If you know a mom to be and are family or a friend, why not host a baby shower for her? It's easy to do and is a great way to show her how much she's loved. Host the shower about 6-8 weeks before the baby's' due date. This far in advance allows the parents to buy items they didn't receive as gifts. It also lowers the risk of the mom to be going into labor. The shower should last around 2-4 hours. Longer than 4 hours would be tiring for the mom to be and for the guests. Shorter than 2 hours would make everyone feel as though they were in a hurry and may seem impersonal to the guests.

Picking a theme for the baby shower is always fun to plan. Ask the mom to be how she is decorating the nursery for some ideas. Finger foods are simple to prepare and can fit around any theme. Ask some of the guests to bring specific food items to help instead of you doing everything.

Be sure to have someone write down who brought each gift. This way the thank you notes will be simple for the mom to be.

When deciding the invitation list, write down everyone you can think of and have the mom to be approve it. This way if she wants to invite someone you don't know, she can add them to the list. It may be convenient for you to send the invitations by email. However, some of your guests may not have an email account, some may not check their email often or it might end up in the bulk folders due to spam filters. Because of these reasons, many of the guests may not even receive their invitations. The old-fashioned way of hand writing the invitations and mailing them will seem more personal and gives the guests a keepsake of the new baby.

Decide whether this will be a ladies only shower or if men will also be invited. The best way to make this decision is to ask the dad to be if he wants to be there. If he does, add to the invite list anyone he would like to invite. If he doesn't want to participate, then make it a celebration just for ladies.

Games usually played at a shower include guessing how many jelly beans in the baby bottle, unscrambling baby related words to see who knows the most, guessing the birth weight of the mom to be and more. Although games are fun, don't feel obligated to entertain your guests with activities. They may prefer to socialize and give the mom to be parenting advice.

When choosing gifts for the new baby, ask the mom to be to make a list of items she would like to receive or find out where she is registered. Depending on whether this is a first pregnancy, if she has other children, or if she wasn't planning to have more children and got rid of all the baby items to what she may need now. If she has everything for the baby already, then have a pamper mom shower. Instead of baby gifts, guests bring gifts for the mom, like certificates for manicures, pedicures, or massages. Gift baskets full of chocolates, or wine would also be nice. What ever the mom to be likes would be fine. Baby showers or pamper mom showers are a lot of fun and make the mom to be feel special.

Michael Russell

Your Independent Baby and Toddler guide.