Landon is still eating pureed baby food. I can’t seem to get myself to give him teething biscuits. I am so scared that he will choke on them. Maybe at 9 months I’ll get up the nerve. He does have a mesh feeder that he loves to eat bananas and pears out of.
I am still making some of his baby food, but not all of it. I actually buy a lot of it now. His absolute favorite food has been the Gerber Macaroni and Cheese. Ha, he really is his father’s son. The most recent thing I made for him was Pastina with some Organic Chicken, Carrots and Green Beans all pureed together. It looks disgusting, but Yum! I just freeze it in the ice cube trays and thaw it out when he is ready to eat it.
I can’t wait to start my garden next year so that we can always have our own vegetables and herbs on hand for cooking. My favorite websites for homemade baby foods are wholesomebabyfood.com and nurture baby.com.
I am really reaching my Hippy potential these days.
We are also moving on to do more cloth diapering. Yep, you heard me right. Nowadays, it isn’t just pre-folds and safety pins. There are many different types of cloth diapers now and actually a lot of people are doing it. Disposable diapers have chemicals in them that are now known carcinogens (cancer causing agents) and it isn’t in my personality to be aware of something like that and continue to use the product. Disposable diapers also rub Landon’s skin raw sometimes. He is in a size bigger than he should be simply because he has huge thighs- this wouldn’t matter in a cloth diaper because they are soft and don’t irritate the skin.
Cloth diapers are easy now. They add up to about 1 extra load of laundry every 3 days with a special environmetally friendly soap of your choice.
At diaper changes you throw the pee ones in a trash bin with a water proof liner. If you use disposable liners you don’t even have to spray poop off of anything- unless it‘s really messy. Just throw the liner away and toss the diaper in the water proof lined trash bin. If you are out and about doing a diaper change they make little bags called “wet bags” that you just place the diaper in and zip up. No leaking and no bad smells.
They go on exactly like a disposable- Velcro or snaps are now on most of them. They are kindof expensive to get going on (if you get the good ones), but in the long run they save you THOUSANDS of dollars over using disposables. This is also good for the environment and helping to save the environment matters when you are a parent, because that is your child’s future.
I won’t use cloth exclusively. I will use disposables when he is being babysat and I am sure I will slap one on from time to time when we’re out and about. Even if I just use cloth on the days I am at home all day with him I figure those will be days where he isn’t exposed to the chemicals in the disposables. Here are just a couple of the toxins found in disposables-
“Disposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin, an extremely toxic by-product of the paper-bleaching process. It is a carcinogenic chemical, listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals. It is banned in most countries, but not the U.S”
“Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.”
Disposables are also scientifically linked to Asthma and Male Infertility. I Have removed all unsafe plastic (that was possible) from my home. Landon doesn’t get anything with BPA in it (i.e. his bottles, pacifiers and eating tools are free of BPA). BPA is a chemical found in plastics that has been found to cause health problems. People keep on wondering why cancer rates are going up…well it is all of the chemicals that we use in everything! I am not going to be perfect with keeping these things away from my family, but I am definitely going to be putting in an effort to reduce our exposure to health hazards. I’ll still use plastic water bottles from time to time, but not always. So, why if I got rid of all of the unsafe plastic in my home would I continue to let Landon WEAR unsafe plastic on a daily basis? It just isn’t logical for me personally.
Plus, cloth diapers are super comfy for baby and super cute--AND I can use them on the next baby. Which means- even more money saved. Possibly as much as $5,000 dollars saved when used on 2 children. Amazing.
There are many cloth diapering companies- Applecheeks, Fuzzi Bunz, Bum Genius, Smartipants…and tons more!
Look at their websites if you want to learn more. Or just Google it.
I guess, for me overall it is a safety issue. You wouldn’t think so about something that everyone puts on their children, but now that I am educated on it I want to do something to fix it with my own kids.
Perfection is not the goal here. It is just about putting in a little bit of extra effort for a huge reward. It's about being your best self- not someone else's version of what is best. And for me...this is best. I am sure many people would find it best to buy all of their own food and use disposables which can be easily tossed in the garbage. That is their best and in the grand scheme of things that's really all we can do.
"Experience as a profoundly flawed person has taught me this unexpected truth: that welcoming imperfection is the way to accomplish what perfectionism promises but never delivers. It gives us our best performance, and genuine acceptance in the family of human - and by that I mean imperfect - beings." —Martha Beck
Adorable Landon wearing cloth diapers pictures- coming soon.
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