baby showers

[mybabylove]

What are your thoughts on baby showers?
I?m tossing up whether to have one or not....

I have seen tahst some people even have baby registires for them.

[boobaloo]

i had a baby shower with xavi and it was brilliant! we actually had women, men, kids there, just a big afternoon tea in celebration of the impending birth. omg, we got sooo much stuff - lots of fun! i'm all for them.

[Fleur]

I am having one... I had one with DD but we were all so young it wasn't a 'big deal' or anything just a get -together with friends really (no balloons or anything).

This time around I wasn't sure either, being as this is number 4 I thought it was a bit off? But I had a couple of friends who said 'you must!' - also given that it has been a while between babies and a looong time between showers... so anyway, I have a couple of friends who are doing one for me in a couple of weeks time.

Although I will say I am a little overwhelmed at how much goes into it...and mine is not really OTT or anything...but yeah i have read on the net about registries, people do fresh flowers etc, sit-down meals.
I guess that would be nice if it was your first baby...for me it's way too much of a big deal...I'll be happy to have my friends over to cluck with me

[Brooke2550]

go for it!
i had mine on sunday, just for mums no kiddies so mums could chill out. we had a ball and ate lots of yummy foods. also great for a catch up!

[mummato1]

I didnt have a traditional baby shower, they just arent my thing.

Instead I got my best girlfriends together and we all went out for dinner, without partners and kids for a good old fashioned girly catchup! It was so much fun.. That way I didnt have to worry about any preparation / clean up or those (IMO) stupid baby games

[NaeNae]

I can't wait to have a baby shower.

All I want is an afternoon filled with friends, food and fun. There are some pretty good games that you can play too.

I am all for gift registeries, I will be doing a "wish list" one so we don't end up with a million teddies or things we don't need or may already have.

I say go for it hun

Nae x

[Brooke2550]

ohh and i also has a wishing well! to put towards my pram

[childondaway]

I had mine 2 weeks ago. It was so much fun! At first I wasn't so keen on the idea b/c I feel bad about ppl spending so much money on a gift when I know they will spend more money when the baby arrives.
I am so glad I did it though. We had an afternoon full of fun and nice food and conversation. We played a few games and I received lots of lovely gifts which will all be put to good use.

I so go for it. You will have alot of fun!

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

[soulful]

I am also not sure about whether to have a Baby Shower. A few issures:

• I don't know anyone that's had one before - I will be the first one from all friends/relatives having one
• Don't like the idea of people feeling obliged to spend money on the baby, when they will buy gifts when bubs arrive
• We won't be finding out the gender of our baby, so really don't want to get stuck with heaps of mutual colored (greens, whites, yellows) clothes

Apart from the above, it sounds like a great way to celebrate the upcoming arrival and also an excuse for eveyone to get together and have some fun!!

Still thinking about it.......

[mybabylove]

I had mine 2 weeks ago. It was so much fun! At first I wasn't so keen on the idea b/c I feel bad about ppl spending so much money on a gift when I know they will spend more money when the baby arrives.
I am so glad I did it though. We had an afternoon full of fun and nice food and conversation. We played a few games and I received lots of lovely gifts which will all be put to good use.

I so go for it. You will have alot of fun!

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

this is exactoy how i feel about the situation.....feel bad for ppl havingto buy gifts
Im not too keen on the games just more of a get together.

[luna moth]

I am planning to have three! Yes, three! One in Sydney, one in Melbourne, one in Brissy. Because we live so far away from both of our families and a lot of close friends, most of them won't get to see me with an enormous belly (this is, of course, assuming that I make it that far) so I'm going to have a belly party in each city.

It will be strictly no gifts, as our wedding was, and we'll ask guests to instead make a donation to a child-based charity, possibly Bonnie Babes or a Children's Hospital or Starlight or something. I find that saying "no gifts" doesn't work, but telling people to make a donation pretty much guarantees that nobody spends any money (but that's a rant for a whole other thread) We'll also be encouraging handmade and hand-me-down gifts.

We'll play all the ridiculous games - especially the one where you microwave different chocolate bars, put them in nappies then you have to guess which is which - I love that one! And eat a ridiculous amount of food, and laugh and be silly and catch up on all the goss.

[koru]

I hear you Soulful - we struggled with those same issues.
In the end we decided we'd really love a big social get together with friends before we become (temporary!) socail recluses but didn't want people to feel obligated to bring gifts.
As quite a few freinds have already offered us second hand baby goods what we felt we REALLY needed was not to have to cook! So we'll be throwing a "freezer party" where guests are encouraged to bring a long a meal we can pop into our chest freezer (watching eBay for those at the mo) - it'll be midwinter too so that fits the theme

[Melbournemumma]

I had a baby shower and it was great. Just a bunch of women getting together to celebrate our bubs. We had yummy food, some fun games and good conversation. I had put together a list of things that Jeremy and I still needed for Peanut so it gave people some things to look for. We haven't found out what we're having either but we didn't end up getting to many clothes cause I hadn't really put them on the list. Everyone I spoke to said that the list was helpful cause it gave them an idea of what we still really needed It also meant that at the end we could see what we still needed to buy