if one more person...

[StrongFeather]

makes a comment about my plans to cloth diaper (or insert any other off the beaten path idea) I am going to scream!!!!!!!

sorry
end rant

[jimblejamble]

I agree! Last night I was at a church humanitarian aid project night (we made little puppets and puzzles for kids) and had to listen to two ladies tear down vegetarianism (I'm no longer vegetarian but I have nothing against vegetarianism!), homeschooling, and midwifery for over an hour. It was awful.

Mind if I join in on the screaming?

[deymm]

that is why I don't tell anyone anything

[VeezieTG]

when ppl find out how much i've saved with cloth diapers, they get real interested real quick and lose the "thats so 3rd world/ thats so hippie" tone. with just lennon, we will have saved about $6,626.86, total. after the next baby we will have saved $13,603.72. (this is if you believe that a year supply of correctly sized diapers costs $2000whatever dollars... which i do. ) you tell someone that you saved $6k on anything and they'll start thinking alot like you. lol

[Julia24]

yeah - LOTS of my mainstream friends are getting awfully interested in 'cloth' when they hear that like magic, my 3.5 yo stopped wetting at night! Literally stuck a cloth trainer on her and she stopped peeing in her sleep. I don't GET it, but I sure like it (same thing that worked for my big girl too!)

ITA about people being so close minded - it's sometimes infuriating!

[guestmama9922]

what's really funny is that none of these things are important when the child is out of toddlerdom. People just love to know all your plans when they are babies.
Just don't say anything to anyone and then they won't have the chance to comment.

[StrongFeather]

the problem is DH telling people at his work, and then coming home with tidbits like "Marilyn said we might want to AT LEAST have a package or two of disposables laying around "just in case".

Just in case what? I don't do the laundry? Just in case I feel llike my child hasn't had a bad case of diaper rash yet? Just in case I feel like creating 10-12 more pieces of trash that day? Just in case I want to spend money on something I will use once and then throw away?

I just don't get it. And the fact that DH can't see that these little tidbits are super annoying (we had this convo 2 days ago about people's opinions of the CDering, and how much I (really don't) care about them. But he's just playing devil's advocate (his excuse for bringing it up)? Huh?

Men!

[dosergirl]

dp and my mom are doing the same thing to me. they are supportive but still saying things like "well we will just hide diapers in the house"

admittedly we are going on vacation in november and i will probably use disposables, because that is what disposables are for in my opinion. sometimes something disposable is easier for a certain thing, like vacation. so its not like i am some cloth diaper nazi. but it's my choice what to put on my lo. and it was partly dp's choice so it's really annoying to hear him say things like that because we came up with the idea together.

i don't mention it to anyone outside of those two people though. i got sick early on of my coworkers telling me i would ask for drugs when giving birth (how someone who had an epidural would know what natural childbirth was like is beyond me ) so i just stopped saying anything. the same coworker said i was stupid for breastfeeding because they make formula now and i should get my body back to myself. ugh.

oh luckily my bff knows nothing about babies but is very eco friendly so she sees no reason that anyone would use disposables. i think this is great, cause if i can do it and i enjoy it in the long run, then i know when she has babies eventually she will do it do.

[rockdoctor]

I think I mentioned this in another diapering thread but... a friend of mine brought over some g-diapers. I have never seen these before but they are a disposable and biodegradable cotton diaper refill. You use them like a CD in a diaper cover but when you are done you can flush them, or compost the wet ones (I like this option). I am hoping these will work for us on trips (like Christmas) when I won't CD. I will CD at home, but probably not at friends and in-laws for extended vacation. They are suppose to break down in 50-100 days. A nice alternative to chemical yucky regular disposables.

[StrongFeather]

Originally Posted by rockdoctor

I think I mentioned this in another diapering thread but... a friend of mine brought over some g-diapers. I have never seen these before but they are a disposable and biodegradable cotton diaper refill. You use them like a CD in a diaper cover but when you are done you can flush them, or compost the wet ones (I like this option). I am hoping these will work for us on trips (like Christmas) when I won't CD. I will CD at home, but probably not at friends and in-laws for extended vacation. They are suppose to break down in 50-100 days. A nice alternative to chemical yucky regular disposables.

just a note, I haven't heard much in good reviews about the gdiapers. At first I thought this was the way I was going to go as well..so I did a BUNCH of research on them. I recently attended a CDering workshop and the lady said her husband refers to them as "the worst of both worlds". She said they are really hard to get just right, which causes leaks, and changes typically cost $0.40 a diaper. The most out of CD and disposables.

[StrongFeather]

oh and I don't want to discuss Cloth Diapering!! I don't want this to get moved!! I just wanted to rant a bit to my DDC!

[deymm]

Originally Posted by powpow

Just don't say anything to anyone and then they won't have the chance to comment.

:

[Julia24]

No more talking about CDing!

ikewym, Mama!!!!

And it's hard to stay motivated when you have little support from the people around you!

[acemama]

I hear you! I do worry about someone hinting around about having a "diaper party" for us. It would be awesome if it was a cloth diaper party!!! But I really don't want a ton of packages of sposies. I'll just get called ungrateful when I cry again Yes, I am crazy and use cloth. If one more person tells me how "gross" cloth diapers are again I may just explode considering I am HIGHLY emotional right now.

[StrongFeather]

Originally Posted by acemama

may just explode considering I am HIGHLY emotional right now.

you and me both!

[jimblejamble]

Unfortunately with a lot of people you don't even have to bring it up. They see a pregnant belly and take it as a green light to project all their ideas onto you.

[2boyzmama]

I do lots of things that people blink at (actually, cloth diapering is not one of them!) and if it's people that I don't see regularly, then I might make an activist statement or two (for example, "Thousands of people get skin cancer on the tops of their ears every year, but we don't chop off ears, so that's not reason enough for me to chop off my baby's penis.") You never know when those 30 second conversations can plant a seed in someone.

But if it's people that I see/interact with frequently (family, friends, coworkers, neighbors) then I let my successes speak for me. I have an Aunt who called up my mom to talk about my extended breastfeeding, and it just so happened that Connor had been admitted to the hospital the day before extremely sick, so my mom quickly pointed out how it was a darn good thing I WAS still breastfeeding, as it was the only thing he could keep down. One of my neighbors parents her toddler son very differently than I do, and she made a comment about how aggressive and angry he is, as my two boys were (mostly) calmly and quietly playing. I could tell she was fishing for how I "did it" (i.e. made my boys more calm and quite) and I took that opportunity to talk about gentle discipline, mutual respect, attachment parenting, few but firm rules, etc.

And my always-on-stand-by response to someone I don't really want to "get into it" with is "it's working for us, so until it stops working, we'll continue" or "that's interesting that you chose that option, we chose this option and have found it to be actually easier, but thank you for sharing your perspective" or "I'll consider it, thanks" (I use that last one a lot with stupid drs who say things like "baby needs to start solids" or "baby needs to be sleeping independently" or "you can start cow's milk now")

I try to never get into a heated discussion with someone that I don't think is capable of being civil or is not open to new information, because one or both of you will just get on the defensive and you'll accomplish nothing. And I have to make sure to NEVER complain about the side effects of one of my choices to someone who I know doesn't approve (for example, if you choose to extended breastfeed, you can't complain that your two year old keeps lifting your shirt in public) they'll see that as an opportunity to tell you why you are wrong to have chosen that option. That doesn't mean you have to suffer in silence if something is really challenging but you want to continue, just seek out like-minded friends for advice.