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No way would I skip it. We got so much stuff, we could never afford to buy all of that by ourselves. You could just register for the things you really need /want. Or ask for a diaper shower. You'll always need diapers.

I could have never skipped our shower-- we got so much stuff and our friends are all so incredibly generous. Lots of them had never been to a baby shower before and they wanted to just totally drown us in presents. It was a huge money saver for us. We also had so many visitors at the hospital that all the nurses were joking about it! It was a nonstop stream of Asians. Haha.

I don't know if we'll have a shower for this second one, because I'm not sure who would throw us one. My only close friend left that lives nearby isn't a mom yet so not sure she'd want to throw me one. We don't need much for this second baby though so I think we'll be fine without one.

My friends are throwing me a shower after the baby arrives. We'll be heading back to my hometown, and we will all be meeting there a few months after little dude is born. There is no way we would've made it work otherwise.

Of course you can skip it, they're not mandatory and nothing is going to happen to your kid if they didn't have one.

Honestly, the whole free loot stuff is really offputting. If you make the decision to have a child, you do that biologically and financially. If someone wants to buy you a gift, that's fantastic and no one should turn it down, but I am the parent and we can afford everything we bought. If we couldn't afford it, we don't buy it, period.

@looch: my thoughts exactly. i still received plenty of gifts but i felt like people really wanted to give me something vs. attending a shower and being "forced" into it. of course, that doesn't mean that everyone attending a shower would feel that way but some people might!

@Beyond2:
I think if you and your husband do not want a baby shower, then skip it. If you have the finances to cover all the items absolutely necessary for the baby coming, more power to you!

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Honestly, I look at a baby shower as a celebration. You're celebrating the new life that will soon be in this world, the addition of the family. It's a happy time! Not gonna lie, the gifts sure are appreciated. Yea, there's enough $$ in our savings to buy all the stuff ourselves. But having family and friends help us out by gifting the stuff is greatly appreciated.
Heck, some of the guests barely bought guests that covered their plate at the shower. Who cares? There were people not invited that still sent gifts. People just love celebrating new babies!
Besides which many of our family and friends would still have gotten us those items with or without a baby shower. At least THEY got a free meal out of it for their gift!

I don't like being the center of attention at all, but loved having my shower and being around my family to celebrate. I think it's fine to skip a shower if no one is jumping to throw you one, or if you really don't want to have one, but if there are family who want to celebrate with you, I'd do it.

I LOVE registries. I like being able to pick out specific brands, features or models of things and try to be price-conscious. You can register for only what you want/need and if you get other stuff you can return it or donate it if you won't use it.

@hilsy85: I was also really stressed at my bridal shower! I remember I was sweating while opening gifts because I was so worked up and trying to talk to 30 people at once while keeping everyone interested and saying something unique about each gift. Regardless though I would still want a baby shower just to keep costs down, lol!

We had a small family one, it was really nice! I usually hate attention like that, but it was low key and a nice celebration and chance for relatives to see the bump.

We really tried to keep excess baby stuff to a minimum. It would have been much more expensive if we hadn't had it, as we got quite a few of our bigger items (swing, stroller, car seat) from the shower, so financially it was well worth it too.