It's hard sometimes

We all know that having kids isn't a cake walk. You have days where it's really, really difficult. And breastfeeding, cloth diapering and making your own baby food can augment that. I have days where I want to give up, take a trip over to Babies 'R' Us and buy a stack of 'sposies, baby food and formula. When I feel like this, I find it really helpful to take a minute, sit down and think about what that would really mean.

Let's start with formula. There are a lot of moms out there who go this route. I blame our American culture for this for the most part. When my parents were born, it was not "fashionable" to breastfeed. Most of the baby boomers were bottle babies. So there is a "generation gap" in breastfeeding. And this has had a huge influence on public opinion of breastfeeding. If you breastfeed in public, you will get stares. And if your baby is older (or, gasp! is a toddler), those stares turn to looks of disgust. There is very little public support for breastfeeding, and that makes it hard. But when I think of switching to formula, I remember all the time and money that will be involved. Formula is EXPENSIVE. Really expensive. But even if money isn't a factor for you, think of all the bottles you'll have to wash. If your baby eats 8 times a day, that's 8 bottles a day that you have to wash and sanitize. Plus, it's guaranteed that you're going to run out of formula midnight on a Sunday and will have to run out to the store and get some to quiet your screaming baby. No thanks. And we all know that breastmilk is the best food for your baby; perfectly formulated to meet their needs. Did you know that your breastmilk actually changes with your baby as he grows? It's true. :)

All that said, it's hard to be "on tap" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I try to keep a stash of frozen milk for those times when I really do need a break. Just this week, I was at the end of my rope. Luckily my husband was home for the day. I put the baby down for nap and said, I'm leaving, there's milk in the freezer. I took off for a few hours, got some coffee, went to the mall, and decompressed. It's okay to need a break from your baby. It does NOT make you a bad mom. In fact, I think it makes you a better mom to know when you need to walk away for bit.

Okay, disposable diapers. I've used them. I keep some on hand for babysitters and those days where I just haven't done the laundry yet. It happens. But again, they are expensive. And you wouldn't believe the amount of waste they create. When I flew to visit family over Christmas, there was no way I could fit all the cloth diapers and covers in my luggage, so I used disposables for 10 days. And there were bags and bags and bags of trash. Creating that much trash leaves me with this huge guilt complex and I just can't handle that. Plus, the Eskimo would cry whenever I went to put a new diaper on him. He was fine with me taking the old one off, but he did NOT want a new 'sposie on his butt. He never cries with cloth. I know that the soft cotton is much more comfortable for him and it doesn't have all those nasty chemicals they put in 'sposies. So, I like cloth, but I am not above using a 'sposie now and then when I need a break.

Now baby food. I'm trying very hard to provide the Eskimo with only organic food for as long as I possibly can. I want to give him the best start in life possible. So, I make my own baby food. I buy in bulk, puree and freeze. This is, to put it plainly, a pain in the ass. And they make organic baby food! But, it's expensive, and I haven't seen and touched the fruit and veggies that have gone into that jar. So, I puree and freeze, puree and freeze. Real estate in our freezer is more fought-over than apartments in New York. But yes, I keep a few jars of organic baby food on hand for those days when I forgot to thaw out his breakfast the night before and he's HUNGRY. And that's okay.

I think my point is, there are pluses and minuses to everything. But I feel that the decisions I've made have a lot more pros than cons. The Eskimo is a healthy, happy little boy, and I want to keep him that way. But I also need to make sure that I'm happy and healthy so I can take the best care of him possible. Sometimes that means a little bit of formula or thawed breastmilk in a bottle. Or maybe a disposable diaper now and then. It can be hard to swim against the mainstream and it's okay to take a break from being "crunchy" every now and then. But be sure to take stock of everything you're doing and your reasons for doing it. It helps me every time.

New diapers on the way! And how to wash them...

Okay, I did it! I ordered my own set of prefolds! I ordered 30 Bummis organic cotton prefolds.... so luxurious! I also got two more of the strech bamboozles for night time. Hooray! Now let the real fun begin....

