Even though the phrase isn’t that well-known yet, a Baby Sprinkle is an ingenious answer to that etiquette gray area you enter after your firstborn greets the world.

By tradition, showers are confined to baby number one.  Mom gets lavished with carriers, strollers, breast pumps and diapers, and so, tradition says, why would she ever need another?

But plenty of moms feel a little strange about forgoing a celebration for their subsequent babies. After all, a middle child is every bit as important, right?

The answer for many moms is to shift the focus from the gifts to the celebration for second and third baby showers. In other words, throw a baby sprinkle! Instead of shelling out on big-ticket items, guests who refuse to come empty-handed can generally be encouraged to bring something small, that suits the theme.

Here are a few popular themes for baby sprinkles:

- a Spa Sprinkle. Mom’s doing all the hard work, so help her unwind and nurture herself with aromatic oils, foot scrubs, bubble baths and all those things that remind her to take a moment for herself.

- A Diaper Sprinkle. No matter how many rock star onesies or crib sets baby boasts, it’s almost assured: mom doesn’t have enough diapers. Have guests bring a pack, and enter each diaper-bearer into a drawing for prizes.

- Bring-a-Book. Some brilliant woman noticed that kids’ books often cost the same — or even less — than commercial greeting cards. The former is treasured for years, while the latter tends to get tossed in the bin within hours.

Unsurprisingly, bring-a-book parties are on the rise wherever kids can be found, from baby showers to bar mitzvahs. A smart way to avoid ten copies of “The Cat In The Hat” or “Where The Wild Things Are” — have each guest imagine baby at a different age, like two years old or five years old, and have them pick out the best book they know for that age.

By the way — how do you feel about second and third showers? Do you like the baby sprinkle “compromise”?

Tags: baby sprinkle, bring-a-book, diaper shower, literary baby shower, pamper mom shower, spa shower

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 2:35 pm and is filed under Baby Shower Themes, Etiquette. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.