Natural Parenting

Natural Parenting And Elimination Communication

Yesterday I wrote an article for Ezine Articles, and Patrick suggested that I use it as a blog post as well. I was happy he recommended it, because I have a migraine, and I don’t much feel like writing brand new material.

Here’s the article:

“Potty Training Your Infant With Elimination Communication“

So, you have decided to learn more about infant potty training, but you do not know quite where to start. You are in the right place! Let me first give a brief description of what elimination communication actually is, and then we will get into why people are choosing to practice it.

Elimination Communication (EC) is a potty training practice in which a person uses timing, signals, cues, and instinct to respond to an infant’s need to eliminate. One of the goals is to partially or completely avoid the use of diapers. EC emphasizes relationship between the caregiver and child, helping them both become more in tune to the child’s natural rhythms and control of his/her bladder and bowels. The term “elimination communication” originated with traditional practices of diaper-less baby care in less industrialized countries. Some people start EC soon after birth, although it can be started with babies of any age.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let us move on to the top reasons folks choose to practice infant potty training.

#1 – Parents have an innate desire to connect with their offspring, and when a parent is truly in tune with those feelings, they passionately want to do everything in their power to facilitate the bond between their children and themselves. This strong, natural, parental instinct is the most important reason families choose to practice EC. These parents believe that their children are able to non-verbally communicate their needs to them, including their elimination needs. Because of this belief, they quickly respond to their children if they sense they need to eliminate by taking them to the toilet, sink, or even outside. These “natural parenting” adults also believe that their children should not have to sit in their own waste, for they deserve the same respect as any other human being.

#2 – People are always interested in saving money, and it is not any different for parents. Actually, frugality seems to be amplified once a person becomes a parent. All of the sudden you have to account for the expenses of caring for another human being. That can cost a pretty penny, too. Parents are always trying to come up with ways to pinch a dime or two out of their childcare spending, and elimination communication is one great way to do it. You do not have to worry about diapers, and even if you do choose to use diapers, most EC parents choose inexpensive cloth prefolds. The reason for this is that the baby and parent are able to immediately realize that the child has used the bathroom, because they can see and/or feel the wetness. This allows the child to remain aware of his bodies eliminating function. If disposables are used, most babies quickly lose this natural awareness, because the diapers absorb all the dampness of their urine.

If you practice full time elimination communication, and do not purchase diapers, you can expect to save thousands of dollars over the course of your child’s “diapering” years. Not to mention the fact that most of these EC‘d babies will be fully toilet trained far before most other non-practicing children, usually around 12-18 months old. This is quite a miracle considering the average potty training age is now 3-4 years of age.

However, if you do decide to buy some prefold diapers of good quality, you still are only likely to spend a couple hundred dollars, sometimes less. It all depends on how frugal you really want to be. The point is that EC can be a HUGE money saver if you decide to try it. (Elimination Communication Money Savings)

#3 – Many babies are plagued with diaper rash. The causes of this are too many to count, but frequently they are related to sitting too long in a dirty diaper. It isn’t uncommon to find parents who allow there infants to go diaper free for short periods of time, while in the comfort of their homes. This is because the air allows the babies’ rashed skin the breathe, which aids in healing the problem. I am sure these same people occasionally deal with a little pee on the carpet from time to time.

What these parents do not usually realize is that what they are doing could actually be termed elimination communication, since most EC families allow their children at least some diaper free time. Many do it early on in the process as a way to observe and learn about their child’s elimination routines. Others allow diaper free time once they feel confident enough in their ability to read their child’s potty cues. Then, there are the few who believe in allowing the child do as they please at all times, and therefore just do not make them wear clothes. (Although, I am finding this to be on the more rare side.)

I am sure many parents of babies with sore bums would actually be willing to at least attempt elimination communication, if they just allowed themselves to have an open mind. They would see that the benefits FAR outweigh any hassle they might have to go through with the process.

In conclusion, elimination communication is a wonderful bonding experience for you and your child. It has the potential to save you some mucho bucks, and it is plain better for your child’s bottom. Go ahead, be weird for once, and give this infant potty training stuff a whirl. I promise you will not regret it!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_South

Cloth Diapers And Elimination Communication: The Eco-mom-ical Choice

Last year was a great year! My son was born, and I got to learn so many new things about myself. It’s amazing how motherhood has transformed me into a completely different person. A better person.

