Any "crunchy" type people here??

[npmommie]

After much debate and thought, we ended up circumsizing him. We didn't finalize our decision until after he was born. I'm still not sure if we made the right decision, but not much that I can do about that now.

we were the same in regards to circ, i researched both sides, i knew enough from working in health care, but in the end I left it up to hubby, he has that body part, I don't, so I let him have final say on it, I didn't feel strongly either way, it was fine either way for me.

 

[DangerMouse]

This is the first time I have heard the term "crunchy". Funny!

Guess I partially fit in that category:

Crunchy parts of me: Natural, water births using hypnobirthing for babies 2 & 3; breastfed, eat organically as much as possible, selective vaccinations, homeschool, use mostly non-conventional medicine (homeopathy, natural medicine), I'm a doula.

Not so crunchy parts: Disposable diapers, don't do attachment parenting or co-sleeping, circumsized ds (so he'd be like his daddy).

Looks like I'm not as "different" as I thought I was.

 

[irene_dsc]

Just an honest question - are words like sposie and hossy part of a "crunchy" vocabulary used on other boards? I have never heard them before.

I've heard sposie a lot before, but never hossy. But, the first time I remember seeing sposie was from a friend of mine who is half-Russian, half-Vietnamese, and currently lives in Great Britain, so I didn't know if it was her own term or more widespread! (But, no, I'm pretty sure she didn't coin the term.) And fwiw, I do sposie's...or did, until dd potty-learned. Oh, and had a drug-free birth in a hospital, and one almost drug-free (a little bit of Stadol).

 

[Vickie46]

I had a c section... so no natural childbirth..

I also for sure wanted my child vacinated..

 

[t-beri]

Thanks for the laundry detergent recipe. That is the first area that my husband and I started greening up. My family owns an air conditioning business and my husband took a lot of indoor air quality classes and came home ranting about the chemicals we are putting on our counters, in our clothes and on our floor (which those babies crawl on) I started cleaning w/ natural things like vinegar and lemon and using more earth friendly detergents and plant based fabric softeners...But we've been going through a rough financial time and we haven't been able to continue on as many organic items and laundry detergent is one of the things I've switched back to using the main stream. I still try to keep plant based fabric softener or throw some white vinegar in for the rinse cycle.
...t.

 

[tanyaandallie]

Yeah, I have two in diapers so there is no way I would be doing cloth at WDW.. Sometimes you just gotta use sposies! I do plan on wearing my baby though. I am taking a double stroller, so when Ryan falls asleep and he just gets too heavy to carry I can lay him down and my toddler will ride in the front. He hates the stroller though.. I have spoiled him to the sling.

Anyone else here baby wear in the parks? Can you wear them on rides like dumbo and such? Rides that don't move real fast I guess I should say. lol

Candice, my kids were 20 mos and 3.5 last November ('06) when we went. I took the double stroller and my Beco. My ds is not a stroller lover either. He spend about 75% of his time in the Beco. You can wear your baby on most of the rides. I normally took mine out b/c I back carry and of course he wanted to see what was going on. When we went when he was 7 mos I took my mei tai and he rode in it 100% of the time. Since I was only doing a front carry then I left him the carrier on all the rides. Never had an issue. That time we just took a single.

Last May he was 2+ and rode a ton more in the stroller. Still took the Beco
but he was happy in the stroller far more than before. We are taking the double and the Beco again in January! I'm thinking he will be mostly riding in the stroller this time around.

 

[PaulaSue]

I'm more in the middle of main and crunchy. I EN my girls for a long time. I loved wearing my girls and I am betting at least one snuck over to our bed by now too.

 

[mattmommy]

I guess I'm the opposite of crunch--soggy?

I think people should do whatever they're comfortable with. I do have one question about the co-sleeping. No judgements, just questions. Do you have an attached little bed for a baby so you don't "roll over"? DH and I have a king bed and I'm a sprawler and it still seems small and we're average sized people. Are cosleepers smaller/stiller people?

 

[doulacandice]

I'm overweight and we co-sleep. We do not use any side car type things or anything like that.. The baby usually sleeps inbetween us. For me, I know when they move and I'm aware of them the whole time they are in bed with us so we have never had any problems rolling over on them or anything like that. Actually Dr. Sears has something on his website about how it's believed the mother is more in tune with their baby while they cosleep and it can reduce the risk for SIDS, ect.

I always felt safer when they are with me, esp when they are newborns. I'm terrified of SIDS and leaving them alone to sleep.

 

[FFXDSNADDICT]

As an expectant mom I have loved reading all the posts here "crunchy" or not. Since Im only about 15 weeks Ill throw in the stuff I hope to do but Ill post later on what I've actully done.
* Im having a hospital birth, but wished I could do a water birth (lack of insurance really kills your choices when others are helping you out )
*Ive been on the Organic route for a while now. Regular Milk really grosses me out now, and Im sorry the canned baby food freakes me out, I cannot wait to make my own. (the frozen ice cube like baby food trays at Whole Foods are insanly expensive)
*While we won't do the whole co-sleeping in the bed thing Im excited about buying the co sleeper bed attachment. Between DH and I we take up the whole bed. Sometimes there isn't even room for the two of us haha.

