Planning a Baby Shower

Baby Showers are great way to show your excitement and anticipation of the pending baby. Whether it's a family member or a friend you can get invloved.

A friend of mine and I put on a simple Baby Shower for a friend of ours as she was 9

months pregnant and no-one else had organised one, not even her family, so we decided that we would do it........she said she didn't mind that no-one had organised it but we knew better......all expectant Mum's like to be fussed over..........Ours was a very rushed and last minute thing where we had a morning tea at one of our houses. Presents were given, music played, we talked about new babies and exchanged stories of our own babies and children. A baby shower can be anything from an extravagant affair to an informal, relaxed morning tea.

Here are some ideas........

Who organises it?   Anyone but the Mum-to-be......it can be organise by a family member, friend or even the father-to-be.

When should it happen?   It's usually organised in the last trimester when everyone's all excited about the pending birth. It's a great way for the Mum-to-be to get her mind off any stress or worries. she can sit back, relax and let people make a fuss of her.

What type of baby shower will I organise?   You can have anything from an extravagant do, to an informal, relaxed morning tea. Think about money and also what the mum-to-be would like. Some would love the whole catered, decorated affair. Some would much rather a more relaxed get together. If you are going to organise a big party, think about asking the guests to chip in with either money or supplying a plate of food etc.

Cake:   Don't forget the cake.........it can be a simple cake or an extravagant cake, again choose something the Mum-to-be would like.

Games: There are literally hundreds of games to play at baby showers, here are a few:

• Get your guest to write a list of as many baby items they can think of in a set amount of time. The person who has the most wins a prize of some sort.
• Get the guests to bring along a baby photo of themselves and put them all in a basket. One by one they are shown and everyone has to guess who it is.
• Have cut outs of pregnant celebraties, fold down their face and the guests have to pick who it is.

Gift Ideas: You can give something for either Mum or bub, or even both.

• Basket of goodies.......for Mum it could be; creams and lotions, hair products, bath salts. For bub it could be; nappies, powder, lotions, bibs, wipes.
• Magazine subscription.
• Pedicure kit
• Clothes for bub.......if you are ging to get clothes makes sure you get some different sizes and not all 0000 size as baby won't be that small for long and no doubt Mum has plenty of the very small sizes. I used to love that my M-I-L would always think to get one or two sizes bigger than I was using.
• Photo albums, scrapbooking album (if mum is into scrapbooking)
• Gift certificates......Mum to get her hair done, buy some clothes, buy baby products.
• Keepsake items
• Bulk supply of nappies........no, it might not seem like the most wonderful present but nappies can get very expensive. A friend did this for me and it was great not to have to buy nappies for a while.
• Frozen dishes.....this is of course for when Mum and bub come home from hospital. My playgroup did this for me when I had Luke and we did it for all the Mum's when they had their babies......it was great not to have to worry about cooking for the first few weeks. We all had a roster and took it in turns for cooking.

Just remember that it's a very special time for everyone and the most important thing is that the Mum-to-be is made to feel loved, appreciated and special whether it's her first baby or her tenth baby......it's the most amazing thing.........welcoming a new soul into the world.

Here are some great web sites that can give you some more ideas:

http://www.bellybelly.com.au

http://www.babycenter.com.au

http://www.baby-shower.com

http://www.babyshower101.com