So, the washing. People always think it's totally gross to wash poopy diapers in your washing machine, the same machine that your clothes go in. Honestly, I definitely thought it was disgusting too until I started doing it. What you need to understand is that you're not throwing piles of poop into the machine. When babies are exclusively breastfed, their poop dissolves in water, so that makes the first 4-6 months of cloth diapering a breeze. No worries at ALL. Just throw all that into your machine and go. Then, you start solids. Admittedly, it's not as easy, but it's still not very gross. The Eskimo's poop is super solid, so you just shake it into the toilet and you're done. I don't have a fancy diaper sprayer attached to my toilet, I don't have to scrape anything or touch anything. Just shake, and put it in the wetbag. Now, maybe I'm just lucky. Maybe other babies have really nasty gross sticky poop. I dunno, I just have the one baby and so far it's been fine. :)

Here are a few things you need to know about washing cloth diapers:
1. NO FABRIC SOFTENERS - these will do very bad things to both your diapers and your diaper covers.
2. You must use a diaper-safe detergent. This means no dyes, perfumes, or brighteners. Pretty much everything you find at the local grocery store will have these in them. I use Charlie's Soap. I love it. There are a lot of diaper-safe detergents available out there (or you can make your own!), just be sure to do your homework first.
3. Less is more. It only takes a tablespoon or two of detergent. Don't dump a whole cup in there. It collects on the diapers and prevents them from absorbing the stuff they're supposed to absorb.

My routine:
1. Put the diapers and wetbag in the wash and run a cold rinse cycle
2. Start the real cycle, on HOT... let it sit and soak for about 15 minutes then continue on its way. Don't try to wash an entire week's worth of diapers all at once. They need plenty of room to agitate and get clean. Also, be sure to run it on a "Large" load, not small. It takes lots of water to get those suckers clean.
3. Peek in on the final rinse cycle to make sure there aren't any suds. If there are, you've used too much soap. It's okay, just run another rinse cycle until the water is clear. And use less soap next time. :)
4. You "can" dry your diapers in the dryer. But, the sun is the best thing in the world for them. Not only will it remove all those poop stains (and it does, it's like magic), but it will naturally disinfect them. The sun is your friend.

Okay, that about covers it. Questions?

Bamboozled

So, I've been searching for a great overnight diaper for my little man. I usually don't change him from the time he goes down around 8pm until he gets up for the day, around 8am. So, I need a diaper that is prepared for a good soaking. We've tried everything. Snappied prefolds with an insert (I use the g-diaper cloth inserts made of hemp and microfleece) work pretty well. I've also tried a few different pocket diapers, including Charlie Banana and Fuzzibuns with mixed results. Bottom line is, he's usually damp when he wakes up in the morning and that means I need to change his sheets and he can't hang out in his pj's until his first nap.

Well, we may have a game changer here. I tried the Bummi's Bamboozle last night. It's a fitted diaper made of rayon made from bamboo (duh). I used one of his Flip diaper covers over it since we seem to have the best luck containing the super soaker with those. And BOOYAH. His pajamas were DRY this morning! The other exciting bit of news is that the bamboozle has only been washed twice; it doesn't reach full absorbency until it's been washed at least 10 times, so it's only going to get better!

Now, these suckers aren't cheap. Expect to spend about $20 a pop. But if they work, jeez, it's totally worth it. Also, they are one of the softest, cushiest things I've ever felt. :) Hooray!

I don't crunch when I walk

So, it's been brought to my attention that I'm a little bit of a "crunchy" mom. I have a 7-month-old son who is in cloth diapers, I breastfeed, I wear my baby, I make his baby food (all organic).... I don't think of any of these things as out of the ordinary, but apparently they are. So, this is not a label I would ever have given myself, but if the shoe fits...

I wanted to start a blog about my adventures as a "crunchy" mama. The trials and tribulations of cloth diapering (there are many); fun with baby food; the struggles and triumphs of breastfeeding. I had SO many questions about all of these things, and couldn't find a good, reliable source for all of them. Actually, I still have lots of questions about all of these things, but I feel like I'm finally learning. I want people to read this and ask me questions. Please, consider me your personal source of information. I will do my best to answer your questions. And when I can't, I will freely admit it and will try to point you in the right direction. Email me, post comments, do both!

I can't promise to post every day, but I do want to chronicle some of what I've gone through. But for now, I'm going to get back to that diaper cover I'm knitting... :)