How Natural are you?

[Lisa1302]

I was wondering how many on here are like me... 'a bit natural' , but not maybe as natural as I would like, or maybe for me some things I don't agree with or didn't fancy trying.

So maybe you ladies could list which bits you do, and the parts you don't do..and why?

I used cloth nappies BG when she was small, moved to disposbales when she became more active, I got the feeling she was able to move more in disposables...but now I do wish I had tried others in case she was more flexible in them!

I do use a sling, I had a front carrier at first, then a pouch and now a ring sling. I don't use it the majority of the time, only when using the pushchair just seems silly! Like taking her to nursery, popping to the shop or visiting family etc.

I wanted to do BLW, ended up starting before 6 months, but as soon as she could I got her eating herself, not quite there with her using the spoon, its proper messy!

I don't co sleep, It isn't something I would want to try, and never had the need that many ladies are faced with, I would however have been happy in that case to use a cradle attached to my bed.

I would LOVE to feed Izzy home grown food, I do buy organic but I feel the need to grow some too - no excuse as have plenty of space in the garden...maybe I should start some!?

I use some natural products, but certainly not 100% of it is

I tried to BF, unfortunately it didn't work out and poor Izzy was not getting enough - I expressed for a while to give her some, better than none, and did feel guilty when in the end that stopped happening, but she got on well with formula luckily.

I think thats it - but there is bound to be other things you ladies do!

 

[Arcanegirl]

I don't consider myself very natrual lol!

We do cloth 90% of the time, at night we use sposies for my own preference. And the reason we do cloth is it saves me money, helping the enviroment is an additional benefit.

We do re useable wipes for the same reason as cloth, the money saving.

Baby carrying I do sometimes but I do use my pram more, especially when I need the basket lol. I think it's just I prefer to have someone with me when carrying so most of the time I do it myself is in the house.

The one thing that wasn't for me was co sleeping, I just think my bed is mine and OHs personal space and thankfully we weren't face with the issue of a baby who maybe needed to be co slept with. I did however have his cot next to our bed with the side off untill Alex was 4 months. That was partially for easy reach for when I bf untill 2.5 months

 

[anothersquish]

I just do what I do and I dont consider how "natural" it is or not. I post in "natural" parenting more than others because I find I fit in better here and everyone in NP is more accepting of differences than other sections.

 

[Mary Jo]

yeah, I made my choices on what suited me not how natural it might seem to anyone else.

nappies - we are also 90% cloth, since Adam was 1 month old. he is in disposables at night because my husband prefers it, and the few times recently I've left him in a cloth nappy he's happened to have had a bad night, which OH attributes to the cloth. my aim is to to be 100% cloth eventually. motivation is purely financial. I keep a very close eye on how much I have spent on cloth and how that would compare to the cost of full-time disposables. I'll be in profit around about the time he turns a year old, if I don't buy or sell any more cloth in the meantime, and I have nappies that ought to fit till he is out of them. The real profit will come if and when we have another baby because I have kept almost all my size 1s.

babywearing - I have a sling but don't use it that often now, because he's big and heavy and I want to get a Connecta. If I do and it is comfortable, fabulous, because I love being able to pop out and not have the palaver of getting the pushchair out. I still do wear him if we are going to the clinic (over the road) or to the local shops, if I am not going to be buying much. the annoying thing about babywearing, from a purely personal point of view, was the fact that until Adam was about 5-6 months old I had a lot of joint achiness (knees and back especially) and wearing him out wore ME out. it got a lot better recently and I feel fit and well enough to manage, if only he were smaller and lighter. hoping the Connecta will help.

reusable wipes - I made my own when I was pregnant, and they are fantastic on a pooey bum. we do have disposable wipes, and I sometimes use them on wees, but they are useless on poo because I always end up using loads. I love cloth wipes but I wouldn't spend money on fancy ones - mine cost pennies because I made them out of an old Ikea fleece and a couple of Primark tea towels.