One thing that I think really strengthened me was standing firm in my parental decisions, despite opposition from others. No one thought I could have a drug-free childbirth. No one thought we could use cloth diapers. No one thought we could practice Elimination Communication. Yet, we’ve done all those things. Did we do them perfectly? Of course not. But, the important thing is that we gave it our best shot, and continue to do so. That’s as good as we can do.

As for the cloth diapers, and EC, things have gone rather splendedly, if I do say so myself. I’m really baffled that more parents aren’t doing these things. It does require a little more energy, but it’s so worth it, especially if Axel ends up being potty trained before age two, which I think he will. (That would be a great perk, but even if that doesn’t end up being the case, we will still be glad we made the decision that we did.)

Cloth diapers have been such a life saver for us. We would honestly be flat broke without them. I drew up a couple of charts to show how much money we will have saved by the time our son reaches his second birthday.

*Includes:

2 dozen infant prefolds; 3 dozen medium; 3 dozen large
4 Super Bummis Whisper Wraps small; 1 Thirsties cover medium
Washing/Drying every two days, with old machines (not high-efficiency)
Purex Free and Clear
15 Snappis
2 Planet Wise diaper pail liners; 2 medium Planet Wise wetbags

withec

*Includes:

2 dozen infant prefolds; 3 dozen medium; 3 dozen large
4 Bummis Super Whisper Wraps small; 1 Thirsties cover medium
Washing/Drying an average of every 10 days (Wash half loads every 5 days with other clothing)
Purex Free and Clear
15 Snappis

pampers

*Includes:

Basic Pampers diapers, average usage of 8 per day
Basic Pampers wipes, average usage of 12 per day
Most basic diaper pail from Walmart
Regular 13 gallon trash bags, average usage of 12 per month
2 (1 pound) containers of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste

babycare

*Includes:

Nature Babycare eco-friendly diapers, average usage of 8 per day
Nature Babycare eco-friendly wipes, avergae usage of 12 per day
Most basic diaper pail from Walmart
Regular 13 gallon trashbags, average usage of 12 per month
2 (1 pound) containers of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste

Totals for all the different diaper options below

alldiapers

Totals for multiple children below

3kidd

*Another great thing about cloth is that they are re-usable (duh)! You can easily use the same diapers, covers, and wetbags for 3 kids, thereby increasing your savings tremendously, as you can see in the chart above.

Wow, after looking at all these graphs, I realize that Patrick and I have really saved ourselves quite a bit of money. The money we’ve spent is represented by the EC chart, which means that by the time we’ve had 3 children, provided they are all toilet trained by age 2, we will have only spent $610 for everything. Now, compare that to the expense of Pampers at a whopping $6464! Come on, people, get with the program. This is money in your pockets! I hope that we can convince others this coming year to try cloth diapers, and maybe even elimination communication. It’s such a relief for the landfills, and our wallets. That’s what I call “eco-mom-ical.”

*Other extra thrifty diaper ideas:

Buy less prefolds (You really don’t need 3 dozen of any one size, 2 dozen is plenty!)
Line dry your diapers
Use a high efficiency washer and dryer
Re-use your prefolds for 1, or even 2 more children.

P.S. - Elimination Communication isn’t as hard as it looks. It can be time consuming, especially when you’re first starting out, but it’s benefits far outweigh the trouble. We want our son to be trusting towards us, and that means we need to respond to his immediate needs, including elimination. Give it a try! I promise you’ll either love it, or hate it.

