What this is about
A diaper raffle is a baby shower game: every guest who brings a pack of diapers gets a ticket, and one ticket wins a prize. The parents-to-be end the day with a stock of diapers, and all it takes is a sign, a few tickets, a jar and a prize.
How a diaper raffle works
A baby goes through 2,600–3,300 diapers in the first year, and a box of them is about the last thing a guest thinks of wrapping. A raffle gets them to the shower anyway, as a small extra on top of the gift, and gives the guests something to look forward to at the end. For the host it is the easiest game of the day, because guests fill in their own tickets as they arrive and the draw takes a minute.
Ask on the invitation
A small card in the envelope says which sizes help most.
Guests bring a pack
Whoever wants to join brings a pack of diapers to the shower.
A ticket for every pack
Each guest writes their name on a ticket and drops it in the jar.
One ticket wins
Near the end, one ticket is drawn and its guest takes the prize home.
Diaper raffle prize ideas
The winner could be anyone at the shower: a grandmother, a coworker, a friend's husband. So the best prize is something any adult is glad to take home, rather than a baby thing they may have no use for. Most hosts spend $20 to $50 on it, about what a box of diapers costs, so the prize feels worth the trip to the store.
A gift card
The easiest prize to get right. A card for a coffee chain, Target or Amazon suits almost anyone, and a Visa gift card works everywhere. Tuck it into an envelope with a thank-you note.
A basket on one theme
A theme turns a few small things into one gift: coffee beans and two mugs, popcorn and candy with a streaming gift card for a movie night, pancake mix and maple syrup for a slow breakfast, or a candle, bath salts and hand cream.
Something from nearby
A voucher for the bakery, café or restaurant most guests know, or a box of a local specialty. It feels personal, and the winner can use it the next week.
A treat to share
A bottle of wine with a small cheese board, a box of good chocolates, or a house plant that is hard to kill.
For a small shower, one prize is enough. For a big crowd, a main prize and two or three small ones give more guests a chance: draw the small ones first and keep the main prize for last. Many more draws than that, and the raffle starts to take over a party that is meant for the parents-to-be.
Name the prize on the invitation. Guests who know what they could win are more likely to stop for a pack of diapers on the way.
What to write on the invitation
The invitation tells guests that there is a raffle, that every pack of diapers is a ticket and which sizes help most. Add that joining is optional and that diapers, a gift or both are welcome, so nobody feels a pack is the price of coming.
The cards in the kit say it in one line and slip into the envelope with each invitation. For an online invitation, or a different tone, copy one of these:
- Help us stock up for the baby: bring a pack of diapers in size 1, 2 or 3 and get a ticket for our diaper raffle.
- Diaper raffle: every pack of diapers you bring is a ticket for the prize. Diapers, a gift or both are welcome.
- Bring a pack of diapers, any size, to enter the raffle. A pack of wipes counts too.
- Joining the diaper raffle is up to you. Bring a pack of diapers, write your name on a ticket, and you could take home the prize.
If the parents-to-be prefer one brand, or plan to use cloth diapers, the invitation is the place to say so. A gift receipt taped to each pack lets them swap a size later.
How to run the raffle on the day
A small table near the door does the work: the sign standing on it, a stack of tickets, a pen and a jar or a box for the filled-in tickets, with room underneath for the packs. Tickets handed out at the door work better than tickets sent with the invitations, which guests forget at home. A diaper cake like the one on the sign makes a centerpiece for the table.
One pack is one ticket. Some hosts give two or three tickets for a big box, and many count a pack of wipes as well. Each ticket in the kit has the sizes printed on it for the guest to circle, which shows the parents which sizes came in.
Draw the winner just before the gifts are opened, when everyone is in the room, or near the end, so guests stay to the last. Call for the last tickets first, for anyone who came late or walked past the table.
Cut out, each ticket is 4¼ by 2¾ inches, eight to a sheet. For a bigger guest list, print the third page again.
Which sizes to ask for
Left to choose, many guests reach for the newborn size, the one a baby wears for the shortest time. That is why the cards ask for the sizes that last, and why the kit starts with sizes 1, 2 and 3 picked.
Over the first year, a baby goes through about 300–350 newborn diapers, 500–600 in size 1, 650–850 in size 2 and 1,150–1,500 in size 3. A pack holds 30 to 40 diapers, so even twenty packs from a shower cover only the first months.
Diapers go by weight, not age, so a baby can move up a size sooner or later than these months. The diaper size chart has the weights for every size and brand.
Questions parents ask
Is a diaper raffle tacky?
Not when joining is optional. Guests who would rather bring only a gift can, and many like giving something they know the parents will use every day.
Does the winner have to be at the shower?
No. Every ticket in the jar counts, and if the winner has already gone home, someone drops the prize off later.
How many packs should a guest bring?
One is plenty. A guest who brings two or three gets a ticket for each.
Can you do a diaper raffle at a gender reveal?
Yes. It works the same way at a gender reveal party, a sprinkle for a second baby or a diaper party for the dad-to-be: one pack, one ticket, one prize.