BLW - we are doing it, because I read the book and wanted to. it made sense to me because I wanted to feed him home-made food but we don't have a big freezer, and I couldn't face the idea of making fresh puree every day. plus, the thing about him (and us) trusting his appetite appealed very much.

co-sleeping - I wanted to, and bought a co-sleeping cot because I was way too anxious to have him in the bed with us proper, I was terrifed I'd kill him accidentally (I did read the guidelines for safe co-sleeping and we'd have followed them to the letter, but there are some things my anxiety would never let me do). in the end, we didn't use our co-sleeping cot as it is meant to be used (one side removed and it pulled up to our bed, mattresses level) because when we did, the movement monitor was triggered by me on my side, and I was more concerned about having the monitor work properly. so the side came up and the mattresses don't touch. but he is still right there next to me. and we did co-sleep in my bed loads, actually, when I was breastfeeding, but it was never intentional, I just fell asleep a lot.

home-grown food - nope, impossible, as we don't have a garden or even space for a tomato plant. if we had a garden, we'd grow vegetables. but I'm not a chicken rearer and don't yearn for a small-holding.

organic - I get organic dairy produce whenever possible, always yogurt and milk, butter and cheese if I am in a shop that sells it. but if I am not and I need it I don't make a special trip. other organic stuff - again, if I can but I am less fussed about non-dairy.

natural products - for Adam, yes (he is washed with water and Little Me Organics body wash), but only water for the first month. for me - I don't care. currently using a bottle of Johnson's bubble bath (was a gift) as shower gel for myself. I wouldn't let Johnson's stuff near Adam though.

bf - I did for as long as I could. but I had to use formula as well from when he was a week old, which I wasn't happy about but it wasn't a surprise that I ddin't have a fully supply, and I accepted it. he got some bm every day for 4 months. in an ideal world I'd had 100% bf but the world is not ideal, and I am grateful that there is a nutritionally complete as possible alternative for women like me.

 

[mommyof3co]

Hmmm I guess I'm pretty natural???

We used cloth only from 4mo til about 2yrs but started having stink issues and didn't want to invest in more so he's been mostly disposables sometimes cloth since then...he's 2 1/2 and starting to potty train

Breastfed only until he self weaned at 19mo

No vaccines or maybe you could say extremely delayed as there are a couple we might get when they are about 13 lol

Coslept...and still do half of the night, he goes down on his own, but in our bed again now, when we go to bed we move him to his little couch in our room (soon moving his toddler bed in our room because my sister is moving in so Landon is taking Hayden's room and her Landon's room) he sleeps for awhile on his own on the couch then gets back in bed with us

babywear...though not so much anymore now that he's older

I try and make all of their food including snacks, very little processed food, mostly organic though not all

We use natural cleaning products and soaps, I also buy recycled paper goods and bags

We did circ our boys so that is going against the "natural" thing lol. We do some other things that I would consider more crunchy, out of the norm....not really natural though

 

[MummyKaya]

Hmmmim probably not as 'natural' as most, but feel I fit in this section best as I just do what feels natural to us, and I try and be as baby led as possible.

We're just about to start BLW
He was exclusively breastfed for 6weeks. Under hv advice I introduced a bottle and combi fed due to him being low birthweight and not gaining much at all. This resulted in him refusing the breast completly and me expressing for 4weeks. My milk supply became so low I ended up completly switching to formula. We really struggled with the latch to begin with but I was happy I managed to feed him even if it was only for 10 weeks.
We use cloth 90% of the time - night times I'm still in sposies.
I wear him the majority of the time if we go out. Even if I use the pram I always take the sling as after a while he hates the pram. I want a connecta too!
Co sleeping - Moses basket first two weeks (he hated it), co slept from then - two months old. Managed to get him to sleep all night in cot, then we hit 4monrh growth spurt and he's now co sleeping from about 2-4am with us. I love it, but now he's getting more wriggly it does affect my sleep.
As for home grown food, we're going to have a few tomato/strawberry plants etc but nothing fancy or on a huge scale.
We are just normal people but I have a positive, go with the flow attitude and open minded. That's us!

 

[Vici]

I suppose we're another family who fit in the middle. We just do what we do because it is best for us, not because it is "natural". My mum is an "old hippy" and we have grown up with lots of things that were always considerd "out there" and I was often ridiculed as a teenager but funny seeing as thats the "in" thing to do now

We use 100% cloth - the main reason being cost and the second being environment We have done this since Imi was about 3 weeks old after the first 2 weeks were in hospital.
We use locally grown fruit and veg including some we grow ourselves and others from my mums allotment. All our meat is locally reared for my uncles butcher shop and we also buy free range eggs from him. We also make all our own bread and cakes
We babywear and use stroller in about equal measures - depends on what is convinient for me that day
We have never coslept - we feel our bed is our space and I was happy that Imi has always been great in her crib then cot.
We never use plastic bags (haven't for years) and we recycle EVERYTHING we can! I have alot of family in holland who are awesome at recycling and I always remember growing up we had 4 kitchen bins - used to really confuse my friends
We FF but I expressed exclusively for 6 weeks but could not continue to do this. We are currently BLW, and although our inital reason for this was Imogen, we are now very pleased we do as it is sooo much easier for us

