It’s unofficially baby shower week here on the pregnancy blog. If you haven’t done so already, read about whether or not you should get a second baby shower and whether you have to play shower games, Monday and Tuesday’s topics, respectively.

Earlier this week I was speaking with a friend about planning – you guessed it – a baby shower. Apparently someone suggested that our pregnant friend should have the shower after the baby was born, and others insisted she have it before. So which is better: before or after?

I’m going to go on the record and say that having a baby shower before the baby is born is better for a number of reasons. I understand that if you have the shower afterward, the baby’s health, gender and well-being are a sure thing, and the guests have the privilege of meeting the new baby at the shower, but those are the only perks I see.

Reasons to have your baby shower before you have the baby:

1. Laundry
Most mommies-to-be leave the baby shower with loads and loads of gifts that need to be pre-laundered, such as blankets, crib sheets, clothing, etc. If I remember correctly, it took me a couple days to remove tags, sort, launder, fold and put away everything. As a mother, I now know how much longer it would have taken me if I was limited to nap times and the answer is: too long. And what about the baby: would he or she wear hospital clothes and swaddling blankets until I had the chance to finish?

2. Organization
Going through everything else, opening it, removing tags and packaging, and finding a home for it in the nursery also took a very long time. See #1.

3. Freedom to Enjoy the Shower
If you attend your shower before the baby is born, the only thing slowing you down on the way up to the buffet line is that waddle that makes you so cute. There are also no worries of a crying baby interrupting the games or the gift opening. You don’t have to worry about your milk suddenly coming down and staining your party dress. You don’t have to interrupt the party to change a stinky diaper. We all know it: parties are much simpler before baby arrives.

4. Limit Germs
Baby showers involve a lot of people, and if the baby is present, that means a lot of people touching your baby all at once. Do you really want to expose your newborn to that many people at once? Are you willing to wait until the first month is over for your baby shower?

5. You’re Well Rested
You may feel like you’re not sleeping when you’re pregnant, but it has nothing on the way you feel when you’re living with a newborn who has no sense of night and day. Do you really want to attend a party and play shower games when you’re running on three hours of sleep? Do you really want your picture taken a hundred times with those bags under your eyes?

6. You’re Glowing
Piggy-backing on #5 – the first month after you have a baby, it’s more than likely that you’re not going to feel all that incredible looking. Neither your maternity or old clothes fit, you’re still dealing with the shock of the leftover skin and “pooch,” as I like to call it, and it’s likely you’re still wincing a little bit from delivery. It takes a while to recover and there is nothing wrong with that, but I would bet that most women would rather stay home in their sweats than make a public appearance in an outfit that doesn’t quite fit right yet. On the other hand, when you still have a month or two to go before your delivery, your belly is big and cute, your skin is glowing, your hair looks amazing, and the maternity dress clothes available are cuter than ever. It might be a shallow reason to hold a shower before you deliver, but that doesn’t make it any less valid.

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