Vaxing and Cloth Diapering

Jan/9/2013

9 weeks 5 days 

I'm not even ten weeks pregnant yet and so far I feel so overwhelmed by all these choices I have to make. I know I have seven more months before the baby is due but the pressure is on!

I'm supposed to decide what to do with this little person growing inside me and knowing that I am going to be responsible for someone else's life is very nerve-wracking.

It seems that there are so many more choices when it comes to parenting than there were a few decades ago. I never used to hear about people deciding on whether or not to vaccinate their kids. It seems like everyone just did and that was that. I think it's amazing that there is a cure for life-threatening diseases like meningitis, polio, rubella, measles, and mumps. I feel blessed to live in a place where my children can receive these immunizations for free and be protected from these diseases. I haven't done the research yet for myself so I really don't know why parents choose not to give their children these vaccinations. When I was in high school, a 15 year old got meningitis and died. So...I'm leaning more towards vaccinating. Also, it seems that most children get vaccinated and it is common practise in Canada-I'm trying to have some faith that there are more pros than cons.

I also never used to hear about cloth diapering-as far as i know, that was something of the dark ages. But...more and more mommies out there are choosing this option for their baby. I have done a lot of research on the whole cloth vs. disposable debate and I can say with confidence that cloth diapers are WAY cheaper, environmentally friendly, and healthier for the baby. A parent can save approx. $2000 per baby by cloth diapering. That in itself is a reason to consider it as an option. If you decide to cloth diaper, you need to buy at least 18 diapers with inserts. Also, you need to buy special diaper cream and laundry soap-as regular cream and soap will degrade the diaper. Another item that must be purchased with cloth diapering is a diaper sprayer that you use to spray soiled diapers in the toilet. Other items parents may want to consider getting when using cloth are wet bags, which are reusable and washable fabric bags that you can pet dirty diapers in when you are on the go. Buying cloth wipes are also an option-but that is a lot of commitment. All that said, cloth diapering is a big initial expense. A diapering package like this can easily cost around $500. Even with the long-term savings, there are a lot of cons of cloth diapering. Just like with disposable diapers, a parent may have to try several different brands before they find one that fits their baby properly. Cloth-diapering mom's recommend that you buy 2-3 of several different brands so you can find ones that work the best, but doing this will cost a lot of money and you may end up with a whole bunch of expensive diapers that you can't use. If you find that only a few diapers you bought worked, then you have to spend hundreds more dollars on more diapers. Other cons include doing laundry daily or at least every two days...Can you imagine the stink of diapers that have been sitting for days and having to put that in your washing machine? I also don't relish the thought of scraping poo out of diapers either. Changing diapers is nasty is enough without having to worry about spraying them off and taking them apart to be washed. And are you supposed to be carrying your baby around with you so you can get all this done? Another con is travel and childcare. No one I know would know how to use a cloth diaper, nor would I want to subject anyone who is nice enough to watch my kid to having to deal with cloth diapers. And when it comes to travelling, cloth diapering is not an option, as they have to be washed everyday or two and you can't really do that while "on the road." Even parents who cloth diaper will have to use disposable diapers at some time. And while cloth diapers are much more environmentally friendly-I honestly just don't care enough about the environment to scrape poopy diapers each day-I'll recycle instead.

And then there's the whole controversial topic of circumcision-which I won't get into unless I find out I'm having a boy!