Why a Nesting Party?

For a more meaningful, practical and holistic spin on a traditional baby shower, nesting parties are all about supporting new parents with what they actually need and is hard to come by: community, compassion, physical as well as emotional support to welcome their baby. A nesting party is an act that goes with the saying: "It takes a village to raise a child". It takes that same village to support mothers and new parents. 

What is a nesting party like?

Of course, just like any party, they can be very fun and personalized to the new parents. They can also be held for second or third+ babies because support is always needed and community is always helpful. The focus of a nesting party is on practical support and preparation for the new baby, rather than cutesy gifts that have no real purpose or impact and games with no real meaning. 

People love to feel needed, helpful and useful. Nesting parties help strengthen your community, friendships and relationships, but also does the same for everyone else there. So, have absolutely no fear when asking the people you know if they’d like to pitch in for your nesting party. 

What happens at a Nesting Party?

There are some core ideas of a nesting party, but how exactly you host and plan a nesting party comes down to you and your postpartum plan. If you want to take a course on more mindful postpartum planning, check out the Happy Day: Bumps, Babes and Beyond homepage. When you're planning your nesting party, think: What acts make you feel most loved and supported? What helps you when you’re most stressed and feeling most depleted? What are some practical tasks you could have help with right now, but also later, when the baby is here?

You can throw your own nesting party or have someone close to you plan it for you. Make a list of all possible tasks you’d like to get done before baby arrives, such as:

Prep nutrient dense and warming make ahead freezer meals and snacks (see the blog posts on this topic and instagram @happy.day.ch for recipe ideas)

Organize/decorate the nursery

Prepare the diaper caddy with diapers, wipes and bum cream

Prepare postpartum healing recipes like pre-mixed herbal bath blends or padsicles

Wash and fold baby laundry

Unbox and set-up baby gear like carriers, car seats and strollers

You can also have sign-up sheets for postpartum help: People who will look after baby when you attend your postpartum pilates or Rückbildungsgymnastic course, people who will come and help clean your home, people who will hold your baby while you shower or nap. 

When should We Have a Nesting Party?

Invite your guests as you would any other special party! You can mail out traditional invites, e-invites, or simply text your loved ones with the time and place (your home!). The best time to host a nesting party is in your eighth month or therabouts, so there’s plenty of time in case the baby arrives early but close enough that you won’t have to re-wash everything. You could choose to have a nesting party with friends of all genders, and those of both parents. There are other ceremonies and rituals which may be better suited to being women or mother only. 

How to Plan a Nesting Party

From your list of tasks, you can make groups of tasks and people can sign up to help in the particular group that they are most suited to, or want to be a part of. , I call these groups "teams", but you can call them what you wish. Ask your participants to sign up for one of the teams. If you want, create your registry with items the team will need (in Switzerland, or other countries which don't typically do baby showers, this is best on third party websites like www.wishbob.com or a good old fashioned shopping list in written or electronic format) OR, you can have everything prepared and ready on the day, and people can sign up to teams as they arrive. You can write the titles of the teams and leave them on a table or taped on a wall for your guests to sign up. You could have all the ingredients or items already there, or ask the people you invited to bring them themselves (from the registry or list), then they’ve also checked the box of buying a present, which people want to do when they go to a traditional baby shower. Here are some team ideas:

Meal prep team (and bring/have ingredients for a meal to cook and prepare for you)

Postpartum healing team (and bring/have ingredients for padsicles, teas or herbal baths- blog post TBD on those topics)

Home organization team (and bring/have baby safe laundry detergent and dish soap)

Baby care team (and bring/have items for baby diapering, first aid and feeding) 

Any other team you want- nursery painting, furniture building, crafting, cloth diaper preparation, car seat installation- whatever you want and whatever you think would be best for you and your particular family and the skillset of the people you are inviting.. 

If you want people to sign up to a team before the party, you can easily set this up on google docs or sheets and make sharing accessible to everyone with the link or just have them reply to you and you keep track of the teams. Make the link clear in your invitation to your nesting party. If you don’t have a gmail account, you can make one just for your party and access google sheets or docs in the drive. 

On the Day of the Nesting Party

Lay out some simple snacks and refreshments. When folks arrive, they can work in their teams to get those tasks done, or float between teams as they wish! For example, family members on cooking duty, a few friends organizing the nursery and folding baby clothes, a team of work friends unboxing baby gear and wiping down their surfaces, all while your friends from your tennis club paint the nursery room. Depending on how you’re feeling, you can sit back and soak it in or join in on the nesting fun. 

Thanking Your Guests

People love feeling like they made a positive impact. Keep the list of teams, so that, in the future, when baby or you are using the item they helped to create or clean or make, you can send them a quick email or message thanking them for their efforts.

If you host a Nesting Party, it's more likely that someone else will host or suggest one in the future. This means that you're creating a lasting impression of what care, help, friendship and community feel for everyone who attends your nesting party!

Consider taking the postpartum planning course for more ideas and preparation for your own postpartum experience.