Monday, April 27, 2009

Prefold Love?

Problem: Lukas wears Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive diapers in size 2. He is quickly outgrowing them. We have tried half a dozen different diapers in size 3 and he either reacts to them or we absolutely hate them.

Solution: I need to cloth diaper 100% of the time. Nobody else is truly supportive of this, especially my husband, so it means I will now be responsible for every diaper change. No more getting my husband to change one a day.

I have enough OS fitteds and OS pockets to do it but I'm annoyed with snaps and annoyed with the bumgenius diapers. So I'm going to try prefolds and covers. I skipped that idea entirely because I knew the husband would never help if we did that. Since he won't help, period, I can now explore it.

I love fitteds. I love goodmama's. I can't afford fitteds. The goal is to eventually make my own, but it'll take a couple months to gather supplies, etc.

So for now? Prefolds.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Co-Sleeping

I never intended to co-sleep. We have several large dogs, lots of cats, etc. It just wasn't going to work.

But it's not natural to place your newborn babe in a separate bed. His whole life before birth was spent inside your womb. He was never alone, you were his constant companion. He listened to your voice, the beat of your heart.. From the moment he was born, he could recognize you as his mom. Why would you doom him to spend his first nights outside your womb, away from you?

Lukas taught us right away that sleeping alone wasn't going to cut it. We humored him, wondering if our dogs could share their bed. Our (poorly trained) dogs were able to give Lukas and us our space, and sleep off the bed. For a few nights, anyway. Then they started sneaking back into bed and sleeping at our feet after we'd passed out, exhausted as only a new parent can be.

Three months later, our living arrangements are kind of odd so the dogs aren't sleeping with us at all, but Lukas is still at my side.

And when people ask us if we get any sleep? We smile and give all the credit to co-sleeping. My husband is never woken up by the baby, and Lukas never even wakes up fully to eat.

Does co-sleeping spoil Lukas? No. You can't spoil a baby. We're instilling trust into our child. He's learning to feel safe, secure, and confident in his life. These are skills he'll need as he grows up and begins to socialize. They'll help him on his journey throughout life.

In the end, it's what works best for us. He's happy, and we're happy.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Why?

I'm trying to find my niche in blogging. I rant and ramble a lot but I need a stronger focus. I'm crossing my fingers this will work.

Why am I "a little bit crunchy"?

Becoming a mom changed my life.

I chased a VBAC. In the end, I did not get my "oops the baby came too fast" unassisted birth I contemplated, nor did I get an all-natural hospital birth. But there's always a HBA2C down the road for me.

I breastfeed my newborn. I co-sleep. I hold him when he wants to be held. I wear him in a sling or a wrap when we're out. I cloth diaper.

Well, I cloth diaper sometimes. I'm working on that one still. We're only three and a half months into it, so I have time.

I'm learning more about organic foods and textiles, and discovering our carbon footprints.

This is my journey. For myself, for my son, for the world.