Adoption Baby Shower

I have an adopted son that I got when he was only 3 days old. It was a wonderful experience...a month later I got pregant so my little one are only 10 mos. apart. I was given a baby shower for my adopted little and it was so much fun because of the games.
One: is holding a clothes pin between the legs and try to drop it in a clear jar w/an opening about 1"-2". THE ONE WITH THE MOST pins in the jar Wins!
2: get a bowl full of cotton balls & a regular spoon size, blind fold the person and see how many cotton balls the can pick out of the ball and put in a plain pie pan the are holding on their head with there other hand.
3: the good old baby shower bingo you can buy at a party store.
Hope that helps. Have fun, O. Delgado

I helped throw a baby shower for a friend who adopted a child last November. This was her second child (her first was her own). We treated it as pretty much as though it was any other baby shower. She knew she was adopting a boy and had decided his name, so she received a ton of diapers, wipes, other disposable things plus several personalized item. We did traditional games (there are several good sites on the internet). It was an open adoption and the birth mom had been invited but was unable to come. Hope this helps :)

I make cakes of all sizes out of Pampers diapers. I custom make them to the color and theme you would like. I can make simple 1 or 2 tier cakes or elaborate 3-5 tier cakes. Great for a baby shower gift or centerpiece and very useful for the new mom. I need about a week in advance to make it. If you would like a picture of one of my most recent cakes, let me know and i would gladly email it to you! Have a great day!
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Chist you are serving." Colossians 3:23

W., my daughter was adopted and I didn't have a shower until after all the immediate papers had been filed with the court. THe thought of having to return gifts to people if there was a snag in the process was too much for me to deal with. I asked my friends to wait until it was a done deal ( about 2 mos.) Then I had the shower with my darling baby girl in my arms and it couldn't have been sweeter. My hubby and I went out and bought the necessary items for the baby 1 week before she was born and left items for later for the shower. I had heard too many instances where the birth mom changes her mind when she sees the baby and I didn't want to be premature in planning for her arrival. Ask the adopting mom what she wants to do and if she is okay with going ahead then just treat the shower like any other baby shower!

Use colorful baby bottles as flower vases. Use colorful clothespins to attach baby clothes, socks, bibs, burp pads to a "clothes line"(ribbon, yarn, twine)strung around the room. Have each guest supply a photo of themselves as a baby. Stick them to a posterboard and number each one. Have the guests guess the identity of each baby. Using nursery rhymes ask questions like, "In 'Jack and Jill' what did Jack break?" For the game prizes, give teething ring, rattle, hairbrush to be given to the new mom. Have each guest write their best advice or personal funny story about what to expect. Welcome, Baby! C.

We just had a baby shower and we played a game that was lots of fun. You label brown lunch bags with the abc's and in each bag put a baby item that begins with that letter. It is very easy to set up for and the mama to be will have all the goodies that was placed in the bags when you are finished.

First of all it is nice that you will be giving a shower.
My husband and I have adopted all three of our kids. We were given shower for all of our children after they were adopted. In my case I did not want a shower prior to adopting our children. We had been through too much heart ache. I could not bear to have a shower and then not have the adoption go through.
I would suggest you make sure the person you are throwing the shower for knows about it.
We did not have games at any of our showers. We had a great time socializing with our friends and showing off our kids.
L.

My daughter was adopted and for reasons mentined before we chose to wait until the baby was born to have a Welcoming Baby Shower. She was 8 weeks old at the time and in good health. The invitations indicated the gender and so I was able to get the cutest clothes for her there. Everyone was told that we initially had to have all the basics already and we had bought gender neutral things. So people gave us girly picture frames to decorate the room, pink towels and wash cloths, clothes from 6mths to 24mths. I got photo albums, scrap book. I got giftcards to use later for things I would eventually need. The hostess's gave me a highchair since I hadn't bought one yet since that isn't something you need right away. I got diapers and wipes. It was great and being a first time mom, very special to me. When I had my son naturally, I didn't get a shower, I assume because he was my second child, but it really cost me alot to clothe him and I didn't realize how expensive it all is when you are paying for it all.

My neighbors adopted a little girl from China. Everyone wanted to see the new baby, so I had a baby shower/BBQ. That way everyone got to see the baby, the guys did the BBQ, and the women got to watch the mom open baby gifts and play with the baby.

Wedy,
Just remember that the Mother is just like you . the oly difference is someone else concieved the child. Every thing else is the same. So the games are the same just do't do the measurig the stomach games. Do the pins for the diapers, the taste of different baby foods and guest, Scrample of baby songs, items,etc. The best one is to guest the items shown in a basket after seeing about twenty different items for three to five seconds. Then they list later on in the party what they saw. Good luck and enjoy. Mother of three and friends of adoptive parents,also.

I absolute loved my baby shower from my friends, Depending on if it is a new born, infant, toddler - You will need to judge what will be useful & not. Since you have had the wonderful experience of delievering your child, be sensitive to "oh when I was in Labor" or It was a ruff pregnacy, Your friend is going to be over joyed with her new child, but might still be sensitive of not being able to have had the experience of caring the child herself. My shower, we had diapers with different chocolates in them, & had to figure out what flavor it was, then I walked around the room with a tray of baby items to each of the ladies, then walked out of the room, & they were asked to remember everything I had on. Also you can place items in a small brown paper bag & ask them to figure out what is in them, Look on the regist. to see what she wants. I loved that a friend went with me to help me b/c my son was 6 months old. I didn't need all the new born stuff.
Some babies are expected & some are lovely selected. Good Luck. A mom of 2 & 6 years of Infertility

