Another notch in the belt...

Just to clarify I’m not talking about a notch in THAT belt. This would be a notch in the belt of natural parenting. When it comes to natural parenting I feel that that are many definitions, descriptions, ideals and definitely opinions. Not just little opinions either, these are big hot topic opinions. On natural parenting forums all over the internet women hash and rehash old and new debates on old and new topics in often civil but some in down right nasty ways. 

How someone else defines and understands natural parenting is none of my concern. To each their own. If a child is fed, clothed and loved who am I to judge. I am by no means a full fledged member of the natural parenting community myself but I do like to sample here and there, kind of like a Christmas and Easter Catholic. 

For me natural parenting is a throw back to simpler things. Having children need not be confusing and high tech all the time (although I do love me some technology). Here are just a few terms involved in the world of natural parenting: breastfeeding, co-sleeping, baby wearing, baby led weaning and cloth diapering. Beyond the basic baby care there are controversial subjects such as non vaccinating and non circumcision. There are those who view natural parenting on a more literal sense meaning such things as organic food and chemical free cleaners. Those who decide to homeschool their children (such as myself) often see that as an extension of natural parenting as well.  

This is just scratching the surface though. Each topic has it’s own side topics and each side topic...well you know how that tune goes. What I’m saying is that there is so much information out there. If you are interested in any of it seriously do research and do it well. Find first source material, not something someone said or interpreted to suit their argument. The way I see it if it feels natural to you well then there ya go. As in anything make sure you are making the right decision for you and your family. Not all aspects may be for you. Don’t just drink the kool-aid cause you might regret it.

In the Sanford family though natural parenting includes: breastfeeding, baby wearing, co-sleeping, baby led weaning and homeschooling. We aren’t doing any of these things to be trendy or crunchy granola or whatever. We do it because this is where our lives and the choices we have made have led us.

Enough of the public service announcement spiel. Now back to our regular programming...uh I mean posting. The notch on the proverbial belt of natural parenting.

Very soon we will be....CLOTH DIAPERING!!!! I am unbelievably excited about this. I have wanted to cloth diaper for years. While pregnant with our 1st I saw a demonstration at a baby trade show on cloth diapering and I was hooked. For reasons and circumstances at the time though it just never panned out. With our 2nd Daddy vetoed it in favour of disposables because they worked so great the first time. With our 3rd though I have been bitten by the bug again and bitten hard. I pitched the idea to Daddy and my long term nay sayer to cloth diapering said YES. I couldn’t believe but I did craft a good argument for it. Mostly though I change all the diapers so it gets to be up to me how I do it. 

Back when I was first looking at cloth diapering my biggest concerns were chinese cotton, indian cotton or prefold. The diaper wraps were fairly basic, plain and plasticy. My how the world has changed in just a few short years. There are different styles, closures, patterns and of course price points. I won’t go into detail about it because I know I can’t do it justice but for a great cloth diapering 101 check out Caterpillar baby.

After a lot of looking, researching and deliberating Daddy and I have decided to go with pocket diapers. The next closest thing to the convenience of disposables are all in ones but that is a little pricy so pockets it is. I am trying not to get swept away with all the cute colours and patterns but it is hard. Since we still would like more children though I know I can’t just go all out pink because that would defeat the cost saving purpose if we had another boy. Oh don’t worry there will be cute pinks and flowers but there will also be bright colours like blues and greens and yellows.

I will for sure need to figure out how to put pictures on this blog soon so that when I receive my load of fluffiness in the mail I can show it off. I’ll be ordering next week my start up batch of stuff so it won’t be long (Insert squealing with glee here).

Before I conclude this post I have to say that I missed giving baby girl a shout out on Thursday. My sweet girl is 4 months old now. She is getting to be quite a mover, squirming and rolling all over the place. She is getting chunkier too. Already 1/3 of a year? Is that possible? I know it is but it still gets me every time. 

With that in mind I will leave you with a lyric from one of my newest songs I’ve written... 

“Everyday is like a fight, tryin’ to get closer to the light. Time flies so very fast. So for now, I’m havin’ a blast.”