Tuesday, June 06, 2006

O.K. I'm a keener and yes I am ashamed


I am a keener. And for those of you not used to the teenage dialect, that is an insult. I get to involved with things. Not for me to just feed the baby and get on with it. Noooo, I've got to know every advantage and start preparing for my return to work a month ahead by expressing and forcing the baby and the daddy to get used to bottle feeding. Meanwhile I'm hovering behind doors (so the baby doesn't see me and get upset, not that he actually cares as long as he is fed) worrying about daddy's commitment to the whole process and if the baby is being psychologically damaged, or nipple confused as the literature calls it (sorry, nipple is such a horrid word don't you think? I apologise. Have I discussed with you the idea that poo, a term used in England for baby waste material, is much nicer than poop, as used in America? I think about these things.). Any way, too many closed phrases.
And nappies (diapers), I have been thinking and researching and not deciding for months about disposables vs. washable. Well, it doesn't help that the net is full of info and women making and selling washables. Too much to look at. And then the city council has a scheme to try to promote washables. A voucher for 30 £'s off if I spend 50 £ or more. Well that enticement enough. And, well, I have to be completely honest here, I'm more interested in how much money the disposables cost than the environment. In truth, with our small earnings we should be on continuous beans on toast. But then there are so many different types of nappies to choose from and so many reasons to choose them. So I had to buy a variety of types to experiment with. It became clear very quickly that the cheapest and simplest were the best. http://www.disana.de/eng/frame.htm organic tie-on nappies to be precise. And the 10£ all in one with a stuffings that cost an extra 2£ basically permeate wettness so that not only is one changing baby an hour later but washing everything that he's come in contact with. http://www.naturebabies.co.uk/
Lessons learned. And after months of thinking and researching, I now know that we will be combining washable and disposable and that baby poo is just gross no matter what.
And don't even get me talking about recycling and composting.
I went to bed last night deranged (or as I see it at the time, reaching a point of pure clarity...) after 4 hours of baby crying when there was nothing wrong with him, he just wanted us to go to bed at the same time as him. Realizing that, you know, all this 'doing as nature intended' stuff was really a plot to keep us keener female types supressed. I'm like a trained seal with this stuff. I do it because I'm 'supposed to'. Think of what I could accomplish with my life if I wasn't spending so much time worrying about these things. The mind boggles.
And now I'm off to: make a cake, a loaf of bread, feed the baby, wash the nappies, clean the loo and then nip into the girl's school to help with a project they are working on. Why or why do I do this?

2 comments:

Daft On Kids said...

You are right about how confusing choosing real nappies can be. I gave up whilst I was pregnant and it wasn't until I met a lady using some and she physically showed me what it was all about that I realised that it is really quite simple when you get down to it! http://www.nappytrialservice.co.uk/4020/info.php is a link to a not for profit group in the UK and you can try out a whole load of nappies (for a minimal rental fee) and then pick and choose the ones that worked best for you and your baby. Fab eh?

Daft On Kids said...

Not entirely sure if this is the way to respond to your response to my comment but forgive me if I've got it wrong.
The thing is I have nothing to do with the service I mentioned- all I did is read their website. I just thought it sounded like a useful resource for people who want to try before they buy. It can be expensive to get set up with real nappies, and too many folk give up because they don't get on with the system they chose.
I'm sure there are others offering the same thing, I just thought I'd share with you about this one I found.
Again, apologies if I over stepped the mark- blame my naivete as I believed sharing was part of the blogger community thing.
All the best