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12-20-2012 at 1:15 PM
verovladam...
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verovladamir is not online. Last active: 05-22-2013, 11:04 PMBronze

Sip and See vs "sprinkle"

My cousin has been offering to throw me a "sprinkle" since she found out I was pregnant. We are extremely close and I was thrilled that she wanted to throw a party for me, but it felt awkward. DS will not even be 2 yet when DD is born, so I think it would look really gift-grabby to have two showers so close together, especially since my baby shower for DS was almost exactly a year after my wedding shower (honeymoon baby)!

We have a fairly small family, and I don't have many local friends, so it would be a small affair. I also know that everyone will want to see the baby when she is born. I suggested that maybe a Meet and Greet/Sip and See would be the better option and she was totally for that. But I've never been to one so I have no idea what it should be like. I'm thinking I would like the invites to say no gifts. I know some people will bring little stuff (clothes or diapers) which is fine, but I don't really need anything since it hasn't been that long...

So... have you been to one? Did you have one? How did it work with such a little baby (some of my family is squeamish with breastfeeding too, so that makes me nervous)?

 Any insight would be amazing!


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12-20-2012 at 1:33 PM
RoxyLynn
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A Meet The Baby party is a perfect solution.  The hostess can include a note about "your presence is the only gift we wish for."  It's usually a fairly casual event, and of course if the baby needs to nurse you can simply go to another room.

I think it can be done well, and I would have loved it, but taking all of the crappy parts of school away from a kid isn't good for them in the long run.

There are lessons like "Not everyone likes you" and "Some people are douche bags" that you don't learn without socializing in a large group of poorly supervised children.
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12-20-2012 at 2:02 PM
Estwd2
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Estwd2 is not online. Last active: 05-22-2013, 9:32 PMSilver

I have a few personal preferences for meet the baby parties:

- I think they only make sense if most of the people coming have literally not met the baby. I would not have had one if I didn't live out of state from my family. So our MTB party was literally a MTB party. You said you had a small family. Will they truly have not met the baby yet? Because if they have, then it sounds weird and slightly AWish to have a sip n see. If they haven't met the baby, it makes sense.

- I prefer no printed invites. This is a personal thing, but to me, printed invites mean I should bring a gift. My mom hosted mine and just called guests. If you prefer printed invites, I'm personally not a fan of adding any lines mentioning "no gifts." I'd assume people who would usually get you a gift would bring one regardless.

- I've been to 3 MTBs including my own. All the babies were a few months old, so I don't think the moms had a problem passing them around, especially doing it open house style between certain hours. The guests are staggered, so there's not a huge crowd at once. Anyone BFing just excused themselves to go in another room. I EPed, so I left the baby with DH while I excused myself to go pump. With a new baby, I think everyone is understanding of that.


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12-20-2012 at 10:56 PM
rhubarb123
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I had a Meet the Baby Party for two of my kids (the last two).  I did not mention gifts at all and I'd say about 1/3 maybe 1/2 brought gifts...mostly diapers, a few outfits, etc.  I did not open them at the party until the very end when the only people left were those that were staying the night.  We combined it with our annual BBQ so people invited were from as far as 5 hours away so stayed the night.  When people arrive just put the gift in a room not in use for the party (formal diningroom, etc.).  We put ours in the livingroom. 

Wear the baby...then people will not be apt to want to hold him/her and you could also discreetly nurse that way.  Course if there is an issue with nursing I'm sure you could just go in a bedroom, etc.

Do NOT mention gifts...even to say "no gifts".  That is bascially telling people that you are actually "thinking" of gifts...even to say you don't want any.  KWIM?

Where I live a "Sprinkle" is a mini shower and almost always held before the baby is born and gifts are opened, sometimes games are played, etc.  It is just much smaller with very close friends.  Plus you are not supposed to invite the same people that were invited to your first shower (with the exception of grandmothers).

 
12-21-2012 at 8:22 PM
jeffsjayme
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Agree with the PP that a meet the baby should be for actually meeting the baby.  I had one for our son even though people live locally...I just had it 2 weeks after he was born, had told our relatives way in advance that we were going to do this.  So, while our parents and siblings came up to the hospital to visit, extended family and friends didn't.  So that's when my aunts and uncles and cousins and friends actually really, truly met the baby.

We did invites mostly via facebook and email since the date was unknown until I actually gave birth.  My sister hosted it at her house.  We did a baseball theme and served hot dogs, nachos, sugar cookies made to look like baseballs.  We did do a printed invite for grandparents since they appreciate that kind of thing. But everyone else got a facebook or email invite.

Tis okay if your family is squeamish about breastfeeding.  These aren't long parties - 2-3 hours is plenty and you wouldn't breastfeed in front of them.  Just excuse yourself to another room for a bit.  

Our invitations called it a "Meet the Baby Open House" so that people knew that they could come and go at any time between 11:00 and 2:00.  We did put - "please no gifts; really this is just a date and time to come meet the little one"...meet the baby parties aren't common amongst our friends, so I wanted to set the expectation that we really didn't need or expect anything.

I'll definitely do one again - I thought it was perfect! 


 
12-24-2012 at 2:19 PM
verovladam...
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verovladamir is not online. Last active: 05-22-2013, 11:04 PMBronze
Estwd2:

- I think they only make sense if most of the people coming have literally not met the baby. I would not have had one if I didn't live out of state from my family. So our MTB party was literally a MTB party. You said you had a small family. Will they truly have not met the baby yet? Because if they have, then it sounds weird and slightly AWish to have a sip n see. If they haven't met the baby, it makes sense.

 

Honestly, they probably won't have met the baby yet. It's a small family, but they don't necessarily live close. Most are about an hour away. Close enough where coming for a get-together would not be inconvenient, but to just come visit me in the hospital for 20 minutes would be pushing it. Also, everyone on my side of the family always expects a meal whenever they come for ANYTHING. Even when my grandma came to visit when DS was born, she expected that there would be food (my dad kindly offered to have everyone at his house so that I wouldn't have to cook!). The good news is that my cousin knows this and understands that any MTB would need to include food (she also loves to cook).

As for gifts, I would probably have to say "no gifts" on the invite, otherwise my Aunt will send my mom an email telling her how she thinks I'm greedy (she said this about my baby shower because it was close to my wedding... sorry? Then don't come if it bothers you. I clearly didn't get pregnant just for the gifts...)


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