diaper and place diaper in microwave just long enough to melt the candy bar to a mushy consistency.  Give each guest a fork and ask them to identify the contents of the diaper.

v     Toilet Paper Psych-Out

Everyone is familiar with the game of choosing the number of toilet paper squares you’ll need to be able to wrap all the way around the pregnant mother-to-be.  In this game you begin passing around the toilet paper without explanation, telling each guest to choose the amount he or she “will need”.  Then, for an icebreaker, each guest must tell one thing about themselves for each square they’ve taken.  An alternative would be for each guest to list one attribute that the guest(s) of honor possess that will make her/them great parents/mother.  They can list them on index cards, and the cards can then later be collected and joined to make a wonderful keepsake for the guest(s) of honor to look back on.

v     Make a Baby

Make color copies of photos of the mother and father.  Pass them out to the guests with scissors, glue and a piece of paper.  Have them cut out attributes from each of the parents and make a collage as a prediction of what the baby will look like.  These can be collected and bound for the new parents as well.

v     Pamper in the Hamper

*This game is great for co-ed showers, to keep the men involved

Tape off a line about 15 feet from a line of three laundry baskets or a hamper/laundry basket combo.  Wet three diapers with water, to give them weight, and have the guests attempt to “make baskets” with them.  Award three points for making it into the center of the three baskets, one points for the outer baskets.  High score wins.

v     Baby Food Race

*This game is great for co-ed showers, to keep the men involved

Divide four volunteers into two teams.  Blindfold each volunteer.  Use two large bibs (which are given to the parents-to-be when done), one on each of the eaters.  The other member in each team gets a jar of baby food and a baby spoon (the smaller, the better).  When you say go, the feeder feeds the eater as fast as they can.  First team finished wins.

v     What Happened That Night…

This is a twist on a favorite bridal shower game that will have everyone turning a new shade of red, and laughing ‘til their sides ache.  Assign one of the hostesses (or friendlier guests) to jot down phrases she hears throughout the day.  At the end of the festivities she explains why she was writing all day and reads “What Mom-to-be and Dad-to-be said the night they conceived.”  Here are some examples from a recent shower I attended:

"Oh that is adorable. It's so little"

"What do you do with this? Oh you squeeze it!"

"Oh, don't squeeze this toy"

"Open it, I'm dying to see it"

"It's voice activated, nice... and it has a vibrator"

"Try a taste of this, you'll like it"

"Those nipples are easier to wash. You’ll like them."