A baby shower is such a special event to share in the joy of the new baby to arrive. It’s also so necessary for first time parents. If you’ve never been into a baby store, you might be shocked at just how much everything costs and how quickly it all adds up when you are getting ready for your first child.
Babies cost as little or as much as you decide, really. You want a state-of-the-art nursery with matching crib bedding and wall décor? You can have it. It depends on you, though, how much it will cost. Two people could spend strikingly different amounts on that kind of nursery and still end up with the same result. You might want to read THIS article to see what one mom would do differently after decorating her first child’s nursery.
© Elnur / Dollar Photo Club
My philosophy with baby stuff is to get only what you need and save your money for something that could benefit your child later on in life. And that’s why, when my mom asked me what kind of theme we should have for my baby shower, I told her that I’d like to have a “Secondhand Baby Shower.”
Silence.
Gasps.
Relax! Secondhand does not mean “garbage” or “dirty.” All it means is that someone else used the item before you. Sometimes secondhand stuff is actually new. Maybe the person had it and meant to use it, but they never did. I’m not picky when it comes to where my baby’s clothes came from. I could care less if some other child loved one of their stuffed animals before they did. Those piles and piles of books? They don’t need to be new.
4 Reasons You Might Consider a Secondhand Baby Shower
Here are my reasons for throwing a secondhand baby shower:
1. To Save the Planet
Since I had decided I would be using cloth diapers and making homemade baby food for my baby, I figured I would save the planet from more plastic being dumped into its landfills and take the unused stuff others didn’t want anymore.
2. To Receive More Gifts
If you want more bang for your buck from a baby shower, you should try this secondhand baby shower theme. I’ve shared before how much we received from our oldest daughter’s baby shower, and I owe a lot of it to this baby shower theme. It seems like the people who gave secondhand items gave more.
If a lot of the invitees to your shower are ready to get rid of baby stuff, that means you get to benefit from that. It’s a win-win situation!
3. The Mom-to-Be Already Has a Lot of Baby Stuff
Some women like to buy baby stuff as they find it on sale, even before they ever get pregnant. Before my sister had kids, she would buy cute outfits. So if you are throwing a shower for a soon-to-be-mama who has a lot of clothes or the big stuff already, this might be the way to go for her. You could even indicate on the invitation what stuff she actually needs so that there are no duplicates.
4. This is the Second Shower a Mom Has Had
I’m not sure how common it is to have a shower for your second child, but I know that some people get one. I think this would be the perfect shower theme to choose in this instance.
Now, obviously, if the mom-to-be is not into getting hand-me-downs, don’t even consider this shower. You don’t want the mom’s only baby shower to be something she wants to erase from her mind. But I can see a crunchy mom totally loving this. Just make sure that if you are the one throwing the shower, you know the mom-to-be really well.
Would you ever consider throwing a secondhand baby shower for somebody?
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I love this idea! I can’t even tell you how much money we spent on things we didn’t need because we thought we needed them. 🙁
It’s funny you mentioned a babyshower for a second baby. In Costa Rica every time you’re pregnant you get a baby shower. Each baby is a celebration and there’s always a “party” involved. I was surprised to find out it’s not like that here. I don’t understand why because when you think about it you are celebrating this little being coming into this world and every child deserves to be celebrated. 🙂
You’re right, Carolina! We should really change that and start throwing showers for every baby. I think the reason we don’t is just because a second time mom definitely doesn’t need as much as a first time mom. But it would be really awesome to just have a party with some food and music to celebrate the new baby. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
This is brilliant and I totally wish I would have had something like this when I had my first baby shower. Although my second baby shower was awesome – I did a Shanti Ugunda in home fundraiser and it was awesome.
Thank you for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
I just looked up what a Shanti Uganda party is. I’ve never heard of it before. Their products are so colorful! I bet your shower was a blast!