Should I Have a Baby Shower for My 3Rd Child?

I was faced with the same issue--I have 4 boys :) One thing we thought of doing was to have a "welcome baby" celebration. Instead of doing the shower before, have everyone come over to meet the baby after. Even if you tell people to not bring gifts, they do because I think everyone likes to buy baby stuff :) It is nice to get new outfits for number three and it's fun to see everyone "oogle" over the new baby. One suggestion would be to involve the other two boys as much as age appropriate in the party planning so they feel a part of the celebration also.

I also had some friends that really wanted to do a shower for me, so they did a diaper shower. You always need diapers! Everyone bought disposable diapers, but then they wrote messages with a sharpy pen on the front of each diaper, i.e., "I love you Mommy" or "To pee or not to pee, that is the question." When you are changing diapers at 3 AM it's pretty funny to read the messages.

A friend of mine did have a shower for her third boy, but requested that rather than presents people bring a meal for after the baby arrived. I thought this was a great idea! People could all still celebrate and the gifts were practical!

Congratulations and enjoy!
A.

I feel that each child should be celebrated, so I do not think there is anything wrong with having a shower for a 3rd child. Why is it okay to celebrate the first but not the 3rd? To me that just doesn't seem right. Every child should be showered with love. How do you explain to your second or third child that only the first one has pictures in their baby book from a shower? I think that would be sad for the child. If you don't need gifts, you could always have people give to children charities in the baby's name or do a diaper shower.

Go for it, Have a shower!
You deserve the joy of celebrating your newest child!!
Even without a shower most friends and family will usually buy baby stuff, its fun to shop for!

Do a gift registry at target or somewhere and register the stuff you need and or want. That way even if people dont shop at that store they know what you want.

Best of luck to you and congrats!

I say go for it. As you said, its really about celebrating life, not the baby gifts. When I had our fourth child (and third boy) my girlfriends hosted a dinner party at my favorite restaurant. They pitched in a got me a fabulous gift card (for myself!) which was so fun and so appreciated. But the true gift was to spend an evening laughing and talking about life with people that I love. You can always put on the invitation that gifts are not necessary, although Emily Post says that is not proper (for what that's worth).

In the end, its your baby and your family. The third son is no less of a miracle and joy than the third in my opinion, so celebrate !

You could have your "baby celebration" and you can say that if they bring gifts that they would be given to a children's hospital or to a shelter. That way not only can you celebrate your upcoming arrival, but help someone who might need the help. Good luck with your upcoming little one.
Take Care,
S.
I am a stay at home mom to four beautiful kids. Three girls and one boy. My wonderful hubby is a soldier who is currently away serving the country that he loves!!!

I think every child should be celebrated! You could have a "shower" or a "sprinkle" either before or after he is born. There are always things you need like maybe new pacifiers, new bibs, or how about a fun new diaper bag for Mom. Whether or not there are gifts, it's the idea to get together with special friends and celebrate the miracle and joy of your baby. There's never anything wrong with that!! Congratulations and enjoy!

Of course people don't listen :) Yaaaaay, we get to welcome a whole new person...even better the IDEA of a whole new person, and sharing happiness. If I had more money than god, it wouldn't matter HOW much my friends said no stuff...I'd be out buying disneyland. Or certificates for weekly prenatal massages. Or. Or. Or. I personally don't want presents ever, but somehow I never learned to follow the golden rule on this one.

So have your party. Celebrate & have a blast.

If you want to cut down on the stuff...I would suggest theming it. I threw a "Huggies Supreme Diaper Shower" for a friend on her fourth. (Her favorite brand). We even made the whole wedding-cake-out-of-diapers thing...Soooooo easy...and some clever people bought some in different sizes so she actually didn't have to buy diapers for 11 months. One of my cousins (who had a double mastectomy at 20) has a "Formula Party". I went to one shower that the mum-to-be wanted socks of all sizes (I swear to god...is there some kind of little gremlin that sneaks around the house eating baby & toddler socks???)
I have yet to go to a shower that request gift certificates for take-out...but give my SIL time and she swears that that is all she wants. Not to even have to THINK about cooking for the first 2 weeks.

So have fun, & congratulations :)

What is wrong with celebrating the coming another member of your family?? If you want to have a baby shower, so be it. Great. Have fun. If you think that you will be being selfish because of what other people say, then don't.

Isn't it wonderful that you are going to be welcoming your third son into this world? Congratulations. I think it's fantastic and if I were you, I would celebrate. I think where people may think the "selfishness" comes in is if you register for stuff you don't need because you already have it. My issue is this... I wanted different things for my kids because they are all different and they are going to get them when they grow up, move away, and have children of their own. I used the same cradle for all four of them and the same crib for the two younger ones, but they each had their own theme, special blankets and stuffies and some clothes... nonconsequential stuff. So, keep the same "equipment" unless you really need another and ask for things that you didn't get to have with the others.

