Baby Led Weaning: The In's and Out's (Mostly Out's)

One of the things I've touched briefly upon is Baby Led Weaning, and in this post I'm going to explain the process a little more.

In our experience, our breastfeeding journey continued throughout this time. It's important to note that the AAP recommends breastfeeding exclusively through 6 months of age, and the WHO guidelines suggest breastfeeding through 2 years of age. Many parents like to use the phrase "food before one is just for fun" and it's a great mindset to have.

In our case, I had a hungry little monkey on our hands! We started foods at 4 months, as the 6 month guideline had not yet reached the mainstream and I hadn't heard of it yet. In the very beginning, we reached for Plum Organics, Sprout, and Happy Baby organic baby foods, in a variety of vegetables and fruits.

We did avoid rice cereal. When giving a grain, it was always oats from Sprout. If you haven't yet read the warnings on rice cereal for babies, please check out:

• Arsenic Found in Rice at High Levels (WebMD)
• 
  
• Rice Cereal Controversy (ABC News)
• 
  
• Nine Good Reasons NOT to Use Baby Rice (Analytical Armadillo UK)
•  

For us, Baby Led Weaning (BLW) was just as much as a learning experience as it was a meal. It was amazing to watch our Sproutlet make connections, practice hand-eye coordination, cause and effect, and just have a good sensory experience (we didn't know until later how helpful and therapeutic sensory activities could be for her!)

BLW is the practice of allowing a young child to self feed.

"The distinct advantage of weaning at around six months is that by then, our children are developmentally capable of feeding themselves proper food, in other words – no more mush!
You just hand them the food in a suitably-sized piece and if they like it they eat it and if they don’t they won’t.... This is meant in the Brit sense, not the American. In the UK, ‘weaning’ means ‘adding complementary foods’, whereas in the States it means ‘giving up breastfeeding’." - http://www.babyledweaning.com/

The reason why I titled this post "mostly out's" is because a lot of the food won't go in at first!! Expect a bit of a mess! Which is okay, remember: babies are still getting all the nutrients they need from breast milk! It's a fun time of exploration and new experiences for baby.

Yummy Avocado! 5 months old

When I asked for contributions to this blog, a surprising number of parents posted their experiences. Babyled weaning is certainly gaining in popularity! The average start date for most families was 6 months, with some waiting until 8-9 months. Some babies preferred breast milk to food until 13 months +. My contributors reported trying avocado, sweet potato, carrots, crackers and bananas, as well as meats around 7 months! (A huge thank you to everyone who responded- it was extremely helpful!) I think this shows that you can definitely have some freedom when trying BLW... there aren't any rules, besides being a great supervisor while your little one is eating :) And a lot of parents contribute their child's great eating to early BLW!

The site I used as my guide during this time was http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/babyledweaning.htm#.UuvNj7S7S8A, especially their Solid Food Charts, starting with 4-6 months:

 

There is also a chart to note if you child seemed to enjoy the food and whether or not they had a reaction to it. 

One of the great things about BLW is you can cook food for the whole family- offer baby the same foods you are eating on your dinner plate at an early age. No need to cook two meals or puree your own baby food! A great time saver. 

One of my favorite memories is when our Sproutlet was 7 months old, I took her to Disney World. Whenever we had a sit down meal, we would order her food off the kid's menu. Some of the waiters were shocked! But she would munch on grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, fruit cups, biscuits, and much more! We were very lucky and didn't notice a reaction to anything, and she was quite the foodie from an early age, something I absolutely contribute to BLW!

Puffs at Wolfgang Puck's at Downtown Disney! Her meal here was amazing- chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli!

Hold up, Cinderella, This cantalope requires my full attention!

Attachment Parenting vs Natural Parenting: Which are you??

I tend to blend the terms "natural parenting" and "attachment parenting" into the same thing sometimes. You may have noticed this already on this blog. The two are definitely different, yet I'm not the only one who blends them together.

It's possible that you've pegged me as a Dr. Sears follower. It's true, I like the guy, and his books were my first sampling of the lifestyle I'm enjoying now.

I am going to copy and paste the entire page "What AP is: 7 Baby B's" from the Ask Dr. Sears website. You can view the page here. I'm wondering if you can see the reasons why AP and NP are so often regarded as similar to the point of being the same thing.

