What Is a Diaper Raffle?
Here’s a fun and easy way to ensure you get all the diapers you need at your baby shower.
By Amylia Ryan
If there’s one thing babies need a lot of, it’s diapers. The average baby goes through about 2,200 diapers in their first year. If you’re planning to use disposable diapers, you probably didn’t put that many on your baby registry (it would be about 12-15 jumbo boxes)—and even if you did, friends and family probably won’t think they’re the most exciting gift to give.
But what if they did? A diaper raffle is just that: a fun and exciting way to get a ton of diapers as gifts, potentially enough to get through baby’s first year!
What is a diaper raffle?
A diaper raffle is a game for baby shower guests where packs of diapers are exchanged for raffle tickets, which are later drawn for prizes. Your guests get the chance to win something cool, and you get to stock up on one of baby’s most-needed items—it’s a win-win!
Here’s how it works:
- On your baby shower invitations, let guests know that you’ll be hosting a diaper raffle. For every pack of diapers they bring, guests will receive a raffle ticket.
- As guests arrive at your shower, have the host exchange the diapers for raffle tickets. (Need somewhere to store all those diaper packs during the shower? Try building a throne out of them!)
- Once the party is wrapping up, it’s time to draw for prizes! Just like with any other raffle, tickets are drawn, and the guest whose name is on the ticket wins a prize. There’s no hard-and-fast rule on how many prizes there should be, but it’s not a bad idea to have multiple winners if you have a lot of guests.
Top tips for hosting a diaper raffle
- Have larger diaper packs be worth more raffle tickets. For example:
- A small pack (usually 30-40 diapers) = one raffle ticket
- A medium pack (usually 80-100 diapers) = two tickets
- A large box (usually 120+ diapers) = three tickets
- Ask for a mix of sizes. Sizes one through four will likely last you until baby’s first birthday.
- Request that guests don’t bring newborn diapers. Baby likely won’t be in that size of diaper for long.
- Put the raffle prize(s) on the invitations. Guests will be more motivated to participate if they know what raffle prize is ahead of time.
Diaper Raffle Prizes
Diaper raffle prizes should be enticing enough to convince baby shower guests to go out and get a pack of diapers on top of the gift they’re already getting off your registry, but they shouldn’t be extravagant; the buy-in is only a pack of diapers, after all. Here are a few ideas to consider:
- Gift cards: Good-for-everything Visa gift cards are a safe bet, especially if your guest list is a mixed-interest crowd. But gift cards to places like Target, Starbucks, Sephora, Grubhub or whatever your guests are into are always big hits.
- Beverages: Wine, a collection of coffee or tea, a sampling of micro brews—whatever your guests are thirsty for. Don’t want to get specific? A nice tumbler or thermos works for just about any drink.
- Gift boxes: Whether it’s a mini spa day, a sweet succulent or a snack attack, small curated gift boxes are delightful prizes for baby shower guests. And they’re easy to DIY, too.
Diaper Raffle Tickets
You can use the generic raffle tickets you’d see at a carnival or fundraiser (readily available on Amazon!), or if you’re going for a particular theme with your baby shower, there’s a good chance you can find some cute diaper raffle tickets to match.
Whatever prizes you offer, the goal is for you to end up with a good supply of diapers so there’s one less thing for you to worry about with a new baby, and your guests get a fun game out of it, too.
Amylia Ryan
Associate Editor
Amylia Ryan is the Associate Editor at Babylist, specializing in the topics of health, wellness and lifestyle products. Combining a decade of experience in writing and editing with a deep passion for helping people, her number one goal in her work is to ensure new parents feel supported and understood. She herself is a parent to two young children, who are more than willing to help product test endless toys, books, clothes, toiletries and more.
