Natural teen mom

[flower94]

I'm just wondering if I'm crazy. I'm 16 and Other teen moms i know think i'm weird because i use cloth diapers, co sleep, babywear, plan on breastfeeding till Nevaeh self weans(they think this one is particularly weird, and disgusting) , plus i'm making my own baby food when the time comes
2 questions:
Am i crazy/weird for doing this as a teen?
And is breastfeedin till a child self weans disgusting? Because everyone tells me it is and that it's not natural

 

[dannyboygirl]

Nope your just alot more mature and You are giving your baby the most natural foods you can. Also you are making the world more green by doing that. It takes a dedicated woman to do something like that. Even though your 16 your a young woman now because you have baby that you must care for. Stay strong and stand firm for what you believe in..Breastfeeding is a wonderful experience and at your age doing this is setting a wonderful example..

 

[flower94]

Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better

 

[BlackBerry25]

No, you are a fantastic mama!

 

[Marlarky]

I need some tips from someone like you!! I'm 19 and I will barely be 20 when my baby comes and I want to do all of that but people keep advising me against that stuff. Im usualyl not one to listen too other people, but its in my ear all the time!! Could we actually PM and we can talk about natural parenting!? You are doing a great thing and others should take notice and follow!!

 

[Croc-O-Dile]

I'm in the same boat as you. I breast feed (although I'm having a rough time with it right now and needing to express until I heal up But boob juice is boob juice, right? ) I co-sleep, I use cloth, I wear my baby, and I will also be making my own food. And guess what? I'm also 16.
My friends and some family members think it's a bit crazy, and some are naturally curious. The ones that think it's crazy, I just answer back with, "What's crazier? Washing a few diapers or spending 2k on diapers you have to throw away?"

I see you're from the states as well, I've noticed we get more shit for going natural, especially about cloth diapers, then most people do in the UK. It's more common over there than it is here. In fact, it was hard as hell for me to find a good cloth site in the US when I was first starting out. (I started when I was pregnant)

You are crazy; crazy smart (I love my corniness)

 

[Marlarky]

What site did you find?!!? I can only find ones from the Uk tooo

 

[Croc-O-Dile]

What site did you find?!!? I can only find ones from the Uk tooo

If you go on the thread Cloth & Co-sleeping FAQ (it's a sticky) and scroll down to the list of sites (I think it's the second post? or maybe the first) there's a list of US sites that me and the other US mamas use. I've also found that you can get a lot of them for really cheap on Ebay. Just go into Baby>Diapers>Cloth Diapers

FYI: Nicki's diapers does free shipping on all pocket diapers except HHs and Abbys Lane does free shipping on all US orders.

 

[DaisyDoodles]

You're not weird, you're amazing!!

I have a 16 year old stepdaughter and she can't even be bothered to pick up after herself, let alone wash, clean and care for another human being and I suspect the other moms you're getting the comments from are probably quite similar - my SD's reaction to my plan of using cloth was 'Eeurgh! Why when they come in packets?'

Hold your head high and be very proud of what you're achieving because you are a fantastic mom and the others are quite obviously in awe of you!!

 

[mum 2 three]

Your not crazy at all what your doing is amazing for such a young age people lime you make a huge difference to the world keep up your doing fab x x

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

I am a teen mum and I really don't think many will think of you like that. Maybe a feel silly little little girls would but most wouldn't. Your doing what you feel is best for your baby and thats all that matters

ETA: Can I just say most teen mums do not think like that. They are getting painted in a very bad light
xx

 

[dougie]

im 21 and people think im crazy!
i use cloth nappies and people think its weird, i wear him and get told that i shouldnt because he wont be independent, we co sleep and we are told its too dangerous and he should learn to sleep on his own! And when people ask when i want to stop breastfeeding then the barrage of 'oooh, thats weird' comes!

frankly i dont care, i am doing whats best for me and my son, i jsut wish people were more understanding about it!

 

[DueMarch2nd]

hiya hun, thats fab that you are doing all these things! F* what others think!

