Topic Archive: cloth diapers

August 20, 2010

Things That Make You Go… Ewwwww!

In a society, as we get older we form opinions and judgments on things. They are based on our experiences, our beliefs and common thought amongst our peers groups. We make our assessments and do what we think is best (or normal) for us.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. As our society has grown and changed, the things that were once taboo and sometimes used to be frowned upon, we have now opened our mind to accept and therefore adapt. Thereby, making it now normal. These range from cleaning products (What? Baking soda is not just for cooking?) to tampons (Can you imagine our grandmother’s first thoughts… you wanna stick that where?!).

Pregnancy and the upcoming birth of our child have made me do just that. The things that were once ‘gross’ to me, I am now having an open mind about; some of the options considered bizarre, I am now looking into. There are some choices in pregnancy and childbirth that are starting to cross lines. More and more people are doing it so they are becoming more and more popular and moms are inquiring about them. Including me.

My life thus far has always been extreme. With pregnancy it has just taken a sharp turn that make friends politely go, “Hmmm….”

Starting with our choice of birth. Once upon a time, I was all for a hospital, medicated birth. That was our hope and desire! I used to joke with people to give me an epidural as soon as I got pregnant! My husband agreed saying he wanted one, too. However, since getting pregnant we have decided on almost the complete opposite… a water birth at a birthing center. I have now become un‐normal amongst my peer group and get a lot of funny looks and questions from concerned people (and not just friends!)

Then the baby shower came. After spending 10 years on and off in childcare I decided I didn’t want anything new, I want to cloth diaper, and make my own baby food. Friends don’t know how to go about buying shower gifts for us. I now have a big sign on my forehead that says, “WEIRDO!”

Now, the stuff I am afraid to admit because it might ostracize me from those near and dear…. I’ve considered placenta encapsulation and breast milk donation. There! I’ve said it aloud! You might as well stick me in the bush to make friends with the animals, cause I’m off in the woods!

Honestly, my first thought was, “Ewwww. Really?! People do that?” I saw my dog give birth once, and her natural instinct was to eat every puppy’s placenta. I’ve also seen a cat suck a dog’s teats for milk. Now, I’ve also seen a dog eat poop, so I’m not necessarily going the route of the animal kingdom.

But it’s made me think, why not these options for my baby? I’m willing to eat the oil from a fish, algae, cod liver to name a few and whatever else that will help me and grow my baby to be a genius, yet I can’t even consider the strongest vitamins that helped grow the life inside of me because it sounds gross? We are also the only creatures that will give our babies milk that was meant for calves, but yet we find other woman’s breast milk disturbing.

What is ‘normal’ and who classifies it? Do we stand to be out‐casted from playgroups if we chose one way or another? Do we need to get a celebrity on board so our absurd becomes hip? Or our hip becomes absurd? If we claim to have open‐minds then why aren’t people talking about it and sharing? I think that’s why I like PregTASTIC so much. The subject is pregnancy and childbirth so everything goes. We talk about things with guests whom I would never have sought advice from before and I find myself intrigued with what they have to say.

I know the judgment only gets worse from here on out as we try to rear our children in a ‘normal’ society. I might have to go live in the woods with my animal friends and reemerge for my placenta capsules; or just grin and bear it with a smile on my face and a secret in my heart while pretending to be ‘normal’ while we all figure this parenthood thing out.

Now, I still haven’t wrapped my brain around a placenta teddy bear but let’s just say I’m trying to be open about all things…

Episode 137 | May 5, 2009

Cloth Diapers: Getting Started and FAQs & Your Chance to Win!

What types of cloth diapers are there? How do you know which type is best for you and your baby? Are some types better for smaller or larger babies? What do you do with the poop? When to strip your diapers, dry or wet pail and what’s needed to get started? Cloth Diaper expert Tamara Champion of Parenting By Nature answers questions and provides some great resources to get started with cloth diapers. Win a PregTASTIC Prize of pregnancy goodies!  SHOW NOTES

March 10, 2009

Cloth Diapering Newbie

About three weeks ago, my husband and I began using cloth diapers with our seven month old baby boy. We did it mainly to save money, because we are really starting to batten the hatches on our budget. I am a stay at home mom, so we have made some financial sacrifices in order to keep me at home.

Why didn’t we cloth diaper from the beginning? It’s kind of a long story, but the short version is that our housing and work situation was pretty uncertain until after our son was born. We lived someplace without an accessible washer and dryer for almost six months, which wouldn’t have worked very well! Our switch to cloth corresponded with the next size of diapers, so it really was timed quite nicely.

If you know anything about modern day cloth diapering, you know that there are many options for cloth diapering. There are fitted diapers, pocket diapers, all-in-ones, prefolds, as well as other types. Many parents choose to use several types of diapers and find that different types of diapers are best suited for different situations. For instance, a mom might use prefolds with covers during the day but use a more absorbent pocket diaper at night. In addition to the many types, there are large variations in pricing. Most would agree that prefolds (used with covers) are the most economical option, while all-in-ones are pricier but offer excellent coverage and leak protection.

I give you this primer in a paragraph to give you a little background on my decision-making process. We decided to go with prefold diapers with fitted covers (using a Snappi fastener) because of our budget. We have been using disposable diapers at night and during our very hectic move.

I’ll be sharing more about my cloth diapering experiences as we go along, but at this point, I can confidently say that we made a great decision by switching! I love how resourceful I feel, knowing that I’m not generating so much waste. I really enjoy not having to buy so many diapers and I love how cute my little baby’s bum looks in his diaper covers! I was really nervous about the whole washing process and how it would go with really dirty diapers, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of it all. Now that the weather is warming up here in Kentucky, I plan to line dry the diapers to extend their life.

While I am by no means a cloth diapering pro (I am barely an expert on cloth diapering my son with the tools I have), I would be happy to answer any questions that anyone has about using cloth diapers. There are tons of very helpful websites out there for general as well as specific cloth diapering questions. If you are cloth diapering, I would love to hear your words of wisdom!

Episode 35 | January 22, 2007

Cloth Diapers

With more than 6,000 dirty diapers to change, will they be cloth, disposable, or flushable? What should we consider when choosing the type of diapers we’ll use? What’s in those disposable diapers and can it be dangerous/hazardous to your new baby? Linda Byerline from Happy Heiny’s explains.