Comments on: Are You a Crunchy Cloth-Diapering Mom?

By: Ashley Kendrick

Ashley Kendrick — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:54:44 +0000

We CD, compost, baby wear, Co sleep, recycle, shop at local farmers markets a much as possible even during winter, made my own baby food and my second son is almost 19 months and still nursing strong. I’m not 100%crunchy, but at least half way there. I grew up with hippy parents, and everyone in my family is kind of nutty about the environment andsuch, but I’m also from just outside Portland Oregon, and we are all about green living here.

By: Amy H

Amy H — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 03:30:15 +0000

I’m probably more crunchy than I realize, but mainly because the recycling, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, gardening, etc. just seems right to me. I don’t like to wear skirts – they are too drafty in the winter & too much sweat in the summer makes them otherwise uncomfortable if you know what I mean! I prefer skorts. I’ve never tried Birkenstocks – but I do wear Chacos. The idea that one shoe design fits all is ridiculous anyway (I’m a PT by out-of-the-house job status). I always planned to breastfeeding – my mother was one of the few of her generation that did so with all her kids & wrote her nursing MS thesis on it in the late 70′s/early 80′s. Co slept with both kids till they solidly slept through the night because it was easier tfan getting up & going 1/2 way across the house in the middle of the night Cloth diapers because it is cheaper & better for the environment & so nice not to have to run out in the middle of the night because – oops! forgot to restock the ‘sposies!! Plus CDs are so much cuter – especially the new Argyle Thirties And I garden for the sole selfish reason of having fresh sun ripened tomatoes in the summer!!! I’ve started composting, but I’m am only a dilettante thus far. DH is reluctant to hoo on that band wagon. I do wish we had a rain barrel & we may homeschool. I dunno if this all makes me crunchy, but it’s what I do!?

By: Kendra Seagraves

Kendra Seagraves — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:16:34 +0000

Wishing to be a bit more crunchy.
We have a garden, never use pesticide (had to sprinkle talcum powder on plants to repel deer one year.)
We compost & have the fruit flies to prove it
Recycle and cringe when I see people throwing away cans & glass.
Am phobic about microwaving plastic.
Buy organic baby food until she’s old enough to eat what we’re eating, just blended up.
Cloth diapering and nursing.
But we drive everywhere because we pretty much live in the country. My car is a v6
I can’t afford Birkenstocks, definitely shave legs
The only co-sleeping I’ve done is having the bassinet by the bed for the first 3.5 months.
I rarely can afford to buy organic, but I try to buy local as much as possible.

By: Kristie

Kristie — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 06:30:07 +0000

I am crunchy and proud of it.

I do shave my legs but not as often as I should.
I don’t own Birkenstocks, if I’m home I’m barefoot, in the yard I have a pair of junkers and for out and about I’ve got pink Nike running shoes.
I almost never wear make-up. And when I do it’s Covergirl NatureLux mascara and Burt’s Bees tinted chapstick.
A normal outfit for me is a pair of yoga pants & a nursing tank with my hair pulled back.
I nurse constantly. My 3 month old boy is a little piglet.
I am the lady with the overflowing recycling can & half empty small trash can.
I love my garden. I built our compost container. My chickens love to pick through it for “goodies.”
I co-slept with all three of my babies. My girls (2 & 4) are in their own room now but still end up in my bed at least twice a week each. My boy is 3 months old so he’ll be in the bed at least until he sleeps through the night.
I am a huge intactivist.
We have only 1 car & my hubby works 45 minutes away so I get to walk my big girl to school, rain or shine. Other than that I don’t really leave the house much.
I make my own baby food but I mostly just feed them whatever I’m eating after using my immersion blender on it.
We eat mostly organic food. I’m on extremely limited diet right now (no dairy, no gluten, no soy, no nuts, no shellfish) to try and figure out what is going on with my little one. His intestine are not happy. So organic fruits & veggies are my best friends! We buy from our local farmers market when we can.
I wear my boy all the time. My hubby rolls his eyes at me when I’m on the toilet with the baby in my Moby but I just like having him close to me. I’ve never heard anyone say “I wish I’d held them less” when they are grown.

By: Keara B.

Keara B. — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 03:51:27 +0000

I’m a little crunchy and going more that direction every day (or so it feels to me). Love the outdoors, do lots of hiking. Made my own baby food, like to buy organic but unfortunately can’t afford a lot of it, so I stick to the “dirty dozen” and sales when I can. Tried to BF, MANY problems, but still doing it once a day at 12 mos. Cloth diaper exclusively except when a nasty diaper rash rears it’s ugly head. (Baby girls needs the thick cream and I’m terrified of ruining my cloth!) Recycle whenever I can but I admit I’ve had weak moments. Shave my legs (when I can) and wear a little mascara… rarely more than that! Just planted our first garden and super excited about that! All the eco-friendly and mama blogs I started following are making me want to be better for the earth which makes me feel more crunchy by the day!

