The birth of a child, especially the first one, is always a great joy, but also a great stress. And, of course, a lot of expenses, and one of the main items of these expenses is diapers. Many, many diapers. And in many ways, this is why a diaper cake is considered by people to be an integral part of any baby shower.
However, not all expecting mothers are delighted with the very idea of a diaper cake, believing it to be impractical. For example, like the Reddit user u/AITA-diapercake, who even had a quarrel with her sister-in-law over this. And so here's the story we are going to tell you now.
The author of the post was pregnant with her first child when her sister-in-law informed her of her desire to gift a huge diaper cake for her upcoming baby shower
Image credits: Pixabay (not the actual image)
The sister-in-law seemed to be extremely excited about becoming an aunt for the first time in her life
Image credits: u/AITA-diapercake
Image credits: Personal Creations (not the actual image)
Image credits: u/AITA-diapercake
However, the mom-to-be wasn't happy over this idea, claiming that she's not even sure whether to choose disposable or cloth diapers
Image credits: sloom studio (not the actual image)
Image credits: u/AITA-diapercake
After some kind of family drama, the future mom agreed to have a diaper cake but just asked her SIL not to use much glue for it
So, the original poster (OP) at the time of the events described was pregnant with her first child, and planned to arrange a baby shower before the birth, but without much scope, just a small party for the closest people in her backyard. However, not all relatives shared the mom-to-be's idea - in particular, her husband's sister.
The sister-in-law was very excited about the fact that she would soon become an aunt, and decided to take an active part in the organization of the upcoming baby shower. She informed the mother-to-be that she was planning to give her a large diaper cake. However, the OP, as it turned out, had no idea that such a tradition even existed, and also decided that it was basically impractical.
Firstly, as the author of the post admitted, at the time of the story, she and her husband had not yet decided whether they would use disposable vs cloth diapers, and secondly, when assembling a diaper cake, inevitably, some of the diapers that form the outer layer will be damaged by glue. And besides, while stocking up on diapers is always good, the OP admitted that just a big box is better because it's easier to store.
The original poster shared these thoughts with her sister-in-law, and said that she would probably refuse a gift in this form. But the woman was incredibly upset and even called the OP 'ungrateful', claiming that diaper cakes are more than traditional. A family drama followed, but then the husband and relatives nevertheless convinced the expecting mom that the diaper cake was cool, and that it was worth agreeing to this idea.
However, people in the comments could not help but note that from the side of the future aunt, this behavior looks completely childish, and that it is simply inappropriate to throw a tantrum over this. "Sounds like your SIL needs to get her diaper changed," commenters sarcastically wrote. After all, this is the OP's baby shower, so any aggression towards her looks like an overreaction, people in the comments think.
Image credits: Kampus Production (not the actual image)
By the way, despite the fact that the diaper cake is considered an American tradition, the idea itself first appeared in the UK. So, according to AnOther Mag, "In 1988, Jennifer Steadman rolled her son's nappies into a cake shape by accident and later decided to make a 'cake' for her nephew a few months after. The first cakes were very simple in design, but over the years she developed various methods of making them more and more extravagant."
Of course, diaper manufacturers such as Pampers also played a big role in the development of the tradition. In particular, on the company's official website, you can find a whole section on diaper cakes, with detailed instructions on how to make it yourself. "No matter how or when you're giving the diaper cake to the mom-to-be, she will be surprised and delighted - and you'll have a pretty good time creating it, too!" the website states - but this, as we see, does not always bring joy to future parents.
In any case, only mom and dad have the right to choose what type of diapers to use for their future kid, and also decide if they want to have a diaper cake for the baby shower. And if relatives impose their own views, it is totally inappropriate anyway. Like, for example, with these in-laws, who forbade the new mother from breastfeeding while in their house if she was outside the guest room. By the way, what do you think about diaper cakes?
People in the comments agreed that diaper cakes are a big tradition yet the SIL's behavior looks childish and totally inappropriate
