[Barefoot~Baker]

My mom and my brother's gf are planning my baby shower and asked me if I wanted to include men, and I said no. I'd rather it was just women and children. I told my husband and he got bent out of shape that he couldn't be there :nana: Well I told him he could come but there wouldn't be any other men there and then he said he didn't want to.

It just had me wondering what you all do, and do husbands sometimes go when there aren't any other men? How do women feel about this?

 

[the_lissa]

My husband has been at my showers, and so have other men. I wouldn't want a women only shower.

 

[4Blessings]

I've never been to a shower that included men. I've been to a lot of showers.

My DH wasn't at my shower and would not have wanted to be either.

 

[viviensmama]

My husband is coming to my shower, and we decided to make it a couples shower. To me, those are the most fun and I wouldn't want to be there by myself with a bunch of women.

 

[kcparker]

Our shower was all our friends, male and female (we don't have any family nearby). I see the shower as a way for your community of friends and family to welcome this new baby and to show their support of your new family (or your growing family). Kind of like I wouldn't invite only women to my wedding, I wouldn't invite only women to a baby shower - men get just as excited about new life and new little people to play with. My husband would have been really sad if we had the party for the baby without him.

Perhaps if you want a women-only event, a blessingway would be a good option. They tend to focus more on centering your maternal energy and bringing together other women in support of you as you prepare to give birth, and often include stories of birth and feminine power, making a birthing necklace (each attendee and friends from afar send a bead that the mother strings together to wear during the birth), henna belly painting or making a belly cast, having a prayer or blessing circle, more 'girly' stuff like that.

 

[HadhratKhadija]

ive been to manyyyy baby showers and only one time did a man, the husband, show up midway and it was wierd. i personally love women only gatherings, but maybe its a cultural thing.

 

[Barefoot~Baker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcparker I see the shower as a way for your community of friends and family to welcome this new baby and to show their support of your new family (or your growing family). Kind of like I wouldn't invite only women to my wedding, I wouldn't invite only women to a baby shower - men get just as excited about new life and new little people to play with.

That's a great point. Darn, the invitations are all out.

 

[kcparker]

You can always send out more - postcards are 27 cents apiece to send and will only take a few days to arrive...

 

[JD5351]

I've been to both types. I prefer female/male showers. Mine is on the 26th of this month, and we're just having a family/friends cookout...Very casual. I'm not into all the games and things that normally go on at traditional baby showers. I just want to get together with everyone I love and celebrate and eat yummy food.

Do what feels best for you.

 

[Masel]

We were thrown three baby showers. DH went to two of them. For the third his friends threw him a guy shower which involved beer and video games. He did get some gifts and advice. We still have the list pinned up on the bulletin board. One line says "Don't let the baby play with a bleach pen."

 

[Ianthe]

My DH went to my baby shower, he was the only man, and he didn't have a problem with it.

 

[StrongFeather]

We are starting off with all women and then towards the end men will be invited. My DH read up on it and he's "supposed to" make an appearance, say thank you and carry stuff to the car ;-) ha! Plus I have guy friends who want to come and celebrate..

 

[NokomisThree]

We had a coed party and loved it. The worst part was opening the gifts; the older generation INSISTED that I open them, so I made DP help. If I had to do it over, I'd leave that part out. The invitations specified it was both of us celebrating so the couples would get the hint.
Oh, we also didn't call it a baby shower, which has the history of being only for women. We called ours a Procreation Celebration!

 

[texaspeach]

the handful of showers I have been to have included the dad even if there aren't other men. it's his baby too, if he wants to be there he should be there

 

[cristeen]

Our shower will be co-ed. In part because if it weren't it'd just be 3 or 4 women sitting around chatting. Most of our friends are male.

 

[trauerweidchen]

We just had a small get-together last weekend that we titled our '"NOT a baby shower" pre-baby party', with friends of both genders (including 3 couples), and I wouldn't have had it any other way. That being said, I've never been to a traditional baby shower, so I don't really know how they should go, anyway. Also, my husband and I are so very close that I can't imagine having a party that celebrates such an important and joint event in our lives without having him there.

Still, I don't see anything wrong with having a women-only event if that's what you want; another option is to have a second party where men are invited, such as a casual cookout. The way our event was worded, only one friend (and my mother) got us a gift, which was just fine with us since we've gotten our basic supplies already. One of my mother's friends wants to throw us a shower, but there really isn't time to prepare and throw the party before the baby arrives, so we're probably going to have a summer party after the baby gets here. Due to space limitations at our house, this will work out well for us because we couldn't invite everyone we might have wanted to last weekend.

There are lots of good options!

 

[mamamia10]

we did a Jack-Jill shower, it was a BLAST!!! it was more like a picnic but we got to socalize and see friends we have not seen in a long while. I figured we made this baby together at least we could have a party together!
seriously it was really fun

 

[Tari Mithrandir]

I didn't have a baby shower, but if I had, I would have wanted DH to be there... I mean, it is his baby too, and anything to encourage daddy to be interested and involved is great IMO. Applies to inviting other men too

 

[JBaxter]

yup DH was at my shower as were our mutual male friends.... They gave tons of insite...
I remember one of his friends telling him to get rechargeable batteries for the swing and the "buzzy chair" ( vibrating bouncy seat) and talking about diaper changes LOL

 

[mags]

There is nothing wrong with doing a Jack and Jill shower. Both my bridal showers and baby showers were Jack and Jill style. My DH basically knows all of my friends and was able to invite his friends too.