7 ATTACHMENT TOOLS: THE BABY B’S

1. Birth bonding

The way baby and parents get started with one another helps the early attachment unfold. The days and weeks after birth are a sensitive period in which mothers and babies are uniquely primed to want to be close to one another. A close attachment after birth and beyond allows the natural, biological attachment-promoting behaviors of the infant and the intuitive, biological, caregiving qualities of the mother to come together. Both members of this biological pair get off to the right start at a time when the infant is most needy and the mother is most ready to nurture (see Bonding)
“What if something happens to prevent our immediate bonding?”
Sometimes medical complications keep you and your baby apart for a while, but then catch-up bonding is what happens, starting as soon as possible. When the concept of bonding was first delivered onto the parenting scene twenty years ago, some people got it out of balance. The concept of human bonding being an absolute “critical period” or a “now-or-never” relationship was never intended. Birth bonding is not like instant glue that cements the mother-child relationship together forever. Bonding is a series of steps in your lifelong growing together with your child. Immediate bonding simply gives the parent- infant relationship a headstart. (See “Birth Bonding”)

2. Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is an exercise in babyreading. Breastfeeding helps you read your baby’s cues, her body language, which is the first step in getting to know your baby. Breastfeeding gives baby and mother a smart start in life. Breastmilk contains unique brain-building nutrients that cannot be manufactured or bought. Breastfeeding promotes the right chemistry between mother and baby by stimulating your body to produce prolactin and oxytocin, hormones that give your mothering a boost.

3. Babywearing

A baby learns a lot in the arms of a busy caregiver. Carried babies fuss less and spend more time in the state of quiet alertness, the behavior state in which babies learn most about their environment. Babywearing improves the sensitivity of the parents. Because your baby is so close to you, you get to know baby better. Closeness promotes familiarity. (Click here for more information on Babywearing, and for babywearing products check out Balboa Baby.)

4. Bedding close to baby

Wherever all family members get the best night’s sleep is the right arrangement for your individual family. Co-sleeping co-sleeping adds a nighttime touch that helps busy daytime parents reconnect with their infant at night. Since nighttime is scary time for little people, sleeping within close touching and nursing distance minimizes nighttime separation anxiety and helps baby learn that sleep is a pleasant state to enter and a fearless state to remain in.

5. Belief in the language value of your baby’s cry

A baby’s cry is a signal designed for the survival of the baby and the development of the parents. Responding sensitively to your baby’s cries builds trust. Babies trust that their caregivers will be responsive to their needs. Parents gradually learn to trust in their ability to appropriately meet their baby’s needs. This raises the parent-child communication level up a notch. Tiny babies cry to communicate, not to manipulate. (See Crying and Cry it Out)

6. Beware of baby trainers

Attachment parenting teaches you how to be discerning of advice, especially those rigid and extreme parenting styles that teach you to watch a clock or a schedule instead of your baby; you know, the cry-it-out crowd. This “convenience” parenting is a short-term gain, but a long-term loss, and is not a wise investment. These more restrained styles of parenting create a distance between you and your baby and keep you from becoming an expert in your child.

7. Balance

In your zeal to give so much to your baby, it’s easy to neglect the needs of yourself and your marriage. As you will learn the key to putting balance in your parenting is being appropriately responsive to your baby – knowing when to say “yes” and when to say “no,” and having the wisdom to say “yes” to yourself when you need help.

MORE ABOUT ATTACHMENT PARENTING

• AP is a starter style. There may be medical or family circumstances why you are unable to practice all of these baby B’s. Attachment parenting implies first opening your mind and heart to the individual needs of your baby, and eventually you will develop the wisdom on how to make on-the-spot decisions on what works best for both you and your baby. Do the best you can with the resources you have – that’s all your child will ever expect of you. These baby B’s help parents and baby get off to the right start. Use these as starter tips to work out your own parenting style – one that fits the individual needs of your child and your family. Attachment parenting helps you develop your own personal parenting style.
• AP is an approach, rather than a strict set of rules. It’s actually the style that many parents use instinctively. Parenting is too individual and baby too complex for there to be only one way. The important point is to get connected to your baby, and the baby B’s of attachment parenting help. Once connected, stick with what is working and modify what is not. You will ultimately develop your own parenting style that helps parent and baby find a way to fit – the little word that so economically describes the relationship between parent and baby.
• AP is responsive parenting. By becoming sensitive to the cues of your infant, you learn to read your baby’s level of need. Because baby trusts that his needs will be met and his language listened to, the infant trusts in his ability to give cues. As a result, baby becomes a better cue-giver, parents become better cue-readers, and the whole parent-child communication network becomes easier.
• AP is a tool. Tools are things you use to complete a job. The better the tools, the easier and the better you can do the job. Notice we use the term “tools” rather than “steps.” With tools you can pick and choose which of those fit your personal parent-child relationship. Steps imply that you have to use all the steps to get the job done. Think of attachment parenting as connecting tools, interactions with your infant that help you and your child get connected. Once connected, the whole parent-child relationship (discipline, healthcare, and plain old having fun with your child) becomes more natural and enjoyable. Consider AP a discipline tool. The better you know your child, the more your child trusts you, and the more effective your discipline will be. You will find it easier to discipline your child and your child will be easier to discipline.