On the flip side, we LOVE cars and attend all sorts of motorsport events which is def not good for the environment but we love it and so does Imi

 

[littlestar]

Q has been in cloth since he was 3 weeks old with the exception of days when i've been ill or forgot to put the nappy wash on.

we breastfeed and he has ebm as well as he's been sleeping through since he was 11weeks so i express before i go to bed.

i do babywear but i suffer a bit with my back so the pushchair does get alot of use as well.

we've started growing our own fruit & veg this year mainly for me to get satisfaction from growing things - told my hubby it was that or letting me grow another baby!

i recycle or reuse as much as i can - i have a friend who passes her little boys clothes on to me and i in turn pass them on again. I do buy a few clothes of each size but at this age they go through clothes so quickly. probably start buying organic ones when he's a bit older.

never co-slept, wouldn't work for us but Q is a good sleeper in his own cot. he does sleep on me during the day though.

we're BLW have been for a couple of weeks now - he loves feeding himself, he wouldn't let me spoon feed him anyway!

most of my choices came naturally to me. i haven't done anything i'm not comfortable with!

 

[Lisa1302]

I just do what I do and I dont consider how "natural" it is or not. .

yeah, I made my choices on what suited me not how natural it might seem to anyone else.

That's what I was meaning - the choices you made - what others think doesn't really come into it for me, that's not what I was asking.

My thread was to see which sorts of things were more popular and which things don't tend to be practised so much and maybe what the reasons for that are, regardless of what others think about it.

 

[Lisa1302]

We never use plastic bags (haven't for years) and we recycle EVERYTHING we can! I have alot of family in holland who are awesome at recycling and I always remember growing up we had 4 kitchen bins - used to really confuse my friends

Our council is not too bad for recycling, we try our best and do more than the average family I think.
Our council collect tin, paper (we keep these for the fire though) glass, cardboard and only just recently plastic (but only kitchen and bathroom bottles etc)

Anything else is a trip to the recycling centre, which for us luckily is a 2 minute drive, so that's for juice cartons and other stuff they dont take.

I buy the bags at Sainsburys so reuse them.

 

[Vici]

Its much easier now as our council recycles quite a lot too - we only have to make ltd trips to the tip now. When we were younger they did nothing so we had to take everything in - i remember where our animal feed was (we had a horse, goat, chickens etc) we had massive bins that were always full of everything we could recycle. We then used to take them in a trailer to recycle

 

[Lu28]

Lets see, what we do is:

-breastfeed - or used to until she self-weaned/went on strike
-BLW
-use cloth nappies and wipes
-babywear vast majority of the time

What we don't do
-co-sleep is the main one I think. I liked the idea of our bed being mine and DH's space. Also, Aisling is a wriggler and used to sleep like a starfish so literally took up an entire double bed!
-grow our own veggies etc - I can kill any living plant within a few days just by looking at them!

 

[Maffie]

Well I try to be as natural or eco as I can in many aspects of life.

I BF and do some BLW
Cloth nappies and wipes
Try to avoid too many chemical products
I used to grow lots of veggies (only moved to this house recently) so not done any here
I baby wear but still use pushchair too

I dont co sleep I would of liked to but was worried due to having seizures when I was younger and worry another could happen.

I use public transport and before Noah I rode a bike everywhere (we used to do the weekly shopping on bikes with a trailer) I dont drive and OH only hires a car to pick up his other children.

I recycle everything I can and also have compost bins. I do try to buy products in as little packaging asd possible at the supermarket too and take reusable bags when I remember.

 

[Kota]

I still kinda find the term 'natural parenting' somewhat strange as I would never consider anyone who didn't do what I did an 'unnatural parent'. I wasn't even aware my parenting style had a label until I started reading this forum.
But for the sake of the thread...

We babywear f/t. I simply did not want to spend hundreds on a pram that would only be used for 6 months before we flew back to Aust. I live in London and don't own a car so rely on the bus/train/tube network to get around, babywearing is just easier then trying to lug a pram up and down steps, and on and off full buses all the time.