If any of you ladies have some more tips I would love to hear them! Thank you from a semi crunchy mom-2-be

 

[3jsmommy]

Hi, I wouldn't say I'm obviously "crunchy" which always makes me think of some of the people I met at Grateful Dead shows as a teenager, now THAT is crunchy!!! but I do agree w/ all AP practices!
I was so gung ho for a natural CB but ended up w/ a c-section w/ my 1st due to shoulder dysplasia, then opted for #2 & 3 to be c's also.
I was a constant holder & used a sling while going out sometimes.
I am still BFing DS 15 months, never had a bottle at all, never tasted formula. My first two were only BF until about 6/7 months though.
We co slept w/ DS6 for a couple of years. DS4 for a few months (he was just a really good sleeper & we still had the first one in our queen bed!)
DS15months spends the last few hours of the night in our bed nurses & goes back to sleep til 7am.
We selectively Vacs. after researching all of the meds.
We only medicate our kids (&ourselves) when absolutely necessary.
We did circ. because Daddy is circd & we thought it was pretty harmless.
I never cloth diapered, my mom did w/ my two youngest bros. & I was a teenager at the time, I swore I would use disposables when I had kids, it is just so much easier. (selfish & wasteful too I know )
I use all natural cleaning supplies. I do use some bleach in the bathroom though. Just vinegar & h20 for the floors, Seaside Naturals stuff for everything else.
I do a lot of organic, but when DH shops there is almost all regular groceries bought!
We have our kids in a great public school & we are in a very diverse area so I love that they meet friends from all races & backgrounds.
So am I crunchy? not really but I'm not big on labels anyway, unless you want to label me as a really loving Mom who is doing her best, and it sounds like you all get that label!!

 

[earthfaries]

I guess I'm the opposite of crunch--soggy?

I think people should do whatever they're comfortable with. I do have one question about the co-sleeping. No judgements, just questions. Do you have an attached little bed for a baby so you don't "roll over"? DH and I have a king bed and I'm a sprawler and it still seems small and we're average sized people. Are cosleepers smaller/stiller people?

I am very overweight and I slept with all three of my babies Usually when children suffocate in parents bed it is from pillows and gaps in the bed research has shown. To this day when my 5 year old sleeps with me on vacation at hotels etc., I wake up pretty much everytime he moves!!! Needless to say I don't get much sleep when that happens.
We will see about our upcoming trip in 13 days. We have a 3 bedroom townhouse in Kissimmee and I will be sharing my king with him

I had one of those foam baby things that have foam sides and the baby sleeps in the middle of them to kinda keep them in place when they are really little.

Co-sleepers also work great if you have a crowded bed.

As an expectant mom I have loved reading all the posts here "crunchy" or not. Since Im only about 15 weeks Ill throw in the stuff I hope to do but Ill post later on what I've actully done.
* Im having a hospital birth, but wished I could do a water birth (lack of insurance really kills your choices when others are helping you out )
*Ive been on the Organic route for a while now. Regular Milk really grosses me out now, and Im sorry the canned baby food freakes me out, I cannot wait to make my own. (the frozen ice cube like baby food trays at Whole Foods are insanly expensive)
*While we won't do the whole co-sleeping in the bed thing Im excited about buying the co sleeper bed attachment. Between DH and I we take up the whole bed. Sometimes there isn't even room for the two of us haha.

If any of you ladies have some more tips I would love to hear them! Thank you from a semi crunchy mom-2-be

My babies ate homemade babyfood also. I bought the book Super Baby Food and it was great! If you don't have it I highly recommed it. It had so many great natural recipes and a huge food index in the back that told you when it was ok to start you child on certain foods. It told you how to make the ice cube baby food. It worked great and I made babyfood for two babies at a time. I would just buy a bunch of organic sweet potates, cook them, puree them and then put them in the ice cube trays and freeze them.

The co-sleeper attachment is a neat thing and is great for a crowded bed. I always just had just me and my baby in my bed

 

[Camno's Mama]

I would say that I'm pretty crunchy...especially more so than a lot of people that I know. I nursed for two years, at which point they wanted to quit, both of my boys. I cd my younger one...although I do use the sposies as well. I did the whole babywearing thing. We eat a lot of organic foods and use as many of the earth friendly cleaners and such as we can find. I do use the Tide Coldwater for now rather than Seventh Gen or something as detergent. Interested in trying to make my own cleaners though...I have to figure out how to do that!!!

My whole family is big into recycling, etc. We do shop a lot at Supertarget, so that's not so good in the eating locally dept, but they do have a lot of organic, earth friendly options.

We always put our boys in their own beds in the beginning of the night, but they always ended up in ours. They did have their cribs in our room for a while though when they were little.

We did circumsize...never really gave much thought to that to be honest. Now I kind of wish I had given it more thought, but if I had another boy I'd probably do it again. We do vaccinate and I plan on sending them to school. I don't think I'm motivated enough to homeschool...I don't know how you all do it! My hat is off to you...we have really good schools around here though, so I feel that I have really good options.

