How Natural are you?

[celine]

Hmmm How natural am I? lol
Well we dont do cloth but Im getting intregued...I dont work and if i did I would of probably bought some by now but still thinking about the whole thing...
i LOVE babywearing and do it when its appropriate, we have a pushchair too that gets equal use.
We dotn have a car so pub transport all the way or waling for us
I am growing my own herbs and would actually love to grow a few veg but no clue on how or where to start (if anyone has any tips)
I love cooking and always use the most 'raw' ingridients as possible down to even buying a squash whole to chop up myself vs buying a pcked of precut squash (silly perhaps but its just me!)
I dont do blw but love making my own purrees out of the most raw & natural fruits & veg etc. i do give blw finger foods as well so bit of both
Living in Holland we are super keen on receyling - I particularly am, and we have plastic, paper & trash (still wanting to get a compost bin) plus most of the 'excess' from veg (eg potato off cuts etc) I freeze and use to make my own stock.
We have a juicer and I love having fresh fruit juice in the summer and hope my son will appriciate it too..
Thats me

 

[Tacey]

I'm always trying to find ways to be more eco friendly (hate that term!) so we don't use any chemical cleaning products or cosmetics, we cloth nappy all the time, we recycle anything that can be and I try to shop in charity shops or use hand-me-downs. We avoid the car wherever possible and food shop locally. I've just started my garden and hope to get some fruit, veg and herbs in the not too distant future.

As to parenting, we do the things that seem to come naturally. I haven't used the pram in 5 months and carry Alice everywhere. Alice has never taken a bottle. We co-sleep and do BLW. I try to always cook from scratch and buy seasonal food. I follow the idea of attachment parenting as far as I can. I'm also considering home schooling in the future.

We made lots of sacrifices for me to be a SAHM and I count my blessings every day that I've got the time to do all that.

 

[Jchihuahua]

I don't post very often in here but I do lurk .

We use cloth nappies 80% of the time.

I exclusively breastfeed.

I babywear and use the pram in equal measure. We don't have a car so I walk a lot of places (for example we've just got back from a 6 mile uphill walk and I used the pram as wearing her for that distance is uncomfotable for me as I have back problems). If I'm travelling by bus or shorter journeys by foot I use the sling or carrier.

We don't co-sleep. I am a terrible sleeper and toss and turn and wriggle and throw myself around the bed in my sleep so I didn't feel safe co-sleeping. She's in a crib right next to the bed so I can reach out to touch her in the night if she needs comforting.

I want to try BLW but I have to go back to work when she's 6 months as I'm the main earner so my hubby is going to be a SAHD and he's going to give blw a go and see how him and Daisy get on with it!

We don't ever practise anything like CIO or CC. She is attended to the second she cries.

I will give her all organic fruit and veg as that is what we eat. I also grow my own veggies. I am a vegetarian but hubby eats locally reared organic meat and so will Daisy.

 

[thechaosismex]

I don't know where I fit in really. I was vegan for 7 years before emigrating to Iceland where vegetables are a dirty word! and vegetarian for 10 years before that, so most of my ethics have been drummed in for years before having Fi.
I use cloth nappies as they make me feel like I'm doing something for the environment, even though I know for one of me there are a hundred other kids in sposies(plus they are just so damn yummy and can't resist buying them!). When she was first born I used sposies for almost 2 weeks and the amount of sposies that mounted up in the nappy bin was shocking for me! We also use cloth wipes as they have been brilliant to Fi's skin, but havent got around to using them out and about yet so I use the eco sposie wipes when we go out.

We carry her everywhere and the poor pram has only been used two or three times in 7 weeks, I BF and express so daddy can feed her and co sleep almost everynight as I have a huge super king bed with no fears that I will roll onto her in the night.

Can't wait to BLW Fi once she is ready I eat organically and use local fair trade meats avidly so I have no problem with feeding Fi "mummys" food!

As for other stuff such as recycling and using ethical products etc- these things I haven't made a choice to do, its been drummed into my head since an early age and I usually always buy ethically and organic. I'm very against Johnsons and L'oreal products but nothing to do with the environment but more to do with how they are tested etc, even though I'm carnivore again!

I post in Natural Parenting as I find people not as "quick to judge" and accepting of other ideas that are not the "normal", usually elsewhere on BnB people are quick to shoot you down for mentioning things like co-sleeping or using cloth nappies! Its not about being a "hippy" as a lot of my friends like to call me, its just a way of parenting that is easy for me, if it caused a lot of hassle and stress I wouldn't bother- but it doesn't! everything is really easy going.

 

[Rebaby]

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"!

Hehe, this made me lol

As for us: we're probably somewhere in the middle ish?

Toby wears cloth nappies the majority of the time, he wears a disposable to bed (which gets changed about half way through the night so 2 disposables per day) In the beginning that was because we only had a small number of cloth nappies and i had to allow time for washing and drying too, so that 'break' overnight helped with that. Now we have enough cloth i could try to go full time but i suppose it's become convenient to do it this way?

