I’ve been following the advice in the book Simply Natural Baby Food by Cathy Olson since the Bean started on solids and absolutely love it (recommended by a woman who posts on my cloth diapering forum and whose blog I love to read).
I had borrowed several other nutrition/baby food books from the library (and have a copy of Super Baby Food) which are great references but complicated to follow. Her ideas really are simple and it has made the transition so much easier. And check it out: Cathe Olson also has a blog that I can now read. I hate that my job is interfering with my blog reading time and my research on cloth diapering forums of finding the perfect wool diaper cover.
7 Comments
September 25, 2007 at 11:56 am
How do you find cloth diapers? Do they work for you and the Bean?
I bought a whole organic cotton preshaped system, with covers and biodegradable liners, and tried them for a week. I counted that I changed the Mouse thirteen times in one day and he was soaking the whole time. They were washable at 60 degrees c with this special biodegradable sanitizer that you added to the wash, but I still couldn’t keep up or get them dry without them stiffening up. A nightmare.
In the UK the government have stopped promoting ‘real’ nappies – they say they have research that the environmental effects of paper disposables vs washing, drying, electricity, blahblah shows there’s no net benefit environmentally. What do you reckon to this?
September 25, 2007 at 12:37 pm
I had to order all of mine online (and there is a plethora to choose from) and it has been a real trial and error for us to work out a system. I use a combination of prefolds (regular flat diapers) & covers, fitteds (cotton, bamboo or hemp material) & covers and keep a few ‘all-in-ones’ around for easy changes (and my new love is wool, wool, wool). There are some ’stay-dry’ synthetic fabrics (microfleece) that keep the bum as dry as disposables but I prefer to use natural fibers and so far not bothered the Bean. Plus, cloth diapers are super cute
The environmental question has been (hotly) debated on my cloth diapering forums a zillion times but for me it comes down to how can using something one time and tossing it in a landfill be better for the environment? Plus, living in the South I line dry mine most often. I think this is a good article on the subject:
http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/diapers/joy-of-cloth.html
Believe me I don’t judge anyone else on their choices. Easily someone could follow me around and find a zillion places where I am wasteful (like I love to take baths and I love to fly on airplanes to cool places) but cloth worked for us.
September 26, 2007 at 3:37 am
I see your point – it’s hard to know what the best solution is. I admit, I use disposables, and there’s probably no excuse, except I try my best in every other area (lightbulbs, standby, saving rainwater, offset for flights, recycling, turning the heating down, local food to reduce food miles, using ecological cleaning products, walking and only having one car and trying to make it the most fuel efficient one we can afford). I guess you can only do so much and not go insane! Any step in the right direction is one more step, I suppose. I’m really glad the diapers work for you – I think I must have been using ‘em wrong!
September 26, 2007 at 2:11 pm
I know, I drive myself completely nuts with it at times. I wish we could share a car and walk places!
September 26, 2007 at 3:39 pm
I have also read that there is no benefit. But I think we could do a better job of treating our wastewater, and of using grey water systems. There is a lot of technology that can be developed there. However, there is no solution to landfills except to stop throwing stuff away. So right now? There is no good answer. But hopefully, we’ll keep on finding ways to clean our water.
But seriously, the cloth diapers vs disposable debate vs. environment argument bothers me because it always comes down to blaming kids for the state of the environment. We could all use cloth diapers and still waste a LOT less water than the cheap plastic toys industry, kwim? Use cloth diapers, buy less stuff.
(Re-reading my comment, none of this is meant to be a jab at disposable diaper users, we just switched to cloth ourselves after 3 kids.)
September 27, 2007 at 3:09 pm
I also think the disposable nature of the society we live in is a bit of a disgrace. I caught my husband saying that our Satellite Digibox is obsolete now after five years (it’s only five years old! Another 95 and it might qualify as an antique!) and that we have to throw it away.
Too right about the cheap plastic toys. My mother produced in triumph from her attic a wooden train set my brother used 30 years ago. It’s immaculate, looks like it was bought yesterday. My son loves it. Wooden toys and kitchen utensils all the way! Hooray!
September 27, 2007 at 5:02 pm
I am using a high chair that is wooden and was my aunt’s that she used for my cousins in the early 60s. Everyone told me I was nuts because the modern plastic ones are easier to clean, have a removable try, etc. I love this high chair! It is really pretty (engraved solid wood) and the tray is attached but rotates and lifts over her head and so she can also sit right at the table with us, also. Because she is a peanut I had to put a tiny pillow behind her in the beginning but so far so good. The amount of plastic that has been bestowed upon us is frightening since the Bean was born, though. I’ve taken a lot of it back to exchange for gates and things we need but it really is amazing.