By: Jenn

Jenn — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 23:00:52 +0000

I call myself pretty crunchy, particularly for my area and my family and friends. I just had my first child but have been raising my 3 1/2 year old nephew since he was 10 months old. We did not cloth diaper with him because of that being a weird custody situation with his bioparents, but we are cloth diapering my son pretty much all the time (we did use disposables until meconium was gone and he will probably be in them for daycare). I also line dry my diapers most of the time, mostly for sun bleaching. Nephew was formula fed as I was unable to breast feed a child not mine and my sister was not doing it, but my son is exclusively breastfed and I am planning to EBF until he’s at least 6 months and continue to breast feed for at least the first year, though I’m willing to go longer if it’s mutually agreeable. I will be going back to work so we’ll see (he’s 7 weeks old…). I babywear (wraps are a godsend right now). I try to buy organic as much as is practical but cost is a HUGE factor, as well as try to stick to grass fed and finished, humanely slaughtered meats. I also try to buy local as much as possible, including having a weekly CSA share. I also use cloth menstrual pads and the diva cup. My family owns one car that is mostly used by my husband as I work convient to the bus line and the daycare is 4 blocks from my house (and on the way to the bus line). I would love to have a veggie garden but we moved into our house last July and I had a baby 7 weeks ago so I haven’t had the opportunity to put one in or tend one yet. I do have a small container garden going currently, though, and LOVE it. I do shave but I do not use shampoo and my hair care consists of baking soda and apple cider vinegar (look up no poo hair care, love it) and use Dr. Bronner’s for just about everything. I do shave and do not, nor have i ever, owned birkenstocks. I think they’re ugly. I do have a thing for long wrap skirts and dresses, however, and handkerchief head scarves. I tend to wear either worn out running shoes (I’m a distance runner) or flip flops as standard wear. I think that’s it!

By: christine kangas

christine kangas — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 13:31:26 +0000

**we still nurse, too. (nearly) 17 months and going strong!

By: christine kangas

christine kangas — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 13:30:11 +0000

I guess you could say I’m “crunchy”…. I can’t say cloth diapering is the reason for it, as I specifically remember reading 50 Things You Can Do To Save The Earth as a child … over and over and over again! I was always big on recycling. Now that we cloth diaper, I *can* say I’ve become greener. I used to eat fast food a lot and didn’t bat an eyelash at the plastic bags at the grocery (hey, they are recyclable… right?). I now have Envirosax bags to use (although I don’t always remember them), I refuse to eat fast food, we eat organic whenever we can, buy local whenever possible, and we do garden. I’ve always gardened, though…. and I can’t say that it has ever produced enough for us (but we have a farmer’s market).
I try to use only “Green” cleaners and wash now. I am looking into making my own shampoo instead of buying stuff.
We breastfed our little one and did babyled weaning for the most part. There’s the occasional “we need him to eat fast because we have a time crunch” (like last night, actually) where we grab what we’re eating and blend it a bit and just spoon feed him, but we don’t just buy baby food. We have bought some squeeze pouch smoothies for him, but they are organic and for when we’re on the road/out and about. Our little one is nearly 17 months now, and we DID do exclusive Baby-led weaning until after his first birthday. He had plenty of experience with textures, shapes, tastes, and feeding himself.
I started using sandwich bags and wraps (Planetwise) instead of plastic.
I’m disgusted by how many paper towels we go through and i’m looking into un-papertowels (they are essentially large cloth wipes that snap together and you just wrap them around the papertowel roll/dispenser).
I’m switching over to stainless steel containers and glass containers for lunches.
I don’t wear makeup. I’ll be honest, I don’t even know how to put makeup on.
I want to compost, but our yard isn’t ready for that yet (we have a major renovation project going on in our yard).
I don’t have a bike yet, but hubby and I want some. We are looking at next summer for being able to afford some nice bikes. We do walk, though I cannot walk to work (roads are too dangerous and it’s dark when I go to work) and he cannot walk to school (45 minute drive, let alone walking!)
We do baby wear, though my little man is preferring his wagon now.
We co-sleep with our toddler (though we didn’t until about 9 months… he slept right next to us before that. we were not educated about how it really ISN’T horrible until after the newborn/early infant stages).
I make sure to buy the BPA/PVC/Pthalate free plastic toys when he gets anything (even though it’s 2x the cost)
I am in the market for birkenstocks though I’ve never owned any. I go through those cheap sandals (that look like birkenstocks) so much that my husband just wants me to buy the real thing since they will last a lot longer.
I do shave my legs. Well, I mean to, anyway. I like them clean shaven, but who has the TIME anymore!? Ideally, I would shave every shower….. realistically, I think it’s been 3 weeks.

**for everyone that says they have no time to make babyfood, all you have to do is take a portion of what’s on your plate, throw it in a glass container (cup, dish, bowl, whatever) and a handblender for a second or two…. it doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth! That being said, Baby-led weaning is even simpler… it just takes longer sitting at the table with your baby, but no time, really, in preparation**

By: ace umma

ace umma — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:24:39 +0000

- Cosleep, babywear, planning to make baby food
- Birkenstocks are too expensive when a $10 flip-flops will do the job
- Used to recycle before LO came along
- Public transportation most of the time
- No garden to compost for
- No makeup, not even for weddings. Oops
- Nothing really to shave that grows on legs

… somewhere between crunchy and lazy, I guess?

By: Kayla

Kayla — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 05:56:04 +0000

Shaving my legs – yes please! I feel so much better when I do.
I breastfeed my son and plan to do so until a year, maybe slightly longer.
We do not co-sleep. I prefer to have my (our) own space in our bedroom. Our son sleeps in his crib in the nursery.
I’ve done a bit of baby wearing, more often when he was a newborn (4.5 months old now).
We have a garden to make salsa and spaghetti sauce – yum! We compost our food waste and lawn waste too. We also recycle.
I use cloth diapers and cloth wipes but disposables of both when we travel or sometimes with (part-time) babysitters.
I stay at home with my son full time.
I usually wear mascara and will add eyeshadow, lip gloss, and/or blush when I’m going out of the house.