I think with baby number 2 we would want to start with cloth sooner if possible (we had a few false starts with Toby- he was too tiny for his BTP BG's at first and then when he was finally big enough for us to get going with them my Dad died and everything just went out of the window for a couple of weeks) We'd maybe go full time cloth with no.2 too

Our motivation for cloth nappies was primarily the environment but i do believe it must work out much much cheaper in the long run as well, as the cost of disposables is just insane

He is exclusively breastfed, which when i was pregnant i didn't think was that important to me but i've become more passionate about it the longer we've gone on really. Don't have a problem with formula at all though.

We just started BLW in the past couple of weeks too, and it's great fun. I suppose our motivation with choosing to wean this way was partly because we're a bit lazy but mainly because both of us were quite fussy eaters as children (and OH still is what i'd call fussy if i'm honest, particularly about textures) so it made sense to us to try something which sounded like it would help Toby enjoy food and have a healthier attitude towards trying new things.

We babywear although not so much at the minute as i am wanting a new carrier. We do own a pram though which i love. When Toby was smaller he would sleep anywhere, in the pram/car seat/carrier/someone's arms/sofa/moses basket/our bed/wherever but nowadays he's more choosy, and also nosy! So sleeping when babywearing just doesn't seem to happen. So i am very grateful to have the pram so we can head out for a walk and he can take in the sights for a bit and then doze off and have a nice sleep. Currently i'd say it's about 60/40 time spent pram-pushing vs babywearing, maybe even 70/30 these past couple of weeks. But again that's something which i think might be different with baby no.2 whenever he/she comes along that is! Because when i was pregnant with Toby i knew nothing about babywearing or slings or carriers, different types etc, i just knew i wanted to do it but not really how. Next time i'll be better prepared!

Ummm...what else? Oh we co sleep...or we did anyway. We have a co-sleeper cot which attaches to our bed, Toby was in there for the first 3 weeks but then i decided that i was either about to pass out from exhaustion (constant night feeding!), give up bf, or else he was coming in our bed with us! So you can see why we made that choice! He was in our bed full time (all night every night) until around 3 months when gradually he started to spend little bits of the night in his co-sleeper, and now he is in there pretty much all night, although saying that, he still feeds at least 3 times overnight so does spend some time in our bed as i lie down to feed him (and sometimes doze off...shhh ) Hehe.

So for us co-sleeping (as in the proper bed-sharing type) was not something we thought we'd be doing but it just worked out to be the best option for us for that time.

As for baby toiletries, i'm afraid this is probably where i am the least natural as we use various lotions and potions (mainly Johnsons) like bubble bath, shampoo, talc etc. We do baby massage though and for that i usually just use olive oil. I have to say he's never had a problem with dry or sensitive skin or allergies to any of the products. Recently he has a bit of a rash in his neck creases but that's the only issue we've ever had.

I suppose my way of thinking is just that people do what feels right for them and their LO's and families, and sometimes everything they will do/want to do will fit into one particular "category" or "style" of parenting, but often people mix it up and choose what suits them.

 

[Cattia]

I don't think I am all that natural

I use disposable nappies. I use the biodegradable ones. I went to a demo on cloth ones when I was pregnant and it scared me, seemed to involve endless folding of bits of square cloth and looked very messy, but looking back I think I could have done some research and found a better brand! I use cotton wool and water but disposable wipes when we are out. I don't use any potions and lotions on her, only olive oil.

I breast feed, planned to stop at 6 months but now think I will go longer, although not beyond a year.

I love babywearing and have a selection of carriers but am struggling to find the perfect one! I would babywear more but Abigail actually sleeps so much better in a pushchair than a sling so I usually end up taking her out in that.

I think I will try to be as healthy as possible with LO's diet when we start weaning, but I doubt it will all be totally organic.
I would like to do BLW but as I have to return to work when LO is 6 months so will need to wean slightly before that, I don't think it will be possible.

I don't co-sleep, I wouldn't feel comfortable with it at all. I loved it when I was in hospital with her when she was first born and I had a basinet thing that attached to the side of the bed, but we couldn't have one of those at home as we have the wrong type of bed so it's the cot all the way!

Thanks, this is an interesting thread.

 

[dippy dee]

we do the following
I bf and there is no sign of that stopping even now at 15 months.
I use cloth nappies.
We recycle loads including food etc
we have compost bins for use on our gardens.
I baby wear
I co sleep
We follow blw
I make alot of the kids clothes etc
we buy organic and local produce.

Some of these came natural to me and others i learnt along the was and felt they were right for us. I am far from natural but i am a mummy and as long as my terrors are happy then i will continue to do what i do, if they were to express a dislike then i would stop.
Also dh supports me in what i do again i think if he was to show a disliking then i would stop.

 

[bubbles123]

Hm sort of natural i suppose!
Have bought cloth nappies but haven't got round to using them yet. I have a baby sling, we're very into recycling and organic food. We're vegan too so very aware of environmental issues, so avoid objectionable brands and use green cleaning products etc. Not so natural as I wasn't able to BF and my soon was fully FF after a month of combi feeding and I don't like the idea of co-sleeping - worried I might squash him! (stupid I know!) I think you can just do your best X