Baby Shower for Third Child??

I've recently moved interstate with my Dh, dd & ds. Baby # 3 is due 1st February. I'm thinking about having a baby shower, as a way of involving my new friends in the pregnancy and the new baby's life. I'm definately not after presents, and would make this very clear on any invites, but would people feel obliged? I'm not wanting to make people spend money, especially as it's likely to be a few weeks after christmas. I just thought we could have a small afternoon tea with some corny games and maybe some yummy food.

Is this a strange thing to do for a third child? I never had one for #1 or 2, we've always lived on the other side of the country to family, so not really anyone to organise anything with. I'm thinking of it more of a way to catch up with friends before the chaos of life with a new bub begins and i'm MIA for a while.

Would love your thoughts...

I've recently moved interstate with my Dh, dd & ds. Baby # 3 is due 1st February. I'm thinking about having a baby shower, as a way of involving my new friends in the pregnancy and the new baby's life. I'm definately not after presents, and would make this very clear on any invites, but would people feel obliged? I'm not wanting to make people spend money, especially as it's likely to be a few weeks after christmas. I just thought we could have a small afternoon tea with some corny games and maybe some yummy food.

Is this a strange thing to do for a third child? I never had one for #1 or 2, we've always lived on the other side of the country to family, so not really anyone to organise anything with. I'm thinking of it more of a way to catch up with friends before the chaos of life with a new bub begins and i'm MIA for a while.

Would love your thoughts...

I am in a very similar situation to you. I have some new friends that I didn't have when I had my first 2 kids that want to throw me a baby shower. I felt it would be inappropriate because I have already had a baby shower, but my friends have assured me it is ok. I reluctantly agreed to the baby shower on the condition they explicitly tell guests No Presents. My shower will be a couple weeks after christmas too so I also don't want people to still feel obliged to spend money. I am thinking it will be nice to have just a catch up and a coffee with friends before bubs is born. Apparently it is more acceptable these days to have multiple showers so I wouldn't think there is anything wrong with having one for your 3rd when you've never had one before.

I went to a freinds 4th baby shower on the weekend. I have to say i was really surprised to get the invite but she requested no presents and had met alot of her current friends (me included) since haning her first 3. It was alot of fun and a good chance to catch up with ppl and get excitied about the baby.

I am a believer that you should only have one baby shower as it is to help the new parents set up the nursery for all children not just the one.
However if i was to convince DH to have a third I would have another one but with no presents for me or the baby but something to donate to charity if they wanted to (no pressure) and it could be either new or stuff they didnt need themselves anymore to help other new parents who cant afford things. I decided this after helping out collect things for 2 families in our area who are stuggling and have unplanned pregnancies and also one of my friends helps out with young mums, some of who have little to no support.

Maybe if your concerned about the whole present thing then you could call it something different to a 'baby shower'?
like maybe something kind of tongue and cheek like 'Jane and John's last get together before number 3' or 'Jane and John's last BBQ for a while' rather than 'Jane's baby shower'.
Or you could do a less baby showerish activity like just going out for a meal with friends etc. And you could also make a point of inviting partners and husbands as well to reinforce that it is more of a casual get together than a traditional 'baby shower'

i agree with 'miss_bee' were currently organising a 'baby shower' for our 3rd bub, we didnt have one for the other 2 because of reasons similar to the OP (family a long way away etc) and have recently moved toa new area closer to family so want to celebrate our bub with everyone.. but we havnt called it a baby shower... weve called it a 'baby BBQ' lol and it literally is a BBQ, part for baby celebrating part for just catching up before were busy with another NB smile i dont think theres an issue as long as you DONT expect ppl to buy gifts

Hi,
I am currently 33 weeks pregnant with my 5th child, a little girl after 4 boys (well it better be born a girl or i'm in trouble lol). I have never had a baby shower as with my 1st I lost alot of contact with friends as I was the first to have a baby (I was 20) and I was pregnant with my 2nd when my first was 8 weeks old. With my 3rd I felt it would be weird to have a baby shower as I still had everything from the first 2 and needed nothing and felt like if I had one People would feel like they had to bring a present. With my 4th I felt the same, plus we had just moved and I didnt know many people (I had started suffering PND after my 3rd and went into my own bubble for a few years and lost alot of friends as they weren't helping my situation, alot of them were the cause, if that makes sense).

BUT this time around my good friend of 20 years who I had just recontacted with convinced me to have a party for this one. I said if it was a boy, I wouldnt have one as we still had everything, clothes, linen, cot, cradle, pram etc. I agreed and said if it was a girl, we'd have one to celebrate me wanting a girl for 22 years and finally having our dreams answered.

We didnt call it a baby shower, we had a PINK PARTY. On the invitations we put I'd prefer no presents, but as you know some people dont listen so we also added a note that if they had to bring something a voucher would be appriciated for things we find we might need later eg breast pump or sterilizer, nappies, formula ect. We had pink food and everything girly. It was great to catch up with everyone, some who I hadnt seen in a few months. As I have had alot of problems with this pregnancy it was a chance to reconnect with the baby and have just a fun afternoon laughing and joking with friends and family. It turned out to be a fantastic day spent with 20 of my closest friends and family.

Whatever you decide, it will be the best for you.

<3 Melanie
x x x x

I was actually thinking about this the other day. I am not pregnant again yet, but I know I want to have another baby shower. I am actually thinking about having a "Everyone's Baby Shower", sort of a celebration of everyone's babies. I would ask my guests to bring photos of their kids when they were babies, and we could do games where they tell stories of the funniest, grossest, weirdest etc thing their kids did. Rather than focus on me, it would be about them and their babies.

my sister is very keen to organise one for me with this baby. it feels ok, because there is a big gap between births and this will be only the second girl babe in a family full of boys and people are in the mood for a new baby (last baby born over 1.5 years ago) and a girl. I really dont expect people to bring presents but if they want to that is also fine - sometimes I feel a bit put out when I receive an invite that says no presents - i like to look for a little something personal for people. this is mainly just a chance for the girls to get together, bond over baby stuff and have some cake and a cuppa. no harm done