what to do with a "diaper cake"

[LHcj2008]

My husband's workplace threw us a baby shower yesterday, and one of his colleagues, who is a super-sweet lady, gifted us a homemade 3-tiered diaper cake made of Pampers. While the gesture was incredibly nice (she is pretty much completely blind so I can't imagine the time she put into it), we are cloth diapering and I really don't even want the Pampers around- I'm afraid I'll grab one in the moment of being frazzled or something. The same goes for formula since I'm planning to EBF- I just don't want it in the house!

I don't believe in throwing anything out that is usable but I'm wondering what exactly to do with it because it is quite large, and, if you're into that sort of thing, very nice in terms of presentation. I'm wondering if I can donate it, since I imagine there are people very much in need of diapers out there, but can I donate a fully-wrapped, 3-tiered "diaper cake"? I've also thought about putting it on craigslist...Just curious to see what you all think. There are little baby socks in it and I believe the woman who made it said there is a receiving blanket inside each diaper. Those would be nice to at least see to determine if I want them, but I'm hesitant to take it apart in case I can find a better use for it all wrapped up.

(On a side note, we did receive a diaper sprayer from people at the same shower, which was off our registry, but thankfully they sent it directly to our house, so I'm a little relieved I didn't have to open it up in front of everyone and explain its purpose...I'm sure that would have made the diaper-cake giver feel bad! We did get a pack of eco-friendly disposables, which I also don't really need but feel OK keeping them for travel purposes since they allegedly biodegrade and are chlorine/fragrance-free).

[JFTB1177]

I think it would be super nice to donate it to someone in need! If you want to look at the receiving blankets that are inside of the diapers to see if you want to keep them, go ahead and take the cake apart and just stack the diapers and put them in a bag. Anything that you don't want could be given away through a group like your local Freecycle (Google your city name and Freecycle, it is a Yahoo Group where you give away stuff you don't want- people will come to your house and pick it up!). I once got a bag of Pull-ups on Freecycle that someone didn't need (my DS is potty-trained but has to wear Pull-ups at night or he would wet the bed). Believe me, there will be a lot of women wanting those diapers! Just explain that they were part of a diaper cake for your shower and that you cloth diaper. GL!

[katroshka]

How about donating it? I bet food pantries or churches that provide charitable services would take it, although I don't know if the packaging being opened matters. If they won't take it you could put it on craigslist in the free section, someone will definitely pick it up.

[pumpkin]

I would probably hang onto it for just a bit, but leave it as a cake. You will be less likely to break into it if it's intact. You never know what life may throw at you. After you get through the first few weeks I think posting it on craigslist or finding a family in need would be a great idea.
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[OkiMom]

You could see if there are any domestic violence shelters or homeless shelters that would take the diapers.
I agree with maybe keeping a few around as well. With my second I was determined to cloth diaper from the start, I wasn't prepared for a NICU baby and some really hard time recovering from birth.. Luckily a very sweet missionary couple brought me two large bags of daipers and she told me she knew I was cloth diapering but something told her I would need them. Made the first two weeks of DD being home much more bareable.

[MaerynPearl]

Originally Posted by OkiMom

You could see if there are any domestic violence shelters or homeless shelters that would take the diapers.
I agree with maybe keeping a few around as well. With my second I was determined to cloth diaper from the start, I wasn't prepared for a NICU baby and some really hard time recovering from birth.. Luckily a very sweet missionary couple brought me two large bags of daipers and she told me she knew I was cloth diapering but something told her I would need them. Made the first two weeks of DD being home much more bareable.

totally. on all counts but especially the shelter, they will appreciate it immensely.

[weliveintheforest]

I woudl take it apart and keep it. After a few months, anything you don't use can be donated or sold on craigslist.

[lillymonster]

Originally Posted by OkiMom

You could see if there are any domestic violence shelters or homeless shelters that would take the diapers.

I took all my leftover disposables to a domestic violence shelter, along with all the formula samples I got mailed to me. They were really appreciative, I was actually told the hardly ever got diaper or formula donations, which actually surprised me.

[camprunner]

FWIW, I kept some around for both of mine and was never tempted to use them. They smelled so bad and made my oldests butt turn so red. I think it took us 6 months (my dd fit in the nb size that long) to use up half of the package. I just found ALL of the ones that were given to us with dd2 (they were leftovers from someone else) so I let my dd's use them on their doll's.