That is, of course, if you register. You may decide to not register and still have a party. This gives people the freedom to bring something they want for you to have for your new baby and to celebrate with you. If you really want to keep the gift-giving down to a bare minimum, ask that if people really want to give you something, please give gift cards to wherever your stroller of choice is, so they can help you get what you really need instead of more of what you don't. Include a statement in your invitation to that effect. Be careful in your phrasing, though, because you don't want to offend the people you're inviting.

Have loads of fun. Congratulations again on your new son. You have been blessed.

I think you've already answered your question. If you're comfortable with having a shower, and you really want one, then I say go for it!

I can totally understand not wanting more stuff. One way around that is to ask everyone to bring a new unwrapped baby gift and donate to a local charity that serves new moms in need, or babies in foster care, or some other worthy charity. That way everyone feels good.

I'll be interested to see what others think.

I think it's perfectly fine, except maybe call it a celebration rather than a shower... being that generally showers are for gifts to help out. Also, I don't think it's wrong to specify very bluntly "Please do not bring gifts... we feel your love and support is gift enough and just appreciate your attendance."

I really like the idea of having a get together with the family and friends AFTER the baby is born to introduce him to everyone. This celebrates your new son, gives you the party, and avoids the gift issue (you may still get a few, but at least you don't look like you were soliciting them). You can also host this yourself without having to depend on someone else throwing a shower for you, as proper social graces require. No matter how often you say "No Gifts", if you do something before the baby is born, people will want to bring a gift or feel obligated to do so, as evidenced by baby celebration #2. Let people bring things of their own accord, they will if they want to. You can always donate what you don't need.

I think you should certainly celebrate your new child! You could ask poeple to donate to a children's charity instead of bringing gifts. People will send gifts whether you have a party or not! You could also have a type of blessing way (not usually co-ed however). At my shower, we asked everyone to bring a candle and a bead. Before my daughter was born, I strung all the beads together to make a necklace and I wore it during the birth and we burned the candles during the birth. The candles and necklace were great reminders of the love and support of my friends and family. That way, people who attend have very specific directions of what to bring and from what I heard, the girls had a great time picking out beads and candles that held special meaning. Congrats on your amazing family!!!

We had a shower with all of our kids! With the 3rd, we had a disposibles only shower. So, people could bring diapers, wipes, wash, lotion, cream..ect.

I think every baby deserves to be celebrated!

If you only need several large items, you can ask that people only give gift cards to a certain place and let them know what the money will be going towards..

I think it's important to celebrate every little baby no matter what number they are. For my daughter's birthday recently, we really didn't want people to bring gifts so we suggested potluck items for everyone to bring. It worked out great! Some people (with kids) brought a gift and some didn't, but it was clear that there was no expectation for it. We're planning to do an open house type thing after our next arrives a month or so after the birth. That way we have a chance to adjust a little, but still get to celebrate a new life.

I don't think it's a bad idea - but I'd theme it - either frozen meals to stuff your freezer or I'd ask for donations and donate to babies in need.

I do think one should theme it - my cousin just had a third kid - does that mean I shouldn't send a gift? Nope - I'm going to make him a quilt.

Times must have changed drastically since I had my kids, but the expectant mom/parents don't give themselves a shower or a party, that's something that the expectant mom's friends do for her. And by the time you have your 3rd child, there's no 'big' party, it may be just a very few of your friends who get together and care for the Mom more than provide for the baby. If you and your husband want to have a party to celebrate this baby, may I suggest a party after the baby arrives, maybe at his baptism or other religious ceremony? Or a 'coming out' party after he's here and you're home? The stuff you need is stuff you need to provide yourselves. Showers were given to the 'new' Mom to be to help provide advice as much as they were given to provide stuff. It's like throwing your own birthday party and expecting gifts... no. If your friends throw you a shower, great. If your friends know you, they know what you need. They'll go together to get the bigger gift. When you're well on road as a parent (2nd, 3rd, 4th baby), if you are given a shower, the gifts you receive will be the consumables, like clothes that are apt to have a sort shelf life, wipes, diapers, powders, lotions, etc. Enjoy you new baby boy!!

I would pass on the shower. You can celebrate the new life with your family or close friends by hosting them for dinner. If I were invited to that sort of thing with a 2nd or 3rd child, I would think they are wanting gifts and be a smidge annoyed by the whole thing.

I recently went to a baby shower for a 2nd child, same sex as the first. The mom said she had everything she needed and we didn't need to bring presents. She said if we wanted to bring something, we could bring diapers or baby food which would be donated to a local charity that needed them. She then had a drawing for a little gift, with each jar of baby food earning one entry.

Some people still brought her presents, but there was a lot of baby food donated. It was a fun way to have a celebration for her and her baby, without overloading her with things she didn't need.

No, I don't think you should have a baby shower for your third baby. I see nothing wrong with hosting a dinner party or brunch to introduce your baby to the family. Another shower isn't needed. I wouldn't even call it a baby celebration since that would invite gifts, but just say it's a family get-together.