I BF because for me it never crossed my mind to do any different, when we had a lot of troubles at the start and almost didn't have a choice I realised how important it was to me and was determined to make it work/ Thankfully I was lucky enough that it did.

We co-sleep as its the only way my LO will sleep for more then 30mins at a time. I'd rather co-sleep and get 6-7hrs sleep a night then force him into his own cot and only get 2-3hrs. It's not something I would have chosen if he would settle in his own bed but for now it works and we've gotten used to it, dare I say I even am starting to enjoy it.

We're in cloth about 75% of the time, I still use disposables at nights and on wash day, I've sold it to my OH that its cheaper but given how much I've spent on fluff in the last 6 wks i'm not to sure he'd believe me. I guess it will even out in months to come and especially when number 2 comes along.

We'll be doing BLW because I'm lazy and can't be arsed faffing about with making up puree's and my OH would never allow jar'd babyfood in the house. so again, its just easier for our lifestyle.

As for other bits, we recycle what we can given our councils restrictions, we eat fresh/free range produce but don't go out of our way to make sure its organic, my OH talks of having a vegie patch in Aust but time will tell on that one, I use eco-friendly products where possible and my boy has had and will have all his vaccinations.

If that makes me a 'natural' parent then ok, I'm just doing what works for us.

 

[FemmeEnceinte]

Molly is 100% in cloth and has been since she was about 6 weeks old, the main reason is... because I imagine it feels nicer and also, tbh, because it's pretty.

I wear Molly everywhere we go and have done since she was about 8 weeks as she hates her pram. Once summer really hits and she's old enough I'm hoping she'll enjoy her buggy as I worry about BW and overheating but, if not, we'll be buying a linen wrap.

Molly is exclusively BF. It's not been and still isn't an easy task at times but it certainly is getting easier. It's never really been something I've done for any reason other than Molly. I see a lot of mothers really enjoying it and I don't feel that way, at least not often. I just get on with it and will do until she self weans.

We'll be BLW, I bought the book and it's such a lovely read. Makes sense to me but it's not something that hadn't occurred to me anyway so it just reaffirms my own beliefs. We'll be feeding Molly organic produce only for the first 6-12 months and then 99% organic ever after. Sometimes it's not possible (other people's birthday cake etc.)

Molly uses mainly natural products on her skin. She doesn't have sensitive skin but I find natural products to be of a better quality and they smell nicer

We co sleep and have done from birth (at first OH and I slept in shifts and Molly slept on us so we're classing this as co-sleeping ) but she came into bed with me properly at 3 months and it's been wonderful. I love waking up next to Molly and BFing is eassssy peasy at night

We don't grow our own veg or recycle as much as we should but tbh, we're quite selfish in our choices. What's best for Molly and the family not what's best for the world is pretty much the reasoning behind most of our choices.

 

[Lisa1302]

I still kinda find the term 'natural parenting' somewhat strange as I would never consider anyone who didn't do what I did an 'unnatural parent'. I wasn't even aware my parenting style had a label until I started reading this forum.
But for the sake of the thread...

............
If that makes me a 'natural' parent then ok, I'm just doing what works for us.

Alot of people find the term Natural Parenting strange, I am not sure why..to me all it infers is that their techniques are more 'natural' as oppose to modern day ways,
like cloth instead of chemical nappies
blw instead of food blended in a machine
carrying instead of pushing

the alternatives are all stuff that didn't used to exist, or certainly not anything like how they do now.
I read on another site its the mother that follows her instinct - which to me is a little vague as even mothers who do zero things considered natural they are obviously following their instinct!

(above isn't meant as a teaching granny to suck eggs , more of how I see it..maybe others have a different view on it?)

 

[Maffie]

Its funny how things seem new and modern now, for example im looking into EC for potty training and after talking to my mum its what she did years ago it just didnt have a fancy name back then.

 

[Lisa1302]

Its funny how things seem new and modern now, for example im looking into EC for potty training and after talking to my mum its what she did years ago it just didnt have a fancy name back then.