I think that does a superb job of explaining the minds of many attachment parents. And now, let's find a definition for Natural Parenting.  The Natural Parents Network has a great page defining the ways of the natural parent, which you can view in it's entirety here. Again, I am going to copy and paste it in full for our comparison.

“Natural parenting” is based on a desire to live and parent responsively and consciously. While no two families who practice natural parenting may define it the same way, there are several principles that are widely agreed to be part of this lifestyle. These are ideals that natural parents tend to hold — even if we don’t always live up to all of them, we keep them in mind as goals.
Please click on each topic to find links to and descriptions of resources for each natural parenting category.
Attachment/Responsive Parenting: Attachment/responsive parenting¹ is generally considered to include the following (descriptions/lists are not exhaustive, please follow each link to learn more):

1. Prepare for pregnancy, birth, and parenting: parents and parents-to-be research parenting philosophies; maintain a healthy diet and active lifestyle; educate themselves about healthcare providers, birthing options, and the risks and benefits of medical interventions; research breastfeeding and routine newborn care procedures (circumcision, etc.);
2. Feed with love and respect: practice exclusive and full-term breastfeeding if possible, and feed with love and respect regardless of whether it is at the breast or with a bottle; parents continue to nurture when introducing solids, and strive to offer healthy, wholesome foods when babies are ready;
3. Respond with sensitivity: parents understand that babies cry to communicate needs, and that physical contact is healthy and natural. Parents continue to respond with sensitivity into toddlerhood and beyond, embracing big emotions and helping children learn to communicate gently (rather than stifling emotions or punishing “tantrums”);
4. Use nurturing touch: this category includes babywearing and skin-to-skin contact for infants, and hugs and physical play for older children;
5. Ensure safe sleep: parents take steps to make sleep safe both physically and emotionally; this category includes bed sharing and co-sleeping, responsive nighttime parenting, and no “crying it out”;
6. Provide consistent and loving care: Parents do not attempt to put babies on strict feeding or sleep schedules. When parents must leave children with alternative caregivers, they find caregivers who respect the children’s needs and are supportive of the attachment principles;
7. Practice gentle/positive discipline: Parents do not discipline to control, manipulate, or put fear into their children, but to teach. Parents strive for communication and mutual respect and avoid harsh/physical punishment;
8. Strive for balance in personal and family life: Families seek to balance the needs and wants of each family member.

Ecological Responsibility and Love of Nature: Families strive to reduce their ecological footprint by living consciously and making Earth-friendly choices, such as by choosing organic when possible, using cloth diapers or practicing elimination communication, supporting local economies, and so forth. Parents may choose to find toys and clothing made of natural fibers and materials. Families spend quality time outside enjoying the natural world.
Holistic Health Practices: Parents research medical choices and make educated decisions regarding all health care (circumcision, vaccinations, medical interventions, medications, etc.). Many families choose to use alternative or natural healthcare such as herbal remedies, chiropractic care, natural childbirth, and so on.
Natural Learning: Families spend time together, and children learn through everyday activities. Parents try to facilitate learning without “teaching,” to help children ask questions that develop thinking, to develop consideration for others without shaming or training, to give choices while guiding the children, to listen to instinctual cues, to honor emotions and desires, to allow development to take place in its own time, and to engender cooperation and harmony without manipulation. This might include the decision to pursue uncommon methods of education, such as alternative classrooms, home schooling, or unschooling.

 Above all, natural parenting is making the choice to develop a deep bond with your children and family based on mutual respect. An attached child grows into a mature and interdependent individual who understands how to develop healthy, secure relationships with others.

In my opinion, they compliment each other, and in my experience, Attachment Parenting led to Natural Parenting.

What do you think? Can you be one without the other? Do you think they are unfairly combined, or does an AP parent always equal a NP?

