I follow several natural (or attachment or conscious) parenting blogs and Facebook pages. Some of the virtues they espouse I can totally get on board with, but for others I’m more middle of the road or even (gasp!) more mainstream. Everyone likes to trumpet a “to each his own” kind of attitude, but in reality I find it almost becomes a competition: I am crunchier than you! Following are ten common Crunchy Litmus Tests and where I fit in.
1. Birth
In regards to giving birth, I am very much a fan of modern medicine, including anesthesia. My first birth was induced (not by choice) and my second was natural (albeit unintentional). Complications after both of these deliveries prevented me from holding my girls right away. My most recent delivery was induced (by choice), and I was given epidural pain relief, but the baby was placed on mom immediately before routine care.
2a. Feeding (Milk)
All three children were breastfed on cue around the clock with no supplementation and no pacifiers. Well, that’s not entirely true. The first had a little formula (a few bottles) as well as some pumped milk during her first 10-14 days. The second had formula twice when I had to spend a night in the hospital when she was two weeks old. The third had a teaspoon or so of formula in the hospital when he was about 24 hours old. But from those points on they were all exclusively on Mommy Milk from the tap until they weaned. Never supplemented with formula, or used pacifiers. (Well, the first actually chomped on one for about five minutes one day, and then decided comfort nursing next to Momma was better. She found her old pacifier when she was about two and held it up to her nose proclaiming, “Look . . . I JoJo clown!”)
2b. Feeding (Solids)
When my first baby turned *exactly* six months old, I dutifully spooned pasty rice cereal into her unwilling mouth. Over the following weeks and months she grew to accept some fruits, veggies, and baby classics such as Cheerios and Puffies, but really showed no great interest in food until about 14 months. My second started shoving food into her own mouth at about 5.5 months, and never looked back. I have no expectations for Baby #3 at this time.
3. Diapers
I purchased cloth diapers prior to my first birth, and am now diapering Baby #3 with them, so quite a good investment for our family. We don’t use them exclusively; we use disposables for travel and night-time and often even short everyday trips because it’s less for me to carry. I would estimate we use cloth diapers (and wipes) about 75% of the time. (I have two in diapers and we go out a lot; cut me some slack.)
4. Sleep
We co-sleep at night, usually with the two girls sharing a mattress on the floor of our bedroom and Hubby, Baby #3, and me in our bed. This often turns into a game of musical sleeping spots if one of the girls isn’t feeling well, has a bad dream, needs water, just wants Mommy, or whatever. And sometimes we all wake up on the same bed like a big pile of meerkats. None of my children were what you would call “good” nappers. My third little dude frequently sleeps in the swing by day. (Hey, it’s the only place the kid will rest during daylight.) Have never and will never use CIO; it doesn’t sit well with me for so many reasons.
5. Vaccinations
We are very pro modern medicine on this issue as well. All three children received their pokes on schedule without fear of side effects. Sometimes this involved me holding them down, but I feel so strongly that vaccinations are important, it’s pretty much a do what ya gotta do situation. We do not, however, get annual flu shots, mostly because it’s one extra thing I just can never manage to coordinate.
6. Circumcision
Only one of our children is a boy, so we confronted this issue just once. He is intact. I didn’t really feel too strongly about it one way or the other, but after doing some research while I was pregnant I couldn’t come up with a compelling reason to have it done. And then once I saw my son there was no way I was handing him over to someone to have a piece of him cut off. Um, no thanks.
7. Discipline
As a general rule we are very AP . . . mostly gentle but we have our moments. I wish I had more patience in dealing with the every day insanity that is taking care of three kids under five. I often need to channel my inner Dr. Sears. One thing we are very consistent with is no spanking . . . I think it sends so many mixed messages and truly believe it does more harm than not.
8. Transport
I own a Moby but often resort to the double stroller method when out with two or three of them by myself. Really, the baby likes to hang out in the sling at home, but when we are out and about I find it too complicated to get him in and out. And he would likely want “out” at least once during each venture because he still nurses quite frequently. Actually, if Hubby is with us (so I don’t need my hands free for the girls) or if I just have the baby with me, I prefer to hold him without the sling . . . even though he’s quite a moose and gets heavy after a while.
9. Television
The girls watch TV . . . sometimes a lot of TV. They watch mostly PBS and Disney DVDs and clearly they pick up a lot of information from what they see. The baby does not watch television per se, in that I never intentionally put him in front of the TV to “watch” it, but because he is usually in the same room as the girls when they are watching he may be, say, a wee bit familiar with the Dora the Explorer theme song.
10. School
We have not yet encountered the public school setting, but both girls are in a great preschool and love it, and I enjoy my one-on-one time with my little guy. Homeschooling would not work for us; they won’t even “play” school with me and are both so attached to their teachers and friends. Not letting the girls attend school would seem like punishment to them.
So, there you have it. I’d say I’m at least 50% Crunchy, maybe more. What’s your Crunchiness Quotient?
