grace amidst the poopie business

thats right! i said poopie! usually i don't have a problem using more appropriates verbage than 'poopie'. but, in reference to my daughter, i will continue to use poopie. poopie poopie poopie!

our desire to be ecologically friendly in the hygiene of our baby girl is not emerging news. check out my old posts here and here. however, i didn't realize some of the great joys from being attentive to our daughters needs. if you haven't caught up yet, we are going diaper free, or more specifically, 'natural infant hygiene'.

2/3 of the world uses this method by the way. basically, as a parent you are attentive to the cues that your child DOES COMMUNICATE and you respond accordingly. the key is to learn what are the cues lillian makes when she is hungry, versus, when she has to expel waste. then, you simply catch the waste in a small receptacle and flush it.

there are many criticisms to this method of infant hygiene, none of which we have found to be anything but a lazy argument. "it is too much of a nuisance" or "you'll never get anything done!" when we've told people about our desire for natural infant hygiene, we have received mostly mocking laughs. "wait until the new mom and new dad actually have this baby and realize that they can't be that attentive to their child's needs!" or "it's ok to change your mind."

2 things i've learned in this process. 1) never tell people what your plans are if it runs against the mainstream greedy diaper industry. and 2) i will always be attentive to new parents and i will never try to put down their ideas for their children, even if i think they are ridiculous ideas.

there are 2 main reasons why we are doing this, and many other bonus benefits...

1. initially we were searching ways to be ecologically more friendly than disposable diapers.
2. we wanted to use this method to continue to encourage communication between our daughter and us as much as possible.

i won't waste my time right now debunking the arguments against natural infant hygiene. but what i will tell you right now is that we RARELY miss her cues for going to the bathroom, we have grown to learn her rhythms, and not just rhythims for going to the bathroom. it continues to be a complete joy.

one of the things that's made it easy to transition into natural infant hygiene is the grace we've given ourselves to use diapers sparingly. if we're taking a long car drive or during the night we allow ourselves to use disposable or clothe diapers until we are totally into to lillian's rhythms. this grace has been huge for us.

if you have any questions in regards to this method, please feel free to ask. also search the posts that i've linked for a great starting book on the method and the ecologically harmful affects of disposable diapers (not to mention the amount of money saved).