If you didn’t get the opportunity to host a baby shower for yourself or your Mommy friend, fear not, you can always hold a “welcoming shower” instead. If the nine months flew by and you didn’t have time to squeeze in a baby shower so you have decided to wait until after the birth of your baby, then don’t stress! You won’t be the first to have done this. It’s becoming more common for parents to wait until after the baby is born. Some mothers simply do not feel like having a shower before bub arrives so this then gives them the opportunity to hand the baby over to relatives, relax, open gifts and allow everyone to see the new baby all at once.
With that in mind, it is understandable that many mothers would consider there to be con’s involved with their shower being post pregnancy. As we are aware that things can be overwhelming and stressful during a pregnancy and the first few months of motherhood, we have gathered a few pros and cons, for informative purposes, to make your decision a bit easier or at least give you some things to consider.
Here are some positive points to consider if you are thinking of waiting until the arrival of bub before hosting a ‘welcome’ shower:
- Family can shower the baby with gifts not yet received/purchased
- Items given after baby is born will be correct size – no need to make the trip to refund/exchange any items (woohoo)
- You will not receive double of anything as you can state on your registry what you have not yet purchased or what you may need more of
- You can ask for practical gifts to help you see through the first few months i.e. correct sized diapers, wipes, formula etc.
- You can have some down time in terms of nursing/holding baby – it’s time to hand baby over for some much needed arm rest and stretch– over to the relatives!
- You can have photos taken WITH bub to show them later, all the people who love them
- You may have questions or advice need answering, now that you have brought bub home and everything is brand new
- You are able to do the ‘showing’ of baby all at once to everyone you would have had come and go as you are trying to nap!
- You will be thankful for the adult interaction soon after spending every waking (and sleeping) moment with a non-talkative human
- You can even consider having a post baby pamper ‘shower’ because you couldn’t get totally comfy on a massage table while heavily pregnant – now you need all the massaging you can get!
Some points that may make you think twice about hosting a ‘welcome’ shower:
- Unexpected state of mind once baby has arrived – are you too tired to entertain, cranky, not feeling or looking your best – just feeling meh!
- Having to socialise with a lot of people soon after bringing home a brand new (lack of routine) baby
- The chance of unexpected comments/kind concerns and well-meaning advice about bubs feeding, sleeping, crying routines etc.
- The idea that you will have to hand over your brand spanking new baby that your super, overly attached too and can’t quite get your head around having to share him/her
- Knowing that, with people comes germs – so being comfortable asking or more to the point – TELLING people they need to have up to date injections, washed hands, no colds etc. before meeting your beautiful baby
- Consider the idea that this ‘shower’ will be more about baby than you – despite all that you just went through to bring baby here!
So whether you haven’t had the time or you just simply want to wait for everything to calm down and you get into your routine, know that it is becoming a popular idea to host a ‘shower’ after baby has arrived. If you have been unsure whether you would like to go ahead with a post baby shower, then we hope that these points help you to make your decision a little easier.