Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Baby wearing and cloth diapering fails

So Lucas is a pretty mellow baby unless he's hungry or tired 90% of the time.

There are two things, though, that really piss him off.


#1 is being in the car when it is not moving. This most especially includes brief stops such as red lights and stop signs....traffic and drive thru's make him absolutely irate. (Guess he's impatient like his daddy- there was a time Joe was so impatient we could only eat at places that take reservations/call ahead seating...even now, forget it if there's more than a 15 min. wait.)


#2, which I had an inkling of but really confirmed last night, the kid is absolutely against being 'worn.' I have a sling and Beco carrier, these things:

So we had briefly tried the beco out and Lucas cried so I thought maybe we were doing it wrong or there was a trick I was missing. So we went to a free babywearing class and as it turns out, the kid is strongly opposed (I'd say irate) about being worn in carriers of all kinds and all positions. They suggested we keep "working on it" but I thought the look they gave me was "don't hold your breath on that". So there was a big fat waste of money. I still love the idea of it, the execution, not so much. Guess I'm destined to be lugging around heavy carseats and strollers. I'm going to still try to try it, one lady gave us a good idea to  try it outside, the only problem with that is that it's 200 degrees outside. So, maybe when/if it cools off a little. I won't be too heartbroken if we don't ever use the sling much because the lack of fabric and buckles and straps makes me a little nervous, and I got it for cheap on ebay, but that Beco was expensive and the pattern we got for it is even called the 'Lucas' pattern...so hopefully Lucas will change his mind about being worn.

Cloth diapering has been going relatively well. I found a diaper that I liked and bought a lot of them (Bumgenius pockets and all in ones- they are super easy and not as bulky). So we were using them pretty consistently until I noticed that Lucas's diaper area was a little red and irritated looking, not exactly a diaper rash but not his normal skin tone/color either, Joe even though it might have just been from where the diaper was pressing against his body so I gave it some time to see if it went away...no such luck. I put a disposable diaper on him after his bath and the next morning it was all clear. Apparently some babies are sensitive to the micro-suede fabric (it feels felt like) in those diapers and it looks like my baby is one of them. Too bad it wasn't until after I had built my stash of like 20 of those diapers that I realized it. So now I have a large stash of diapers that I'm afraid to use. Luckily, I can get diapers that are similar (and cheaper even!) which have a different fabric that goes along the baby's bottom. It's just annoying because I thought we finally had a really good "diaper stash" and they were diapers that I liked and Joe likes (Joe has been surprisingly onboard with all aspects of cloth diapering so long as he doesn't have to wash them, he's totally comfortable changing them and putting them on, which shocked me.)  And now it looks like I need to get rid of most of them, I may hang on to a few and use them intermittently, he doesn't seem to get too red after just one diaper, it's just when he's been wearing that diaper all day. So anyway, now I have the hassle of selling them (most of them haven't even been worn yet or just worn once) and trying to figure out what will work that we like. So I'm not liking cloth diapering that much at the moment, although I do like that we've been using the same pack of disposable diapers for a week and a half and probably can make it with this pack for another week (we put him in disposables at night and when out and about and when he looks like he's starting to get a little red because no regular diaper cream in cloth diapers- it ruins them.) Anyway, I'm still going to stick with it,it just got a lot more complicated.

Besides me wasting money on cloth diapers that won't work and carriers that make our baby scream like someone cut his leg off, we are fantastic. Tonight is a daddy and Lucas night while I go to support group, I'm really looking forward to getting out and hanging out with adults for a couple of hours without the baby in tow. Joe's not so much looking forward to it, but I have my mom on standby if he needs help. So it should be fine.

4 comments:

NathanandMarsha said...

Hi Angie,
My name is Marsha and I stubled across your bog when searching the internet. I just lost my son after being delivered at 28 weeks due to hellp syndrome and pre eclampsia. He lived for 2 days, then developed bleeding in his lung and could not be saved. I have a lot of questions for you about trying again and how long you waited and fertility treatments. Would you mind if I email you?
Thanks,
Marsha Smith

Anonymous said...

H Angie,

I found my way here a few months ago through a friend of a friend of a friend's blog (you know how that happens :P ), and I've been following your journey ever since. Lucas is amazing and such a cutie! I've commented here before, I think, but I can't remember. I have a son who was also born at 36 weeks (except he was waaaay tinier than Lucas, and we had some complications at the end), who is now 6 months old.

We do babywearing and cloth diapering as well. I just wanted to say that it took my son, Theo, a while to get used to babywearing. He used to just tolerate it when he was smaller (and sometimes he would scream, and we would have to abandon the carrier for that day), but now he seems to really like it. I think the turning point was around 4 months? Anyway, I would say keep trying - try again in a few weeks. Babies change so quickly that what they hate one minute, they like the next. I know that for myself, I've found wearing Theo to be muuuuuch easier than using a stroller (we live in a city with a subway system, and the majority of the stops aren't accessible).

Anyway, good luck! It seems like you are such an awesome mom. I blog at anne_t_social.livejournal.com if you ever want to stop by.

Brooke said...

I've been thinking of you. I'm out of town tonight but my work schedule changes next month so it's possible I'll see you at the group meeting...

Jenny said...

What a shame cloth nappies are being such a pain for you! I hope you find a quick(ish) and mostly painless way to get rid of those that don't work. I'm glad to hear that besides expensive trial & error with nappies and carriers you guys are doing so well!

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