Fathers should be included in baby showers, too. After all, having a baby and parenting are two-person jobs. The mother shouldn’t be expected to do it all on her own, yet the mother-centric culture of parenting often alienates fathers. Perhaps these reasons are behind the rise in co-ed baby showers and diaper parties. According to a piece in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, diaper parties are great opportunities for fathers-to-be to get ready for parenthood.

In concept, a diaper party and baby shower are essentially the same type of event. At both, a group of family members and friends join a parent-to-be for a few hours and bring gifts; the group spends the afternoon playing some games and eating. A diaper party differs in that, aside from all guests being men, diapers are the only gifts given and traditional baby shower games are eschewed in favor of more grown-up activities, such as poker or a barbecue.

Parents will spend $70 a month for diapers, on average, and a diaper party is great for amassing a starting supply. Nevertheless, the event signifies to the father-to-be that he’s being included as a parent, and prepares him for fatherhood.

Diaper parties haven’t been around long enough for a strict code of etiquette to develop. Because these events are so casual, a guest can show up with a basic pack of diapers. If you want to dress up your gift and still be practical, however, consider a diaper cake. High-quality diaper cakes have 80 to 150 diapers and are designed with baby products on the outside. Although attractive in appearance, a diaper cake is practical for new parents, providing them with a large starting supply of diapers (these will be added to the rest of all of the guests) and a few necessary baby products.

Going green has gone beyond turning the light off when you leave a room or recycling. In the present, being green is all about reducing your carbon footprint and limiting exposure and use of harmful chemicals. If you have been asked to plan a baby shower, you might have been instructed to make it as green as possible. This appears to be the case for one woman who wrote to Mother Nature Network about how to plan a green baby shower.

Morieka Johnson wrote in response some suggestions for putting together a green baby shower, and many of her suggestions overlap with ours for being economical with a new baby:

• Send all guests digital invitations
• Stick with a simple theme instead of games
• Go with practical decorations (See our diaper cake suggestion below)
• Make the event a potluck and ask guests to bring some food
• Suggest bringing lightly-worn baby products, such as bedding, clothing, and toys. Used furniture, strollers, and car seats are questionable.

While all of Johnson’s suggestions are helpful for planning a baby shower – any, not just a green party – we have some of our own. Eco baby products are now as attractive as ordinary baby items and are affordable. To add some color to the event, consider:

• Eco-friendly diaper cakes by Rattlecake. A diaper cake is both an attractive centerpiece at a baby shower and a practical gift, providing parents with a large starting supply of diapers. Eco-friendly diaper cakes take this a step further by being made out of organic and environmentally-friendly products. Each diaper cake is made out of Seventh Generation diapers and includes Burt’s Bees products and Dandelion baby toys, which are made out of organic cotton and corn filling.
• Choose an eco-friendly baby gift. Stores like Dada Baby Boutique have a large selection of green items, such as furniture, clothing, bedding, and toys.

You’d think that, with all of the coverage surrounding celebrity babies even before they leave the womb, Victoria Beckham’s baby shower would have been covered in the news sooner. Yet, news of her May 7 baby shower didn’t hit the tabloids until May 16 – even in the U.K., where Beckham and her soccer player husband are far larger celebrities than they are in the U.S. Perhaps the paparazzi are far more concerned with Mariah Carey’s twins than they are with the Beckham’s fourth spawn.

Nevertheless, as reported in celebrity gossip blog Hollywood Life, Beckham was thrown a pink-themed baby shower at the Hotel Le Petit Ermitage in Hollywood. A-list guests, including Selma Blair, Eva Longoria, and Nichole Richie, were invited. Source Beginnings, a Hollywood baby boutique, claims that, even with Beckham’s insistence that all gifts be pink, guests chose presents in other colors.

Baby products used by celebrities are not as far removed as, say, fashion choices. A Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag is closer to the average woman’s budget than a pair of Louboutins or a Hermes bag. If you are curious about the gifts given to Beckham, the following items have been mentioned by Hollywood Life and the Daily Mail:
• A Quinny Buzz Special Edition Stroller in pink
• A mamaRoo baby swing
• A Hoppop bath tub
• A Little Giraffe Luxe Blanket
• A Timi + Leslie diaper bag
• A custom-made stuffed giraffe by Melissa & Doug
• A Bonpoint clothing set
• An Orbit Baby Infant Stroller in red
• A Bloom Alma crib; and
• A Bloom Fresco high chair

Surprising a friend at a baby shower with a gift like one Victoria Beckham received isn’t out of the question. In fact, many of these brands can be found through ordinary baby boutiques. Baby and Me Boutique, for instance, carries Quinny Buzz strollers and Timi + Leslie diaper bags. Brands Melissa and Doug and Little Giraffe are sold through Hunky Dory.