Natural Remedies, Part 2

Last night I left out a few of our cold-busting superstars and felt it was only fair to mention the rest of the products that have Sproutlet on the road to recovery!


We use CJ's peppermint lotion liberally when any of us have a cold! It's a safe and natural replacement for VapoRub. It instantly cools and opens up the airways. CJ's BUTTer is a company known for their natural baby products and I found this particular lotion after already being a fan of their diaper rash creams.

Elderberry Syrup with Echinechea- this one is a serious lifesaver, and thankfully has a sweet taste. I put it in Sproutlet's juice and she doesn't mind it one bit. A disclaimer: I'm sure I'm one of the only ones in the world, but my sproutlet is super sensitive to all "tree" products, elderberries included. She can only have this in small doses (about half the recommended portion). Always do a little test before starting any new protocol :-) (her reaction presented as a rash on her chest).

Boogie Wipes- now that Sproutlet is older there is no way I am getting anything near her nose, let alone sprayed right into it! So we switched over to Boogie Wipes " With added saline, they offer quick, gentle, effective relief of stuck on Boogies (mucus) caused by the common cold & allergies.
* Hypoallergenic, Alcohol Free, Unique Formula Moisturizes with Added Chamomile, Vitamin E and Aloe" - right up our alley!



Vitamin D supplement- I've read a lot about Vitamin D, aka "the sunshine vitamin", and how we are depleted of this vitamin during the cold dark winter months (we live in New England). (http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/03/08/us-vitamin-d-idUSTRE6261IX20100308) According to WebMd, "Vitamin D fights infections, including colds and the flu, as it regulates the expression of genes that influence your immune system to attack and destroy bacteria and viruses". We are all too happy to buy a bottle of liquid Vitamin D for children and place one drop in her juice cup if it will help even slightly. So far, this is Sproutlet's first cold of the season, at the end of January. Here's hoping it'll be her last! 

Culturelle Probiotics - this is something we use all the time, not just when Sproutlet is sick, but I thought it was worth mentioning! Probiotics are really something we all should be taking to support our natural immunity! This is a powdered version that we use (again, easy to blend into a cup of juice, or a bowl of applesauce, yogurt, etc). They do make chewables for both kids and adults.

Last night Sproutlet's fever was high enough that I did give her Little Remedies' Little Fevers. I like that one since it's dye-free. There is a time and a place for medicine, we just try not to default to it all the time. I have read several articles recently that I would like to share with you all, explaining why we don't reach for it at first.

Wellness Mama's: Fever? Why Reducing it Can be Harmful

Skipping Meds is Always the Best Policy - Healthy Home Economist

Tylenol Just Once a Month Raises Asthma Risk 540% and a WebMd article here as well

There's more out there, feel free to conduct your own research and come to your own conclusions!  We are also wary of any product that has frequent recalls.

Gotta go, Sproutlet needs more elderberry syrup!

Natural Remedies

As I briefly mentioned in a previous post, we try to avoid OTC medicine as much as possible, especially in the sproutlet's case. When I asked my husband why this was, he said (very abbreviated, as I was trying to type it up WHILE he was talking):

"not natural to the body.. messes with stuff, you get resistances... bad for you/side effects, ineffective.. don't even alleviate the symptom in the first place.. might mask the symptoms but doesn't heal. Why risk it? It's like the shots, isn't it? Finally, deretive of all medicine is natural/herbal to begin with, why not use the pure essence of what started it all, especially if it works? And I personally feel much better on this healthy kick I've been on, I try to avoid taking even aspirin and just eating whole, clean foods and water and every symptom I've had has gone away- heartburn, indigestion, migraines, etc"

And then I had to go kiss him for a minute... he amazes me sometimes!!

But, I digress. Sproutlet has a cold and therefore I figure it's a perfect time to talk about what we do when she gets sick. My "medicine" cabinet looks very different than most, I'm sure!

When she was very very little, we would use things like
Little Remedies Gripe Water

  and Ayr Saline Spray

 for the little things. And then. came. TEETHING. Oh my, no amount of maternal amnesia could erase the memories how tough it was to teethe.  Owning a baby boutique, I was able to try out a few Baltic Amber Necklaces for a discount and had extremely good luck with them. Later on, we moved on to a Hazelwood and Amber combo. Both times we were pleasantly pleased with the results. At first, I thought she was supposed to chew on the beads... and that is a somewhat common misconception! LOL! Amber contains succinic acid, a natural analgesic and healing agent. Amber will warm against your body and the succinic acid will be absorbed through your skin helping with pain relief. Here's a good picture of Sproutlet wearing one of her necklaces, when she was around 8 months! 

