Should Gifts be Opened at a Baby Shower?

Traditional baby showers are evolving and what used to be expected at a baby shower is evolving to what best suits the guest of honor. Today we are talking about whether or not gifts should be open at a baby shower.

Traditionally, baby showers were held so the women in the life of the mom-to-be could “shower” her with all the things that she will need for the new baby. Baby showers were always a ladies only affair where the primary goal was for the mom-to-be to receive and open the gifts brought by the other women.

Today the norms of these events are shifting and it’s more and more common for baby showers to include men and even children.

With the changing norms then, it may not come as a surprise that while gifts have traditionally been opened during the shower, today it’s not always the case.

Baby showers that are considered co-ed showers or larger baby showers where there are a large number of gifts, may not be planned to include the time for opening all of the gifts.

Some baby showers today are planned as a “display shower” where guests are asked to bring their gift unwrapped so that gifts can be displayed at the shower allowing everyone to see what the mom-to-be has received without needing to sit through them being opened.

There are other reasons why baby showers are planned without the opening of gifts. Some moms-to-be may simply be unconformable being the center of attention for an extended period of time or may wish to share the opening of the gifts with the dad-to-be when they are together.

If you are planning a baby shower for a special mom-to-be in your life, the best thing to do is talk to the guest-of-honor or take the guest list into consideration when deciding if gifts should be opened at the shower.

If you are the guest of an upcoming shower, understand that you may not see the mom-to-be open your gift and it’s not appropriate to ask for your gift to be opened if opening gifts is not a planned part of the event. Understand that norms are changing and be happy to be a part of this special milestone for the soon-to-be-parents.

Do you have questions about planning a baby shower, baby shower etiquette or another topic you’d like to see covered here on the blog? Leave a comment below or send us an email with your questions.