Delayed New Years Resolutions

Whoops! I completely forgot to post my resolutions yesterday. I guess I was too excited about my Ergo’s sweet return to think about anything else!
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Personally, I don’t really like the whole “resolutions” term. For my sake, let’s just call them goals. I want some things to happen this year, and I’ll have to work to get them accomplished. Simple as that. Sure, you could say I’m resolving to do things, but when people say that, usually no change ends up happening.
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I also don’t like the fact that you are all of the sudden supposed to quit/start something as soon as New York’s ball drops. I think it’s a much better idea to slowly transition into new behaviors, that way they end up sticking. I’ve spent my life not doing things that way, and I think that’s the reason I have such a hard time following through when I say I’m going to do things. It has to be a heart change, not just something you say you will or won’t do. That’s why, this year, I’d prefer to distance myself from the whole concept, altogether, kind of as my New Year’s resolution. :p
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As of right now, I’m only eating beans, brown rice, vegetable, and fruit. The bulk of it is organic.
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Now, we wait.
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We have to get Axel pooping regularly again. Poor little man, he’s been such a trooper. In 2-3 weeks I’ll introduce some raw nuts. (I found a great site online that I can buy “truly” raw almonds from!) We’re praying that his system will clear out quickly, and things will return back to normal.
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Besides getting our little boy’s body functioning properly, our main objective is to spend less money this year, and SAVE. We are officially getting really serious about knowing where we put our money. We’ve even decided to make January a “no spend” month. (This just means that we can only buy “true” necessities, such as food (within budget), bills, and gas for the van (within budget).) No more messing around. Saving $1000 is our first goal. (This is also the first step in the Total Money Makeover, which I finished reading, by the way- great stuff!)

The next thing we want to accomplish is to eventually eat raw until dinner everyday. We want to get to the point where we eat fruit for breakfast every morning (check), and a big salad for lunch with a few nuts or sprouted seeds. Ideally, we will have this goal met by Axel’s first birthday in May, but we’ll see how it goes.

One of my personal goals is to exercise and stretch more. I’d like to do this naturally, by hiking, swimming, and doing other “fun” activities. I miss the euphoric feeling you get when your energy is exerted. But, I really don’t like “working out,” as it feels so forced, and unnatural. I remember being a kid, when I would run like crazy just for the fun of it. I had no clue that I was exercising, I was just having a good time. I want to return to that feeling. Just being alive should make me want to jump around, don’t you agree?

Another thing we really want to do is get some of our old debt taken care of. Patrick has a lot of collections, and it would be nice to get some of it settled. Stupid credit card debt can cause a lot of grief, if you let it. It’s no wonder that one of the top reasons people divorce is because of finances. Money can be stressful, especially when you don’t know how to use it properly!

Overall, I just want to live better this year than I did in the last. I want to be kinder, and more understanding. I want to truly focus my attention on God, and not just on what I “think” He wants for me. I want to get to know my husband and son more, and I want them to know, with everything in them, that I love them.

This is going to be a good year, and an even better decade. I can already feel it.

NewYearsEve

Please feel free to share your New Year’s goals. I’d love to hear what other people are doing!

Budgeting Successes And Failures

We all know that times are tough these days. People are losing their jobs, homes, cars, and many other things of great value to them. It’s hard to come across a person that isn’t struggling financially in some way or another, so I feel that it’s really important to share our personal experience with you all.

We are currently a one income family. My husband works in manual labor, and doesn’t make as much money as a lot of people, but we are grateful that he makes as much as he does. Up until last March, I was working as well, but at 7 months pregnant I could no longer carry the babies up and down the stairs. (I nannied for triplets- it was a blast!) So, since then, our income has dropped significantly, roughly 30%.

Are we starving to death because of it? Not hardly. We are still able to eat fairly healthy, although we do eat a lot of beans and rice. Also, we are getting our bills paid every month, which is saying more than a lot of people can. The sad part is that we have zero savings from when I was working. We spent what we made, like so many people do. We had credit card debt, about $5,000 worth, that continued to accrue interest, and we were still only making the minimum payments. We were being terribly irresponsible with our money, up until recently, at least. It’s a work in progress, but we are starting to make some headway.

The most important and helpful thing that got us started in the right direction was writing a budget. Technically, I didn’t write it, I used the free budget tool at mint.com, but we did decide on a spending plan, which is the most important part (except for sticking to it, obviously). We did that about 8-9 months ago, and I have to say, we haven’t been consistent with it at all.

Food is our most difficult spending category to keep under control. Last summer we were spending $1000, and sometimes even $1200 per month on food alone! That was a third of our income! (Patrick doesn’t make as much now, but he was able to get overtime then, and I was still working.) We were just obsessed with fruit, which isn’t a bad thing, but it is when you don’t have the money for it. (Most of it tasted like crap anyway, but I’ll save the fruit discussion for another post.)