Good thread!

 

[Camno's Mama]

I just noticed that someone said something about expensive baby food trays...we just used good old ice cube trays. I also endorse the recommendation for the book, Super Baby Food...very helpful!

Good luck!

 

[doulacandice]

I'm really glad this thread is getting a lot of responses!

My youngest is the first one I have made my own baby food with.. It's not hard at all. I don't freeze anything though, not yet. I just make it as I make our food. Baby food is expensive!! I usually don't start my babies on solids until 6 months anyways because there have been studies show that kids can have food allergies when you start food too soon. Ryan actually just picked up eating and he is 8 months old. He just didn't have much interest in it until now. He totally by passed the stage 1 type all together though and is more into gently mashed things..

I do wanna buy a baby food grinder and one of those recipe books but just haven't gotten around to it!! I wonder what I will do about him eating at disney. lol

 

[earthfaries]

I'm really glad this thread is getting a lot of responses!

My youngest is the first one I have made my own baby food with.. It's not hard at all. I don't freeze anything though, not yet. I just make it as I make our food. Baby food is expensive!! I usually don't start my babies on solids until 6 months anyways because there have been studies show that kids can have food allergies when you start food too soon. Ryan actually just picked up eating and he is 8 months old. He just didn't have much interest in it until now. He totally by passed the stage 1 type all together though and is more into gently mashed things..

I do wanna buy a baby food grinder and one of those recipe books but just haven't gotten around to it!! I wonder what I will do about him eating at disney. lol

When the babies were 7 months they went on their first cruise, and at one went on another cruise and Disney 2 times. We brought organic jarred baby food. I remember we had this small/med. size hard cover suitcase that rolled, we had like 100 jars or something in there!!! None broke, we just wheeled it on with us
Then at Disney we just took some in our backpacks everday which we hung on the stroller so we didn't have to carry it. I still have to bring their food because they are so particular and lots of organic stuff tasted different from regular stuff, my daughter won't eat any cottage cheese except for organic valley, it's not mushy like stuff you find at rest.
They don't eat mac and cheese out, chic. nugg, they will eat cheese, fruit, rolls, basic stuff. They don't care for fries, they don't like meat, it's hard.
I usually just bring almond butter sandwiches and odwalla bars, fruit leathers, crackers, etc.

As for the grinder, we just bought a really good blender and it worked perfect and you could make bigger batches and the kids still love smoothies we make in it
As for the book, you 've got to get super baby food!!!

My babies didn't care for solids either until about 8 months. At that point they loved pureed avacados, cold raw tofu (still do and it's safe at 7 months ) and sweet potatoe. Now they won't eat SPotato It's too bad, it 's so good for them...

 

[joesgirl]

Hmmm, well I didn't breastfeed either of my kids, used pampers, had an epidural with both, I did co-sleep with both till about a year ago, and rarely ate organics. Although most of the food my kids eat is homemade as we really don't eat Mcdonald's or any of that junk. But I do have to say that some of my friends are the "crunchy" type and honestly I see no difference in any of our kids. They're all healthy both physically and emotionally, participate in lots of activities, do well in school and are all around good kids. I honestly don't believe that natural childbirth, co sleeping, or cloth diapers make any difference in any child's upbringing. As long as the child is loved and nourished, that is all that matters.

This is an excellent post.

 

[SmallWorld71]

There is definitely more than one good way to parent! I think the important thing is to respect those who parent differently than we ourselves do which isn't always easy. After all, everyone's circumstances are different.

As an example, every book you read suggests waiting until 6 months to start a baby on solids. Well, my DD was 10 pounds at birth, did not lose any weight in the 1st few days and had a voracious appetite from the get-go. I was nursing her every hour and it was really taking away from time with my other kids. The pediatritian gave us the go ahead to start solids at 2 1/2 months. She did not have any trouble eating. But, you should have heard some of the other mothers at playgroup. Anyway, she is now 4 1/2, a very average, healthy weight, eats a well balanced diet, has no food allergies and is always willing to try new foods. And now those same mothers are saying to me, "You are so lucky to have a child that eats her fruits and vegetables. Wish mine would. How do you do that?."

Point of my long, rather boring story: The right parenting is what is right for you and your child.

 

[earthfaries]

doulacandice, I am glad you started this thread It's nice talking with others who share a similar parenting/lifestyle as I do.
I am glad it was able to stay positive as a place to post and talk about how crunch we are and not turn into a debate thread!
When is your trip to the World? How old will your kids be when you go?

 

[gottagetback]

Hello. I am new here but I may fit into this category... a little.
We homeschool (10 years now), I breastfed all 4 of mine for a grand total of 6 years altogether, been there done that with vegetarianism and organics - just a dabbler these days - not a diehard. I am very interested in meeting some of the homeschoolers/unschoolers here on the DIS.
So what is this "Disney Homeschool Days" for 2008 I saw on someone's post? Thanks...