One of the most common etiquette questions asked about shower invitations is whether or not to have a party for parents who are welcoming their second or third child into the family. After all, the original purpose of the baby shower was to provide the new parents with most of what would be needed for raising their first bundle of joy. With the second baby, however, that's not necessarily the case. Thankfully, this question can be answered with a simple phrase: the Sprinkle Baby Shower.
What are Sprinkle Baby Showers?
Before you send out the baby invitations, you need to know a little bit about these events. As the name suggests, these parties are smaller versions of a full-blown baby shower. One of the main differences is in the guests the parents should expect. Instead of registering for playpens, high chairs, and car seats, parents should anticipate receiving diapers, gift cards, bottles, and other necessities for the new arrival.
When you send out the custom baby shower invitations, you might want to mention that this is a baby sprinkles event so they won't purchase big ticket items. Parents should also not register for anything but can let you know if they have preferences on brands, colors, sizes or similar details that would be relevant.
Other Differences with Sprinkles Baby Shower
Generally, you'll send more baby shower cards with full-blown baby showers than with these scaled down events. You might want to only invite the closest friends and family members to the events for second and third children. Having a co-ed baby shower party at this point might also make sense. You could also allow guests to bring along their own children and have more of a family celebration.
In terms of activities, you may have fewer games than with a full-blown event. Also this type of event is almost always more casual and intimate. For example, you might have your family members gather together at a private home for some cake and possibly some lunch meat trays. A barbecue would also be a nice idea. You could create some easy party favors by using melted chocolate and some baby bottle shaped candy molds. Place the finished candy in a bag and tie it with a ribbon signifying the gender of the baby, if known.
When to Send Baby Showers Invitations Instead
Not every second baby should just have a sprinkle baby shower . If the parents are having a baby of a different gender, you may want to throw a bigger celebration in order to get big items that are more appropriate for a female baby. Parents who are going through a second delivery but having multiple births will probably definitely need a full-blown shower to help them gather the items they will need. When there has been a long time between children, sprinkle babyshowers are also probably not going to be enough because many of those big items may been long gone.