When I first tracked our expenses online, I was shocked to find out how much we were spending. It really freaked me out! I had no idea where our money was going before that day, and that was not a good position to be in. We knew immediately that we had to get things in order, especially since I was nearing the end of having a job.

The first thing we started trying to tackle was, of course, the food issue. I can’t say we’ve done as well as I would have liked, but we’ve definitely made some improvement. This month we really blew it, though. Since we aren’t eating meat anymore after tomorrow, we went a little overboard and ate a bunch of animal carcass. Meat is expensive, by the way, especially the organic stuff we buy. Sheesh, I’m thankful we’re giving the stuff up, otherwise we’d be really broke, or we’d have to go without fruit and veggies!

My goal, though, is for our food budget to remain under $450/month. In the past year, sad to say, we’ve only accomplished this once. BUT, 2010 is a new year, and we are determined to stay within our food budget, and all our other spending categories, as well. We can do this!

So, what is my plan of attack for this food stuff? Well, initially, we are just going to be eating beans, rice, veggies, and fruit. The reason for this is that Axel is still having some minor skin irritation, and constipation. We want to really find the root of the cause, so we’ll eat plain for 2 weeks, or so, then I’ll start reintroducing foods one at a time. I know beans are on some allergen lists, but I’ve always eaten beans, even when he was doing fine, so I know they are okay. *(They were making him gassy, but I found a cure for that a few days ago- I’ll share the secret at the end of this post.)

In all honesty, Patrick and I really like eating simply anyway. It tastes good, it seems to be easier on the digestive track, and it’s simple to make (no complicated recipes). Brown rice, beans, and some fresh sauteed vegetable are so tasty, that I’m starting to no longer want to cook anything else. (Just FYI, eating beans and brown rice together at a meal supplies you with the essential amino acids needed to make a complete protein, giving you a healthy alternative to fatty, fiber-less, expensive beef.)

Plus, beans and rice are so cheap! We buy organic beans for around $1.50/lb, give or take a little depending on what kind you get, and $3.39 for a 2 pound bag of organic brown rice. (Actually, we just got about 10 of those bags for $1.99 each at Town Talk, but that’s a hit and miss type deal that doesn’t come around often.) One bag of rice, plus two pounds of beans, ends up costing about $7, and that makes roughly 10 meals. Add 10 meals worth of fresh veggies, such as zucchini, and you’ll tack on about $10 extra dollars. That means you are spending only $1.70 per meal, and not only is it cheap, but it’s also healthy and delicious!

Lately, we’ve started settling into a routine, and is goes something like this:

Fresh fruit for breakfast everyday
Salad for lunch every other day
Beans and rice for lunch every other day
Dinner varies
Terribly unhealthy dessert almost every night like brownie batter (<—I know, this is terrible, but at least I make it with organic sugar and 1/2 wheat flour- sometimes

We buy organic bananas and apples, but any other fruit we buy is conventional. The only organic vegetable we buy regularly is romaine lettuce for our salads. We try to eat a head each, every other day. I know, most of you are thinking I’m some crazy health nut. I wish I could say that I was, but the brownie batter addiction, and my lack of exercise disqualifies me, I’m afraid. I’ll get better.

So, my point is that we need to start taking control of our funds. I’m almost done reading Dave Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover, and it is really getting me pumped about saving our money, and becoming debt free. He is a big believer in not living off of credit, or even having credit cards, actually. I haven’t cut up my cards (YET), but I am going to try my hardest to not use them. I don’t want to waste my money on credit card interest anymore. I’ve always thought that a person had to have debt, and credit, to be able to live in this country, but I’m realizing more and more that isn’t exactly the case. There are ways around it, you just have to have control over your spending, and plan ahead.

I hope I haven’t rambled too much for you all, I just wanted to share a little about our money issues. I know we’re not the only ones with them! Just know that you are the only one in control of your money. Don’t let creditors be your masters. Make a budget, figure out where your money is ending up, and plan how to make it work better for you. Also, go rent Dave Ramsey’s book from the library, or, if you have the funds, buy it from Amazon, I believe it’s the cheapest there. (You can find it on my amazon products box to your right.) It should help get you motivated to start trying to handle your money better, or at least give you a new perspective on the subject.