And to make life much easier on you, you should have a look at baby led weaning (BLW), it is skipping purees all together! Gill Rapley has a book, read that and you will love it! I can probably saftely say that most (note i said most so dont jump on me if someone does traditional weaning!) of us here do or plan to do BLW at 6 months

HTH

 

[nicholatmn]

I'm in the same boat as you. I breast feed (although I'm having a rough time with it right now and needing to express until I heal up But boob juice is boob juice, right? ) I co-sleep, I use cloth, I wear my baby, and I will also be making my own food. And guess what? I'm also 16.
My friends and some family members think it's a bit crazy, and some are naturally curious. The ones that think it's crazy, I just answer back with, "What's crazier? Washing a few diapers or spending 2k on diapers you have to throw away?"

I see you're from the states as well, I've noticed we get more shit for going natural, especially about cloth diapers, then most people do in the UK. It's more common over there than it is here. In fact, it was hard as hell for me to find a good cloth site in the US when I was first starting out. (I started when I was pregnant)

You are crazy; crazy smart (I love my corniness)

I agree 110% with this statement. I'm 20... we CD, BF, baby wear and co-sleep as well. We get stares in public for BF or for baby wearing. Doctors and people who think they know best telling me off for co-sleeping. And almost everyone either thinking cloth is disgusting or that we're doing it "because we're poor." (btw, cloth diapers are way too expensive to be used if we were poor! lol!!).
I also plan to BF until she self weans... whether that be 7 months or 7 years (extreme, but it's up to Aeri).


ETA: I think it would be pretty awesome to get a sub category under teen parenting for natural teen parenting

 

[ThatGirl]

your not crazy at all im only 20 and soo many people tell me not to bother being natural saying i wont cope with reusables and ill regret it

 

[dougie]

it really isnt that much bother to be honest!
my OH manages fine and he was really skeptical!

 

[littlestar]

Good for you honey!
Doing what feels right to you is whats important, trying hard to be something your not is harder, so congratulations for sticking to your guns honey!

I'm one of few i know still bfing at nearly 10months and we're still going strong (despite some biting issues) even at almost 30 i get funny looks for doing the same things as you.

 

[nightkd]

My husband is sceptical of my 'alternative' beliefs (are they really alternative, or is what's considered 'normal' nowadays the alternative??) and it really infuriates me at times. There are some things which are just important to me as a parent (I got DD an amber anklet for gas and possible teething pain, I have slings to wear her, I am questioning getting her vaccinated etc etc) and seen as it's my DH questioning these beliefs it's a lot harder - the people questioning you have no say; it's YOUR child and YOUR choice how to raise your LO - ignore them!

Breastfeeding until your LO self weans is completely natural! I wanted to breastfeed for at least 6 months, but it made me depressed, so now I combi feed....that's just what works for us, but 'naturally' she should be breastfeeding until SHE wants to stop really! Anyone that says that's 'disgusting' needs to grow up imo.

Do what works for you, stick to your beliefs and raise your LO as YOU want to, not how someone else thinks you should!

I am 20 (19 when we started TTC and got pregnant) and would love to do everything 'naturally' but some things won't work for us at the moment, or didn't go as we planned...that's just how it happened...I had a home birth though and got a bit of negativity about it (gosh, what did people do before hospitals?!?! ) but it was what I wanted to do, so I stuck to it and told them all that that was what we were doing and nothing they said would change it. I ended up in hospital due to exhaustion (not exploding or bleeding to death or whatever it was those negative people thought for sure was going to happen to me...) and delivered there after a 43 hour labour... but I still got to stay at home for 29 hours and I was SO grateful for that; it was what I wanted and what made me happy (and I'm sure being more relaxed helped my baby stay calmer throughout the process) no-one else mattered.

You should be proud for being so much more mature and doing what you think is best for your LO. Ignore the negatives, life's too short.

 

[flower94]

yes in the states we get a hell of a lot more crap. people tell me dont bother with breastfeeding because im at school and when they find out about cloth they get disgusted.
I've never heard of BLW, could you maybe explain it more?
yeah nevaehs dad really hated what i was doing and he broke up with me over it. we were fughting anyways, nevaeh doesnt need to be around that, im trying to be positive..

 

[twiggy56]

Im disappointed to hear you girls arent more supported over in the US...seeing as the US has some of the worlds highest stats for waste

The reason behind people calling cloth 'disgusting' is ignorance...do what I do, reel off the stats regarding waste, recycling, landfill, and not to mention the chemical content of disposable nappies...have ammo ready to fire back at them, knowledge is the key to combating ignorance!

For the record im 21 and get disgusted looks for using cloth....would they take it so lightly if I screwed up my face at a mum using a disposable nappy?!

....I can only imagine....