When you've got a newborn baby, all your far-flung friends and relatives are eager to see the precious little guy. They call ten times a day, asking when you'll stop by for a visit, but you're so wiped out from all the diaper changing and 3 AM feeding and crying sessions that you keep postponing the get-together. By the time your dear old granny finally gets to see the baby, your kid's already learned his first word.

Well, if you live in Japan, there's now an extremely unique solution to this common problem: Just exchange your baby for a bag of rice.

Not seriously, of course – we didn't mean to scare you. You can keep your baby safe at home, where he belongs. But as far as the relatives are concerned, why not just send them a substitute for your baby?

A rice shop in southern Japan came up with the bizarre idea of creating "Dakigokochi," which are bags of rice shaped like babies, customized with each newborn baby's name and face. Apparently, when you pick it up, it feels just like holding a real infant – with the added bonus that it won't spit up on your shoulder.

And though the bags also serve a practical purpose (i.e., dinner), "people say they have a hard time opening them up and eating the rice," the rice shop's owner, Naruo Ono, told New Zealand's Stuff.

That's understandable – we wouldn't want to boil our baby, either.