Top Ways We Save:

No eating out
Make meal plan
Have a list before grocery shopping
Cloth diapers, and Elimination Communication
Keep the heater thermostat at 65 degrees (that’s cold in Texas!)
Only wash hair a couple times a month (it’s not needed, trust me!)
Only drink water (we have a Berkey filter)
Beans and brown rice, of course!

Please share your money saving tips with us. We would love to hear them! Happy budgeting!

*(We are no longer suffering from gassiness after we eat beans. It’s a miracle! I accomplished this by soaking the beans overnight, and changing the water out twice during that period. Then, I put them in a pot to cook, and once the water had been boiling steadily, for a good ten minutes, I removed the water and rinsed the beans, then filled the pot back up with cold water. This time, I let them cook until they were soft. In the end, I drained them, so all I was left with was the beans, no liquid. Ta-dah! That’s all there is to it. We’ve eaten them the past 3 days, and none of us have had gas issues. You don’t know how thankful I am for this. My husband, and son, mind you, can be very smelly men.)

http://www.christianfinancialbooks.com/south/ mooooney

Cheap Christmas Presents

This year we are trying to be as frugal as possible, without having to skip “gift giving” all together. We are going to bake. Or, should I say, boil, as we’re actually going to be making candy. Taffy is our specialty. (We’ve made it a whopping two times!) We are going to make banana, peppermint, cinnamon, and possibly butterscotch, if we can find some flavoring for it. We are planning on wrapping them individually, just like you see in the stores.

We’ll start early tomorrow morning, because it’s bound to take us all day to prepare, cook, cool, stretch, and wrap all of it. I am so excited!

As it turns out, taffy isn’t as difficult to make as most people make it out to be. The key is having a good candy thermometer, and placing it deep enough in the mixture to get a good temperature read while cooking. I suppose that once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you might be able to just eyeball it, but I’m no where near that talented yet. I’ll get there, I’ll get there.

The last time we made it, it turned out so delicious, that I had to actually tell Patrick to bring it with him to work, because I knew that if I was alone with it at home all day, I would eat it all. Isn’t that pathetic?

Here’s how it’s done:

3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup light corn syrup
4 tablespoons butter (I use coconut oil, or soy free Earth Balance)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla or other flavoring

Combine the sugar, water, corn syrup, and salt in a large saucepan. Stir until boiling, and wash down any undissolved sugar from the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. Add the butter (or substitue) and continue boiling without stirring until the candy thermometer registers 256 to 264 degrees. (I like mine around 260)

The lower temperature will give a chewier taffy, and the higher heat a more brittle product. Turn out on a marble slab or large platter or pan that has been oiled well with oil. (I use coconut oil for this, as well) A few drops of food coloring can also be added to the top of the candy now, but I’d skip this unless you are giving it as a gift, and want it to look fancier. (Don’t need the extra dye!)

The edge of the taffy will cool fairly quickly, and when it can be comfortably touched with well-oiled fingers, turn it inward to form a mass. (Taffy is ready to pull as soon as it can be handled, which is usually sooner than expected.) Grease your fingers and hands WELL! You’ll probably like the flavor of butter for this, although margarine or oil can be used. Take the warm, flowing candy up with the fingertips and pull out about 12 inches at first. Quickly turn the candy back from the fingertips of one hand to the other hand, then catch the center and again pull, always with the tips of your fingers. (Just like the machine does at SixFlags!) This incorporates air in the mixture and gives it the typical, fluffy texture.

When the taffy is very hard to pull and will hold its shape if laid out on the marble slab or pan, it is ready to break off into pieces, but it preferably should be cut with greased scissors. If making several colors of taffy, you may pull each out until thin and then twist them together. For a completely round candy, like a peppermint candystick or cane, roll this twisted mixture on the marble slab to make it even. (If you are trying to make candy canes, make sure you cook the candy to the higher temperature, so it’s harder.) Store taffy in airtight containers, such as cookie tins, between sheets of wax paper or foil, for any moisture in the air will make it quite sticky. It is for this reason that taffy is generally sold with the pieces wrapped individually.

To make Salt Water Taffy add 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt to the recipe.

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