Adults only baby shower?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20:28, I see what you mean, but I have 4 month that I'm expected to leave at home?

Ummm, yes. Your baby already had it's shower.

[Anonymous]

Geeze, why all the nasty "your screaming kids" comments?? I've been to TWO baby showers in my life and both were kid friendly and NEITHER of them had "screaming kids". It's not hard for me to leave my baby at home, but I guess I'll be staying home too. Whatever, the mom to be is the girlfriend of DH's friend. I'll make HIM go.

FWIW, I would NOT let my 3 yo run around causing a ruckus at someone else's party. No need to get rude.

[Anonymous]

OP, in my circle of friends, baby showers were for women only, no toddlers and older, but "babes in arms" were OK, mostly meaning infants who were either sleeping or feeding, but otherwise you didn't really know they were there. 9 month old crawlers/puller uppers are NOT "babes in arms".

But what you should do is call the hostess and decline, telling her that your breastfed 4 month old still isn't taking a bottle so you cannot get away, but if that changes you would love to come. depending on her feelings about babes in arms, she'll either say "Oh, don't be silly bring her along!" or "So sorry we will have to miss you." And then you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, in my circle of friends, baby showers were for women only, no toddlers and older, but "babes in arms" were OK, mostly meaning infants who were either sleeping or feeding, but otherwise you didn't really know they were there. 9 month old crawlers/puller uppers are NOT "babes in arms".

But what you should do is call the hostess and decline, telling her that your breastfed 4 month old still isn't taking a bottle so you cannot get away, but if that changes you would love to come. depending on her feelings about babes in arms, she'll either say "Oh, don't be silly bring her along!" or "So sorry we will have to miss you." And then you know.

Thank you, this is a great idea and I might just do that.

[Anonymous]

I don't know what is proper ettiquite, but I find that most things that are very "female focused" - even adult oriented ones - tend to include babies, especially if breastfeeding is involved. No friends of mine would have expected me to leave a small baby at home. Now a toddler - that is a different story. That being said, a friend brought her toddler to my baby shower and I loved it. It needed a little entertainment and I loved not having all the attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm actually the opposite - unless I know otherwise, I assume that it is NOT an event for kids. These are thrown for FTMs, and are generally a chance to celebrate the woman, so I see them as baby themed but adult focused.

That said, I think infants are an exception, as it can be difficult for a Mom to be away from a small baby, especially if she's breastfeeding.

But personally, I'd much rather leave my kids at home, as I wouldn't be able to enjoy the shower activities nearly as much if I had to be entertaining the preschooler while making sure the toddler didn't knock over all the desserts / open all the presents.

I agree with this - unless the host specifically says, "please bring the kids!" I wouldn't do this. The focus of the shower should be the mom-to-be, and children and babies tend to draw a lot of attention so I'd worry about taking some of the spotlight off the guest of honor.

[Anonymous]

Don't bring the kids. I have been to probably 20 showers and not one has invited kids.

[Anonymous]

My shower had no kids and I was so upset

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My shower had no kids and I was so upset

Hmmm. . .I guess this raises an interesting question, how much was the mom-to-be consulted as to whether or not to allow babies? Kids? When I had my shower, only one of my friends had a baby and she brought him. She asked me if it was okay and I was surprised because I assumed she'd bring him. My BFF had a HUGE baby shower with kids ranging from infants to teenagers. The other shower for a friend of mine was pretty small and there was at least one infant there, and like I said, I've only been to two besides my own.

[Anonymous]

i've never seen kids at a baby shower. it's not playtime.

[Anonymous]

Where are all these kid-less showers? The showers I've attended had children present, which was nice. Also, I've never seen alcohol served at a baby shower... sounds strange to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are all these kid-less showers? The showers I've attended had children present, which was nice. Also, I've never seen alcohol served at a baby shower... sounds strange to me.

Been to a few baby showers where alcohol was served.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are all these kid-less showers? The showers I've attended had children present, which was nice. Also, I've never seen alcohol served at a baby shower... sounds strange to me.

OP again. That's what I thought. Maybe it's this area? The showers I've been to were in the midwest so maybe more informal and family oriented?

[Anonymous]

I always think of a baby shower as for the women only, and MAYBE a daughter aged 10+ but not really any other kids. When my sister had surprise baby #3 (10 yrs after she thought she was done having kids) her SIL brought a 10 yr old boy who just sat and sulked the entire time. He wouldn't even go upstairs to play video games with my nephew. It seemed VERY strange to me that they brought him at all being that age and a boy....what 10-11 yr old boy wants to sit through a BABY shower? Oh and on top of it the SIL didn't even RSVP in the first place. It was weird all around. No bringing any extra people unless specifically told to.

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine a baby shower is any fun for a child.