[annettemarie]

Lots of charities are really struggling right now, and I'm sure they'd appreciate the donation of anything you can't/won't use.

[texmati]

and I wouldn't feel bad posting it on CL to sell either--

personally, I'd keep them for a few weeks post baby.

[samstress]

Originally Posted by OkiMom

You could see if there are any domestic violence shelters or homeless shelters that would take the diapers.

this is exactly what i was going to recommend.

i used to work in a battered women's shelter and we were always in need of such items. keep in mind there are usually more babies and children in these shelters than there are adult women, so any baby and/or child-related donations are greatly needed and hugely appreciated.

[Lauren82]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

Lots of charities are really struggling right now, and I'm sure they'd appreciate the donation of anything you can't/won't use.

This!

[donutmolly]

Donate them if you want, but I wouldn't worry about having a stash of disposables on hand to use when you go out, forgot to wash the CD's soon enough, grandma swears she can't change cloth...

Believe me, I'm a full time CDing mama through 3 soon-to-be-4 babies, but I have used the occasional disposable -- they are useful, for example, if you go away for the weekend and don't want to haul a lot of dirty dipes around with you, or if you have washing issues (we recently had detergent build-up) and DD3 had diarhhea at the same time, which meant major rash -- I needed the sposies so I could clean my CD's and clear up the rash.

[javilu]

Originally Posted by donutmolly

Donate them if you want, but I wouldn't worry about having a stash of disposables on hand to use when you go out, forgot to wash the CD's soon enough, grandma swears she can't change cloth...

Believe me, I'm a full time CDing mama through 3 soon-to-be-4 babies, but I have used the occasional disposable -- they are useful, for example, if you go away for the weekend and don't want to haul a lot of dirty dipes around with you, or if you have washing issues (we recently had detergent build-up) and DD3 had diarhhea at the same time, which meant major rash -- I needed the sposies so I could clean my CD's and clear up the rash.

i agree. and i don't see keeping sposies around as being *at all* the same as having formula around "just in case," which i *would* advise against.

[Coco99]

Donate it to your local battered women's shelter... we get alot of pregnant women because that is typically when violence gets worse.... so we also get alot of newborns and need tons of diapers and formula !

[Youngfrankenstein]

Originally Posted by javilu

i agree. and i don't see keeping sposies around as being *at all* the same as having formula around "just in case," which i *would* advise against.

I agree. I don't think even using them at night for a few days with a newborn could be fine. They will be gone very quickly.

[MaerynPearl]

we used only sposies til her stump fell off then did a mix of sposies and cloth until we ran out...

I never cloth diapered before but it certainly didn't hurt us to have some sposies

but still... domestic violence shelters really will appreciate anything you donate! I try to regularly because I have had to be in one before

[MrsBone]

Honestly, I would hold onto it. I exclusively cloth diapered in the beginning, and occasionally used disposables when we went out of town. Hold onto it until baby outgrows them then donate them. The good thing about diapers is, someone always needs them, so it's not like they're going to waste just sitting there as for formula, I hung onto them for the first few months, then donated the cans to my birthing center. They made sure the cans got to the right person. I still have a couple newborn sposies laying around from DS's birth 2 years ago, and plan to hold onto them for when the next babe is born. I only have like 3 though so they're not taking up space.

[pollyanna123]

Originally Posted by donutmolly

Donate them if you want, but I wouldn't worry about having a stash of disposables on hand to use when you go out, forgot to wash the CD's soon enough, grandma swears she can't change cloth...

Believe me, I'm a full time CDing mama through 3 soon-to-be-4 babies, but I have used the occasional disposable -- they are useful, for example, if you go away for the weekend and don't want to haul a lot of dirty dipes around with you, or if you have washing issues (we recently had detergent build-up) and DD3 had diarhhea at the same time, which meant major rash -- I needed the sposies so I could clean my CD's and clear up the rash.

Another ditto here, from somebody who has breastfed and cloth diapered two (soon to be three) babies. IMO, having disposables around for occasional convenience isn't the same thing as having formula around. Personally, I wouldn't have formula around "just in case" as that can truly undermine breastfeeding efforts. Having disposables around can be very helpful for a variety of circumstances.