I reckon its been in use for a really long time, and then went 'out of fashion' as nappies become more 'convenient', i bet cave people did it lol

 

[vanessayogini]

i know what you mean, Lisa, and that is how I think of being natural too.
i am a natural parent, i don't like to use things that don't usually exist in nature, and it comes very naturally for me to do so. it isn't forced. we are instinctual..we follow our guts and laugh it off goodnaturedly (new word!) when people tell me i "shouldn't do that" (my older relatives)..

we breastfeed because that is the food that is made for her and it worked out very well. not to say there haven't been hard times, there have been many, but c'mon.

co-sleeping was planned and also just happened naturally (lol), when she is ready for her own sleeping space she'll let us know. she's very good at letting us know how she feels, and i'm so glad she feels secure enough to. (my aunt tells me she'll never learn to sleep in her own bed. never? really, NEVER? hehe)

to be honest, strollers have always looked so awkward to me (for every day use). we have one as OH's sister got us one. she has been in it a handful of times, it's ok. but OH and i pretty much wear her everywhere. as the weather is getting nicer we have been using it more for our afternoon walks.

when she's ready to eat (which seems like it's going to start happening soon) she will eat organic produce from local farms that belong to our friends and neighbors. and later in the summer when our garden is plentiful, she'll eat from that! (i need to get going cleaning up our garden space) we are lucky here, as there are sooooo many organic choices for most all the foods we eat and it is so easy to access.

she's always been in cloth from when we finally put nappies and clothes on her (except for the week we drove down to california to visit my family..it's hard to cloth diaper on a road trip), and we use re-usable wipes. (the same aunt said, "it's going to be so much work you'll be switching to disposables in no time" mwahahaaa)

we wash her in warm water. when it's time for soap, i will make my own, not only do i want to avoid chemicals but it's so FUN for me to make things, i ENJOY making her soaps and lotions and things like that.

really i just try not to freak out so much, my mother overreacted about such little things and it really really affected me in negative ways. i'm open to her babyhood and my new mamahood and we are just truckin' along together.

 

[Kit]

i know what you mean, Lisa, and that is how I think of being natural too.
i am a natural parent, i don't like to use things that don't usually exist in nature, and it comes very naturally for me to do so. it isn't forced. we are instinctual..we follow our guts and laugh it off goodnaturedly (new word!) when people tell me i "shouldn't do that" (my older relatives)..

we breastfeed because that is the food that is made for her and it worked out very well. not to say there haven't been hard times, there have been many, but c'mon.

co-sleeping was planned and also just happened naturally (lol), when she is ready for her own sleeping space she'll let us know. she's very good at letting us know how she feels, and i'm so glad she feels secure enough to. (my aunt tells me she'll never learn to sleep in her own bed. never? really, NEVER? hehe)

to be honest, strollers have always looked so awkward to me (for every day use). we have one as OH's sister got us one. she has been in it a handful of times, it's ok. but OH and i pretty much wear her everywhere. as the weather is getting nicer we have been using it more for our afternoon walks.

when she's ready to eat (which seems like it's going to start happening soon) she will eat organic produce from local farms that belong to our friends and neighbors. and later in the summer when our garden is plentiful, she'll eat from that! (i need to get going cleaning up our garden space) we are lucky here, as there are sooooo many organic choices for most all the foods we eat and it is so easy to access.

she's always been in cloth from when we finally put nappies and clothes on her (except for the week we drove down to california to visit my family..it's hard to cloth diaper on a road trip), and we use re-usable wipes. (the same aunt said, "it's going to be so much work you'll be switching to disposables in no time" mwahahaaa)

we wash her in warm water. when it's time for soap, i will make my own, not only do i want to avoid chemicals but it's so FUN for me to make things, i ENJOY making her soaps and lotions and things like that.

really i just try not to freak out so much, my mother overreacted about such little things and it really really affected me in negative ways. i'm open to her babyhood and my new mamahood and we are just truckin' along together.

I know what you mean about prams feeling awkward. I had to use ours for the first time in about 4 months (although he has been out in it with his gran occasionally) and I just felt weird - like I was a child playing at babies with a toy pram! I've never been able to take myself seriously pushing a pram for some reason - it always makes me feel like I am just playing at being a mum for some reason. Maybe it is because it is such a big image of motherhood - pushing a little baby about in a shiny pram. I think the other reason is that we have a Stokke (lovely maternity leave present from my even more lovely office) which I do like, but because it is high up and the handle is quite high I feel like it is too big for me (I'm not very tall) and even more like a little girl.
I was not asissted by the fact that my son clearly thinks mum-back is the only way for any self-respecting baby to travel and glared at me with a bum-face all the way to nursery. I found myself apologising for my injured back - "sorry little man, mum will try and carry you tomorrow"!