Are you planning a baby shower? Diaper cakes can be a creative centerpiece for your table as well as a practical gift for the mom-to-be. A Diaper Cake is created out of dozens of diapers and decorated with small baby products such as pacifiers, teething rings, booties and toys. The entire cake can later be taken apart and the items utilized for the new baby.

What you’ll need:

• 16″ disposable cardboard platter
• Baby bottle or empty cardboard towel roll
• 8 feet of 1” wide ribbon
• Rubber bands of different sizes
• Clear adhesive tape
• Approximately 50 newborn diapers
• Decorative baby items (bibs, socks, toys)
• Cake Topper (figurine or stuffed animal)

Diapers:

The number of diapers you will require depends on the size and number of tiers you would like your cake to have. On average 50 newborn diapers will create a standard sized 3-layered cake.

• 20 diapers for the bottom layer
• 10 to 15 diapers for the middle layer
• 5 diapers for the top layer

Assembling Your Diaper Cake:

• Use a cardboard paper towel roll or a baby bottle to roll your diapers
• When rolling your diapers, have them opened lengthwise with tabs tucked in
• Secure your diapers with a rubber band whenever necessary
• You can fold and wrap a receiving blanket around each tier using tape to hold in place or attach baby items to each outer layer diaper.
• Use a ribbon to cover and hide the rubber band and as a decorative touch.
• Assemble your tiers on top of your cake platter, using adhesive tape
• Tuck your baby items in the ribbons as decorations
• Top your cake off with something fitting the theme of your party. Whether it be a small stuffed toy, a figurine or rattle

A diaper cake is a fun gift to give. Be creative! Here are pictures of 2 types of diaper cakes. One has the receiving blanket covering the diapers and the other does not. You can also get very extravagant with these and make them look like castles and have 5+ tiers on them.

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Baby showers aren’t just for mothers-to-be any more!

They are having Daddy Showers where the guys get together for a barbeque and they bring diapers, gag gifts, and other stuff a dad needs for survival.

They are also having Sibling Showers where the older sibling gets a party with gifts that will help him to help mom and dad with the new baby.

Grandparents Showers include gifts for the grandparent to keep at their house when the baby is with them.

When you just can’t wait any longer and it’s too early for a baby shower, you can have a Maternity shower where the mom-to-be gets maternity essentials like books and clothes.

So have fun with it and get creative with your baby showers.

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A friend of mine is pregnant with her second baby and the doctors are concerned about hypertension during this pregnancy. They told her that she needs to watch her salt intake. A normal person shouldn’t have more than 2400mg of sodium and the doctors have told her that she needs to have no more than 1400mg! That’s a huge difference and what makes it worse is that she was probably having 4500-6000mg of sodium a day before and probably more than that.

So you ask why do I have to watch my sodium intake? Sodium is essential to the body. It is a mineral that helps the body regulate fluid balance. Excess sodium can cause the body to retain too much fluid. This could be harmful for people with conditions such as high blood pressure or heart disease. This could also be harbful for your baby.

We all take in a lot of sodium every day and we don’t even realize it. When was the last time that you looked at what you were cooking and factored up how much sodium was in it? I know that I have a lot of sodium intake but I didn’t realize how much until my friend started talking about it. Going out to eat at a fast food or a sit down restaraunt is the worst. You’ll have 2000mg + at any typical food establishment. It’s not as easy finding things that are low in sodium as it is finding things low in fat and calories. It definitely isn’t as easy when you are out to eat.

So when the doctor tells you that for your health and the health of your baby you need to cut back on your salt intake, here are some ideas to help you do that. Start to use less salt each time that you make the recipe. First cut it in half and then see if you can use no salt at all in your foods. Use spices and herbs, lemon juice or lime juice instead of salt. Use more fresh foods and less canned foods.

Here are some seasonings that you can use in place of salt for different types of dishes.

For pot roast or meatloaf use allspice, garlic, marijoram, and thyme. For Fish use chives, dill and tarragon. For Chicken use marjoram, rosemary, and tarragon. In soups use curry powder and ginger. Pastas can use poppy seeds, italian seasoning, and savory. In tomato sauces you can ise basil, oregano, and italian seasoning. In cooked vegetables scuh as broccoli, carrots, and green beans you can use caraway seeds, curry powder, cloves, dill, rosemary, and marjoram. On rice you can add basil, curry powder and onion powder.

Just making sure that your foods are low in sodium isn’t enough. Take a look at your condiments and what you drink. You’d be surprised how much sodium is in most of your condiments. You can go online and search for low-sodium recipes and find other things that you can substitute for your condiments.

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