Hold the Party Outside
Covid's worst enemy is good ventilation, so take advantage of the fresh air and host your baby shower outside. Of course, you'll want to watch weather reports like a hawk and pick a clear and sunny day. Pick an area with ample space and consider things like Wi-Fi and electricity hookups. Additionally, if the weather does take an unfortunate turn, make sure the venue you select has a covered pavilion or another shelter for everyone to wait out the storm.
Have a Drive-By Baby Shower
One needn't be a member of the royal family to experience sitting in a chair while everyone who loves you waves and throws gifts to you from the street. All they have to do is be pregnant during a global pandemic. Drive-by baby showers are just as simple as they sound: you have your guests driveby the mom's home or venue and hand over gifts through the window. Be mindful of any little ones running around with cars driving by, and it also might be a good idea to have a pre-selected traffic director to make sure the parade runs smoothly.
Keep the Traffic Moving
In this pandemic age, gathering a large group of people is always risky business, no matter what precautions you take. However, you can help mitigate the risk by staggering when guests come and go. Setting up a guest schedule for a baby shower isn't ideal, but it does reduce the number of people in a shared space and thus reduces the chances of the virus spreading to more people.
Ask people to stop in at designated times and limit the number of people present at any given time. You can group shifts of people based on how the mom-to-be knows each guest(ex. work friends, old college roommates, etc.), or you can mix it up so that people can meet each other and make new friends.
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Zoom the Room
If the virus decides that you simply cannot safely hold an in-person party, then you may just have to figure out your Zoom password and host the party virtually. Luckily, virtual baby showers have several years of history at this point, so you should be able to find plenty of inspiration online for hosting one. But here are a few quick tips and tricks for pulling off a virtual baby shower.
- Test out the tech beforehand to make sure it's all ready to go.
- Make use of breakout rooms when playing games
- Choose a fun theme to make it extra special for the mom-to-be
Related: When Should My Baby Start Talking?
Limit the Food
We know, we are also asking ourselves what kind of party doesn't have food. But the answer is a Covid safe party probably shouldn't have food right now. You don't want everyone and their mother digging into a communal bowl of Cheetos and spreading their germs around.
If you absolutely have to have food at the baby shower, consider placing food at (socially distanced) tables so that guests can enjoy their food without having to get up. This will help reduce the number of people hovering in a single space and breathing on each other.
Alternatively, you can provide guests with individually packaged goods. Bake some treats and use sites like Pinterest for inspiration on fun themes and recipes. If you want to make it a little extra fun, instruct them to open it when they get home and include a handwritten note expressing appreciation for each guest who came to the baby shower.
Related: Feeding Chart for Babies: What You Should Know
Host a Post-Baby Shower
Baby showers are fun, but the real fun begins where there's a little baby to ooh and ahh at. Consider postponing the baby shower until the baby makes its grand appearance for several reasons.
Give people more time to get vaccinated
Some of your guests might not be eligible to be vaccinated yet, so pushing the date until after the baby is born can buy them more time to get their shots squared away. And it's still a good idea to require masks and social distancing even if everyone present is fully vaccinated.
Account for case counts
Though Covid seems to have a mind of its own, we've seen enough to know that cases tend to rise and fall fairly cyclically. By moving the date farther out, there's a chance that cases could have fallen to safer levels. So be sure to monitor your local area and pay attention to case counts and forecasts.
Provide an incentive to follow the rules
The pandemic has been going on for what feels like forever, so it's normal that we're all experiencing a bit of fatigue. With all the fun of a baby shower, it's totally likely and reasonable that guests could get carried away and let masks slip or stand a little too close around the punch bowl. However, if there's a fresh baby present, guests will probably be more cognizant of Covid and more likely to take the proper precautions.
Related: Baby Throwing Up with No Fever? What to Know Fast
Covid-safe Baby Showers
Hosting a baby shower during a pandemic isn't ideal, but you can do it. In fact, you probably should do it to celebrate the new mom and welcome her baby into this wild world. 123 Baby Box has the perfect gifts for your favorite bundle of joy.
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