The British baby shower – will you give it a ‘wide-birth’?

A very close friend of mine is due to have a baby in the upcoming weeks.

Within a few months of her announcing her pregnancy a number of people asked whether we’d be throwing a baby shower for her.

Sheepishly we came forward to do the honours – a little nervous that we had a) not organised a baby shower before and b) not even been to one!

If you’re not familiar with the concept (I wasn’t until the weekend just gone) it’s essentially a small girl-only gathering for close friends and family to toast in the new arrival, spoil the mother-to-be and help kit out the new parents.

UK shops offer baby shower gift lists

Here comes the slightly controversial bit – do you organise a baby shower gift list? A number of outlets organise such lists, including Mamas & Papas, Mothercare and Toys R Us.

Sure, setting up an official list with a retailer can seem a little pretentious. But lots of people asked if they could buy something that would be really helpful for the parents-to-be; something they really needed.

So, rather than setting up an official list with a retailer, I asked the mother-to-be for a list of basics she needed – nappies, muslins etc. I then included a note on the invite so people could contact me if they wanted to buy something from this informal list.

Ticking off the present list

Now, this kind of concept only works if people tell you what they plan to buy so you can cross it off the list.

As it happened only two people did this, so I was none the wiser as to who had bought what. Of course, an ‘official list’ would solve this problem, but that might make your friends and family feel obliged to stick to the items on that list.

Would you be put off by an official gift list for a parents-to-be baby shower? Or would such a list make you feel happier that you were getting something they really needed?

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