Last time I was pregnant, AOL was basically how I kept in touch with other pregnant ladies and mommies.
Side note: Every time I went into the AOL pregnancy chatroom some creeper would IM me about creepy pregnant lady fetish stuff. Every time. I'm so glad the internet is less like the wild west these days!
So I've been looking at baby gear and have been particularly interested in all the stuff out there for babywearing these days. I had a baby carrier with my daughter but there are all sorts of cool things out there now: slings and pouches and god knows what else. Beyond just babywearing gear, I can't believe how much STUFF there is out there for natural baby-rearing these days. When I was nursing my daughter, there was basically me and a baby and a crappy breast pump. Now there's special breastfeeding blankets and pillows and all sorts of junk (and I totally need one of those fancy Medela bags).
Was this stuff out there before? Because I went to Babies R' Us back in '99 and all that and I don't remember seeing any of THIS. Is the country just more accepting of natural parenting than it was when my daughter was born? Even with nursing, I was mostly treated like I was weird for breastfeeding my daughter and didn't get any support really from anyone other than, of course, the La Leche League.
In any event, I'm glad to know that at least I can find internet people who won't look at me like I have three heads for going the natural, organic route. Though I suppose they won't actually be looking at me, since they're on the internet...
(Final note, I'm so trying to convince my husband to at least try out cloth diapers. I know, I'm crazy, right?)
Good luck on the cloth diapers! I don't think I could even have considered it. My aunt did it, and it was totally gross (mainly because she was a slob, I think.)
ReplyDeleteConsidering all of the other changes out there I wonder what the choices for "cloth" diapers are these days.
My second son stayed in the hospital for 4 days after birth and I pumped using the crappy hand-pump they give out in your hospital grab bag.
They didn't even use it <_< I was so mad.
I'm totally convinced that I want to try the cloth diapers when I have a baby. My mom did it with both me and my sister, and that was well over 25 years ago before they had all the neat contraptions and services that exist now to make it easier.
ReplyDeleteI tried really hard to use cloth diapers. I wound up with pail after pail of mildewed diapers, even though I soaked I soaked in bleach. I couldn't afford diaper service, and just didn't have it in me to manage baby care and staying on top of cloth diaper cleaning. It was disgusting. Probably, as Denise said, because I'm a slob. :p
ReplyDeleteI'm not trying to discourage you, though. You're probably more on top of things than I was.
Yeah, see, I'm not the one who will be at home for the most part and if Kevin is really uncomfortable with it, I won't force the issue. Though I think it would be nice to at least TRY them. Though I think for overnights and trips out of the house we would use disposables. Cuz my daughter's not so old that I can't remember what all that is like. :P
ReplyDeletewww.thebabywearer.com - a fantastic site for babywearing (I am also a huge fan- I HIGHLY recommend a wrap). They have awesome how-to videos.
ReplyDeletewww.mbeans.com - Magic Beans store in Hingham. They have ALL of the best, most clever baby care products that you never knew you needed. Although, they are VERY expensive. I suggest checking out the site, and maybe even going to the store, find what you like and shop for it somewhere else. You can also try on all of their babywearing products at the store.
www.bumgenius.com - one of MANY cloth diapering options. This seems to be a very popular brand though.
www.kellymom.com - I have a friend who nursed her two girls for 2 years each and she recommended this site to me.
Raising your baby "naturally" is all the rage right now. EVERY store carries all sorts of natural baby products- but do your research (as I am sure you would) - not everything out there is as natural as it professes to be.
If there is anything that I can do to help you at all, I would be more than happy. Just say the word.
Katie: I had never even HEARD of that Magic Beans store. OMG SO CUTE! I'll have to go check it out!
ReplyDeleteDid you/do you nurse the boys? I had such a rough go of it with my daughter, I can't even imagine doing it with twins. Of course, she was snuck bottles in the nursery frequently so she had some nipple confusion going on. I had a c-section with her and no one stayed with me at the hospital, so I wasn't allowed to have her in the room with me for the first night.