Iso Baby Showers: Hosting the Perfect Baby Shower Online

Being pregnant in 2020 is certainly presenting some unique challenges. With COVID-19 restrictions forcing everyone into isolation, there are many pregnant mothers in Australia who now need to do everything online, including shopping for the nursery, virtual birthing classes and more.

Being in isolation means they may feel like they are missing out on some big pregnancy moments, which would usually be shared with family and friends, including their Baby Showers. You've just hosted a virtual gender reveal and now it's time to think about your virtual baby shower.

Now, organising and hosting the Baby Shower usually goes to the Mum-to-be’s sister or close friend. This is a chance for you to help your close friend celebrate their upcoming birth and have some fun with her favourite girlfriends.

Since you probably can’t physically catch up with your Mum-to-be this is going to make things a little difficult for you! But never fear, there is so much great technology out there to help you make their Baby Shower special. While it's going to be different, you can still create a memorable Virtual Baby Shower, to help your loved one celebrate!

Choose a Platform

The good news is, there are plenty of free and easy to use streaming platforms, to host your online event. Keep in mind it would be better if you can ask all guests to log in via their desktop or large tablet, so their screen is large enough to see everything. Trying to set up games might be difficult if people are trying to see on their mobile phones. Some good video conference options are:

• Skype – most people have Skype, but even if they don’t, you can share a link with them to join the group. The video quality is slightly lower than some of the other options, depending on your connection and the number of participants, but can make do if this is your best option.
• Zoom – used mainly for meetings, this is very similar to Skype and you can easily send a link for people to join live. The video quality and viewing options are better. The only downside is the free version only gives you 40 minutes for a meeting, so you will need to keep it to this time or get everyone to re-join.
• Microsoft Teams – similar to the other platforms, you can send a link for everyone to join your chat. You can also do screen share which would be helpful when setting up games for your Baby Shower. This is hard to use on a mobile so everyone will need to be logged into a desktop or large tablet.
• Facebook Messenger – you can set up a group video message call and invite all your guests, they will just need to have the Messenger app so you can add them. You can use a mobile device or desktop.
• Google Hangouts – another good group messaging tool, which you can also use across all desktop, android and apple devices.

Whichever platform you choose, have a practice run with a friend to make sure the links work and everything will run smoothly on the day.

Baby Shower Theme

The Baby Shower is still going to need a theme, so start by chatting to your Pregnant Mumma to lock down a theme. Some suggestions include:

• Gender-based – if you know the sex of the baby you can choose to go pink or blue for the shower.
• Vintage Theme – think French classic tiffany chairs, lace, gold cutlery and delicate high tea treats.
• Ladybug theme – you could send everyone black and red balloons and some ladybug decorations.
• Adventure – having a baby is a massive adventure so theme the shower accordingly with explorer outfits and scenes from around the world.
• Hawaiian Luau – get beachy with your decoration and send everyone a colourful lei.

Once you have chosen a theme, decide how you are going to decorate your Virtual Bay Shower. We suggest you arrange a time to get access to your Mum-to-be’s home, so you can decorate the space where she will be sitting. You can then send some decorations to each of the guests to decorate their space – maybe some balloons and other decorations matching your theme, so everyone can have some fun decorating their virtual space for the party.

Invite the Guests

Ideally, it would be great if you can get postal addresses for all the guests, so you can post them out invites and decorations. This also means your guest of honour will be able to post them thank you cards after the shower.

Make sure your invite has clear instructions on how and when to join the Virtual Baby Shower and provide your mobile number so you can provide support for anyone having issues – we want to keep this stress free for the Mum to be!

Virtual Baby Shower Games

Ok, so large groups of women tend to get LOUD very quickly. So, your first step is to have a system, code word, whistle - whatever, to keep everyone on track. You will need to host and manage everyone, so it doesn’t delve into chaos. Make sure you know everyone’s name on the chat and assign people time to speak, so you can keep it all under control.

Now you want to choose some games that are possible to play ‘virtually’ so you will need to be organised. If there are any props or other items that people will need, make sure they have been posted out to the guests ahead of the event. Or let them know what they will need to have, or download, before the event. Some games that can be played virtually include:

Don’t Say Baby

At the start of the Shower, advise everyone they can’t say the word ‘baby’ for the whole shower – penalties apply

Baby Photos

Get a collection of all the guest’s baby photos and then everyone needs to guess who each baby is. You should be able to hold each photo up with a number on it so they can guess each one.

Guess the Measurements

Ask the guests to guess your Mumma’s measurements.

How Much is This?

You can hold up different baby products (pram, clothes, nappies etc) and people need to guess the retail price.

Guess Dad’s Answers

Get the father to answer 20 questions before the Shower, then ask Mum to guess the answers. Eg:

What will your child be when they grow up?

Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?

What name is off-limits?

Mum-to-be Quiz

Quiz your Mumma and guests on things they should know, such as:

On average, how many times a day do you change a nappy?

How old are babies when they start teething?

Where are the top kid-friendly cafes in your area?

Whatever you like really, get creative!

Advice for the Expectant Mum

Everyone can write down some advice for the Mum-to-be and take turns reading it out.

Virtual Prizes

Decide how you are going to reward guests for winning games. Either by posting the prizes or email them gift certificates.

Baby Shower Gifts

It would be lovely if there could be gifts delivered to the expectant Mum ahead of the Virtual Baby Shower. That way she will have them there and can open them as part of the party – this will really make it feel more real for her.

If you can do a drive around and pick up gifts, you could deliver them when you set up the decorations. Or arrange a baby gift hamper to be delivered, with everything the expectant Mum might need. You can also set up a Gift Registry which guests can contribute to online.

Send Thank You’s

Don’t forget to send out thank you’s to everyone who attended the Virtual Baby Shower, around one-two weeks after the event.

Need Help with Your Virtual Baby Shower Gift?

Mini and Me are an Australian family owned and run baby store, with Australia-wide delivery. We would love to help you select the perfect gift for your expectant Mum, so please feel free to shop online or contact us for help choosing the perfect gift.