Photo taken by COOKSEY PHOTO of Vernon, Connecticut

In the winter, we use the humidifier every night to help with the awful winter dryness that plagues this part of the country. Recently, I also bought a diffuser to diffuse essential oils in as well. When Sophia was about 8 months-23 months, she was not what you would call a good sleeper. We found that among many other things, including Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, one of the things that worked best with her was aromatherapy- her baths are now scented with lavender and chamomile every night, and her diffuser is usually filled with Lavender, Ylang Ylang, and/or Texas Cedarwood, all "sleepy" oils. We also use an "Unwind" spray on all of our pillows that help all of us calm down when it's time to go to sleep. (Did I mention we are a bedsharing family? I'm sure I have). 

For comfort, we offer Zarbee's Honey Syrup and Hyland's Tiny Cold Tablets... I gave her some of the honey with melatonin tonight and definitely hear less of the coughing over the baby monitor. 

For her cold, we are using a blend of essential oils that include Peppermint and Eucalyptus for Cooling/Breathing and Fever, Thieves and Clove for germ busting, Lemon for dry throat and congestion, and the super food, and super oil, Cinnamon!

I am really loving the essential oils... I really feel like they make a huge difference for our health and well being! Sproutlet is really cute about getting the bottles for me and sniff testing them! I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a doctor or a medical professional, or even an aromatherapist. But with these natural remedies, the results are so easy to obtain by yourself, that I can feel confident that this is a great tool for my family!

My First Foray

When I was pregnant, it wasn't exactly timed- that is to say, it was a wonderful surprise! We were looking for ways to save money and I remember saying to my husband, "I will breastfeed and cloth diaper. We will save thousands." At this time I wasn't crunchy... green.... natural.... any of those things, at all! I was merely trying to save us money in the only ways I knew how. Staying home with my baby was essential, so we put these practices into play.

First picture I have of her wearing a cloth diaper :-)

Well. as it turns out, I ended up liking cloth diapering so much, I started my own online cloth diaper boutique a couple months after my daughter was born. I ran the business from home, often having people over for Cloth Diaper 101 consultations. I also went to various fairs and vendor events to spread the love of cloth.

 Having a CD store, I was constantly browsing natural parenting catalogs for new additions to the store and I suppose that is where I really started branching out into a broader range of natural parenting (for myself). I found that as a cloth diapering, breastfeeding mom I was shunted into groups on social media sites like the Bump and Facebook- and that suited me just fine. I learned an immense amount of things in a very short time from absolute strangers from all over the world- and found some really close friends as well.One friend actually taught me to babywear at a playdate at her house!!

Our First Foray into Babywearing... using a Moby Wrap

 

Baby Led Weaning: Exploring Avocado! To this day, avocado (well, guacamole) is one of her favorite foods!

After breastfeeding came baby led weaning, with teething came amber teething necklaces, with little sicknesses came opportunities to try new all natural remedies on the market. I ran the store from November 2011 through January 2013, at which time my little family and I decided we needed to focus on more important things (Sophia's therapy schedule and details on that can be viewed at www.youmeandsophia.blogspot.com) Although my store is no longer active, I still dream of opening it up again one day- it was one of the most amazing things I have ever done and met so many interesting people!

One of three shelving units used to house my in home CD store

An Introduction

Thank you so much for clicking over to my new venture: Growing Green Sprouts.

Join me as I slowly become the hippie I never thought I wanted to be :)

To begin, in case you don't know me at all--

my name is Audrey and I live in Small Town Connecticut, USA. I have lived here all my life except for a brief stint in Texas. I started dating my now husband at 15 years old. We got married in August 2009 on our 7th anniversary, and had our first and so far only child on July 27, 2011. More than anything, having our daughter and learning how to become a parent has changed me so profusely that there is seldom anything else I do anymore. She is my hobby, my passion, my life!!

That being said, I honestly do not know where we would be if it weren't for the internet and it's resources. So many times I looked at the tiny creature in my arms and thought something is different about me, something is different about you... I want to do things so much differently than what I had heard, seen and done previously that I was in a constant state of confusion. I am combining, here, in this condensed version of our lives, my feelings on gentle/peaceful/natural/Attachment Parenting and also my anxiety of diagnosing what I had dubbed my "high needs" baby. I, like so many in my generation, reached out to the internet for answers, advice, community and friendship.