You’ve been invited to the baby shower for a friend of a friend, and when you go to choose a baby gift, you essentially have two options – pink or blue. No matter if the toy or item is a set of blocks, onesies, a blanket, or stuffed animal, these two colors practically predominate. Unisex or gender-neutral items are only a small percentage of the baby products on the shelf. So, what do you choose?

If the shower is for a girl, you’re in luck and have a plethora of options. For a boy, however, you’re stuck. Although blue, to a certain extent, is appropriate for girls (assuming you don’t give her an action figure), pink appears to exclusively be a girls’ color. When there are no blue baby gifts, should you settle on pink – it is only a toy, after all – or look for another option?

Writer Rachel Kramer Bussel seems trapped in the same type of dilemma, which she details in a piece for the Huffington Post. She decided to give a baby gift, a similar and favorite item she had for her child, but could only find it in pink. Rather than looking for another gift in blue, she sent the pink baby toy instead.

Bussel, although still waiting for a response about the toy, still questions her decision. While the child likely will not remember the toy, the parents, however, may be put off or taken aback. Pink, socially, is not considered an appropriate color for boys, and a pink baby toy, as a result, appears like a feminist agenda in a box. Will the parents use it, put it in a closet, or think that Bussel is making a political statement out of a baby toy?

There is no concrete answer to Bussel’s dilemma. Ideally, the use of the toy would trump its color. Blue, as a masculine shade, is considered empowering for girls, but pink does the reverse for boys – debasing or feminizing. In such an instance, going with the unisex option appears to cause the least commotion and confusion.

Have you been invited to a baby shower recently? For some women, especially those in their mid- to late-twenties, this might be the first time they’ve been invited to a shower. Although much like any other party, baby showers have their own set of rules regarding gift-giving, spending, and replying to invitations. If you’ve been invited but aren’t sure what to give, here are some baby shower etiquette tips.

When it comes to picking out a gift, $20 to $70 is an acceptable range for baby shower gifts. Coworkers and acquaintances should aim for the lower range — $20 to $40 – while family and close friends should go higher. If you’ve been sent an invitation but aren’t able to attend, still reply and, much like a wedding, send a small gift to the parents-to-be.

Also similar to weddings is the use of a gift registry. Parents, especially those needing specific items for their child, don’t want to sift through a large amount of useless baby products. Instead, guests in this case are advised to check their gift registry and find items that new parents could use.

Aside from these tips, a general word of advice is to consider the needs of the parents, gift registry or not. Most parents, by the time the shower rolls around, already have many of the larger items for their child, such as a stroller, crib, and other furniture. Mainly, at this point, they need the basics – and lots of them. Baby clothing and toys are perfect, but considering a child will outgrow these two aspects every three months, think about the long-term needs of the parents.

Even though parents need as much clothing and toys as possible for their child, still ask about what they have ahead of time. Especially where second children are concerned, parents may already have a large amount of baby products on hand.

Are you planning a baby shower for a friend? And, are you struggling to come up with a unique concept for the party? A few articles regarding baby showers were published over the past week. One focuses on diaper cakes, a practical centerpiece for showers, and another presents a nearly-unheard-of concept: a gift-less baby shower.

The former, published in Parent Dish, presents diaper cakes as a practical and colorful gift. The article gives some tips on choosing diaper cakes, including considering the mother’s tastes, such as her favorite colors and sports team. On the practical side, the cakes also give new parents a starting supply of diapers, and, in this case, a larger cake starts new parents off with a bigger supply.

Nevertheless, the current economic climate shows that, perhaps, traditional baby showers simply aren’t feasible. An article in the Green Bay Press Gazette presents another idea for such events: gift-less baby showers. In these instances, parents aren’t obligated to bring baby gifts, but, ultimately, the decision should be up to the mother.

The article discusses the concerns of a mother having her second child. She would like a shower for the gathering atmosphere but, rather, doesn’t want the presents because she has several baby products already. Instead, the author presents a few ideas. A luncheon is one, but more specifically geared toward a new baby is an “advice” party about parenting, a book shower, hand-me-down parties, and a literal “birth day” party after the baby is born. In many of these instances, gifts are optional.

Nevertheless, this article brings up a common issue concerning baby showers: will the parents already have enough or will they have this specific item? Although parents expecting their first child will need more, ask the expecting parents what they already have and, in general, stick with smaller and necessary items.