I went to a baby shower I will never Forget this game!
Go to the dollar store and buy the cheapest
6 or 12 pack of small diapers with a marker number the diapers
6 or 12 candies_malted balls, herseys chocolate, butterfinger, zero, white chocolate hersey kisses, M&M's
put one candy in one diaper, smash them with a rolling pin and microwave for 10 seconds. Make sure to hide the wrappers and list which candy you put in each diaper.
Give each guest a paper numbered 1 thru how many diapers you want to make.
Each guest has two minutes to guess what kind of candy is in the diaper then pass it to the person to the right of them.
You would not beleive how many guests tried to smell and taste which candy it was. Really something to video.
The game was so funny everyone was crying and laughing at each other as yuk as it may sound. Have fun:)

W., that's awesome your planning an adoption baby shower! My daughter was adopted at birth and we had a couple showers thrown for us as soon as the ink on the final paperwork was dry and she was ours! I'm not very traditional and don't get into all the typical shower games. So, our running club surprised us with a BIG baby shower with lots of food, drink and of course, baby presents! It was a co-ed party and everyone had fun. My elderly relatives threw a cocktail party/shower which was interesting but hey they're all in their 70s or 80s!! It was appretizers, cocktails and baby presents! Lots of 'happy' grandparent types oooh-ing and aaah-ing over the baby. LOL! I am sure anything you do will be appropriate but I would wait until the ink is dry before holding a shower. Anything can happen in an adoption.

A great game which I just played at a baby shower is Baby Pictionary. The person that host the shower just made her own cards up and had a easel handy to draw. It was a small group so we all guessed but if you had a large group you could have teams. I had alot of fun!
I hope this helps.

L. K

Myself and some friends threw a baby shower for a friend who adopted. We treated like any other baby shower. She didn't register, so we got together and made a list of things we appreciated for our babies and made a huge basket (well a baby bath tub, not a basket) We kept things general, not gender specific. Which turned out to be the best thing because her birth mother pulled out at the last minute (this happened to her two more times before they got their baby) I have been to one shower where one "game" was to write down a piece of advice for the mom to be and then she gets to read them outloud. That actually was kinda nice and got conversations started. Hope this helps. ~M.

Yes:) We actually had 2 thrown for us and they were both so great!!! Ours wasn't limited to just women, but was open to whole families, which I thought was so awesome! The first one had no games and was just a great social gathering. Any games at my second one was the same as you would have at a pre-baby shower. I would just keep in mind that the parents are new parents (for choosing the new games). One of the neat ones that I liked was everyone providing advice for new parents.

I've been to one and it was no different to any other. Why should it be? A baby is a baby, and a new mother is a new mother. All the needs are the same.

I have a biological daughter (6) and an adopted son who's fixing to turn 4 in May. The shower for both were the same. The only difference should be that guests should be told sizes if the adopted child is not a newborn (our son was 12 months when we brought him home but was wearing 6-9 month clothing). :-)

An Adoption Shower is great. I had one with my first child, I received such neat gifts, I didn't receive the pratical items, I got clothing, savings bonds, handmade quilts and blankets mainly because the child was 6 months of age. All the pretty pink and yellow outfits were great. We played the regular games you normally play at a baby shower, but they were a little more creative. This was 23 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

Here is a game you can play, get a bag of M&M's ask your guest to get two or three none of the same color. Then have a list of questions to correspond with the M& M color and have them answer according to the color they selected. This is fun and it catches people by surprise because they have no clue what they are going to do with the M&M's. Try it!

Here are some games I have done at baby showers. Have the name of the baby on a piece of paper and every letter you have to write down baby items/products that start with that letter. (as many as you can) Name the baby animals: you write down about 20 - 25 animals and everyone has to write down the proper name of the baby like "Sheep - Lamb" you can just look these up on the internet. Have an answer sheet with the names and babies on it. The close pin game: give everyone a close pin at the beginning when they get there and they can't say a specific work like "baby" or if someone hears them they get their close pin. Whoever has the most at the end of the games wins. Or you can do a different word like "adoption" or whatever. :)

Hi W., I think it might depend on the age the child that is going to be adopted. If the child will be attending or if its a baby. I would do a normal type shower if the child is a baby. I adopted 2, they were 5 & 6 years old at the time and we had a school type shower. We received things for them to wear to school and a few things for home. They girls themselves opened the presents. I forgot the games we played, but something to indicate how special they are would be good. Hope this helped.

Hi W.,
One of my favorite games to do at showers (I've hosted quite a few)is a purse scavenger hunt. It is usually pretty funny to see what people can pull out of their purses or diaper bags even. I always put a few totally random things like a rock or ketchup packet along w/ all of the usual things and give them points: like 3 points for a lipstick or pen, 5 points for a brush or bobby pen, 10 points for a rock....the more random the better. Then who ever has the most points wins a little prize. I always have a list of items prepared beforehand so I'm not standing there making it up as I go and then people get bored.
Or we've done a baby sculpting challenge-you can use playdoe or bubble gum(kind a sticky, but so funny)and have your guests 'sculpt' a baby out of it. Usually turns out very interesting. Let the mom-to-be pick her favorite.
Hope these ideas help or at least give you some ideas to work w/. Have fun!

Good morning W.! I haven't been in your shoes as far as adoption goes (but bravo to you for adopting your newest addition! how awesome!), but when we were expecting our second baby, since we already had everything we needed from the first time around, we threw a "Welcoming Party" instead. That way we didn't feel awkward about the gift issue, etc, but our new baby still got the royal welcome we felt she deserved! In this way, we left it up to others if they wanted to bring something or not. So, if you're concerned about the "second shower etiquette (sp?) issue," that's what we did.

CONGRATS ON YOUR NEW ADDITION!!!!!!