For us to continue, you must know about my daughter's first 5 days of life and the sequence of events that followed. I will stick to the facts and keep this brief- if you would like to know more about our experiences with vaccine injury, developmental delays, and Sensory Processing Disorder, I welcome you to check out my personal blog You, Me & Sophia, a complete chronological  description of events mentioned below.

From a blog post on You, Me & Sophia:

"Starting with: The first week of Sophia's life (July into August, 2011)

Sophia was like all newborns in the hospital that week, except she was one of the only vaginally birthed ones on our floor (I specifically remember a nurse telling me that all the other moms were either in the OR or recovery). I didn't want her to go to the nursery at first, but seeing as she wasn't eating and I hadn't slept in, 24? hours, at one point the first night I decided to let her go. She came back just as I was falling asleep, supposedly hungry. But I didn't have anything to give her, this being my first baby, I didn't even have colostrum yet.  So she kind of yelled for awhile and then... dun dun dunnnn... we gave her a pacifier. We got released later that day. I was pumping some colostrum, since Sophia still didn't want to nurse, or didn't want to try to, anyway. We fed her with our fingers, dipping a finger into the bottle and letting her eat it off our finger, since the LC told us to. Once we got home, we had to wake Sophia up to feed her. She had no interest in eating. We blew in her face, shook her very gently, took off her clothes, dribbled milk into her mouth... nothing. It was sort of like talking to a rag doll. My milk took 5 days to come in due to this cause and effect relationship.

We finally had to "force" feed her some formula, because her jaundice was coming back, and I of course had phrases like "failure to thrive" bouncing around my head. Out of sheer will and determination, we got the knack of breastfeeding, but only because I am one of the most stubborn people I know, and refused to give up."

 Sophia's "rag doll" symptoms were alarming, scary and at the time: Confusing as hell. Even though it passed, and my milk came in, and she began to thrive, I still questioned this period and deemed it not normal. Come to find out, Sophia had a somewhat common to the vaccination given in the hospital- the newborn Hepatitis B vaccine. Symptoms include, but are not limited to: lethargy, excessive sleepiness, unwillingness to suck, root or latch, and/or aversion or non-attention to environmental stimuli. Despite reporting this to her then pediatrician, who reported it to VAERS (the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System), we (regrettably) continued to vaccinate Sophia as I was still unsure. The next two years of her life were more than just a struggle, they were some of the most devastated times in my life. My baby wasn't like the others; she couldn't walk and didn't until after her 2nd birthday.She was diagnosed with "a perfect storm of SPD (sensory processing disorder- namely, vestibular {balance, motor planning}, hypermobility {super flexibility}, and low muscle tone."

Her way of getting around from age 1 to age 2

My baby wasn't like the others; she couldn't walk and didn't until a week after her 2nd birthday. 

I will stop there for the people who have heard all of this before, and encourage those curious to ask questions if you have any. What ended up being a saddening time in our lives ended up being triumphant: I am happy to report that Soph is catching up beautifully. She was evaluated for autism and the conclusion was negative. In the end I think it's so important to say how lucky we truly are. Things could have been so, so, so much worse. I know of several babies whose official cause of death was in fact the Hep B vaccine- a sobering reminder that we are astronomically fortunate. This is why I DO talk about it so much - It is hard to talk about these things, I think you will agree- nobody wants to hear about babies dying, period, and when you bring something as large as vaccination rights into the conversation, forget it. But hopefully this brief history of our experience will help explain why I have some of the passions I do- why I am loudmouthed, opinionated and sometimes downright argumentative. I may not have "almost lost" my baby (as my brain tries to frighten me late at night), granted, her reaction was actually somewhat mild, though scary as it was at the time. She has lasting neurological damage, however, and whether that's from Hep B or some/one of the other vaccines I allowed her to get before stopping all together, I do not know.

But this is where it all started- my mission to keep things green, organic, natural- whichever of those you want to call it - and I am a completely different person now than I ever thought I would be.

Through this blog I hope to share our experiences with the green or "crunchy" side of things- the things I like to do and have a bit of knowledge about. I learned SO MUCH from the internet in the early days of my parenthood and I would love to pass some of that knowledge on. I was extremely lucky to find a group of friends that were also into the things I was interested in: Breastfeeding, Cloth Diapering, Babywearing, etc. It would have been VERY lonely if not for them! I felt like such an oddball at first!

Where are you on your journey? What do you hope to learn more about?

Welcome!

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