Monthly Archives: October 2008

I Love Being Able to Spend Less on Baby Supplies

I still have a few months to go, but the more I talk to people, the more I realize how little I will need to buy for this baby at first. Cloth diapers, certainly, since no one in my family has taken that step before, but otherwise we’re looking to be in really good shape. New bottles and nipples for when she’s old enough that I can hand over some pumped breastmilk and let someone else feed her.

Oh yeah, did I ever mention it’s a girl? Or so we think. She wasn’t 100% cooperative with the ultrasound tech, but we got a fair view. Just not as clear as we had with our other two.

We hadn’t gotten rid of our old baby stuff, for one thing. That will save us a ton.

Baby clothes had been handed down, but we of course have offers of more clothes.

We were thinking we would have to buy a new baby car seat, as the old one was past the age they recommend using them for safety reasons, but my sister reminded me that she doesn’t need hers, and it’s well within the usable age range.

All in all, not a bad deal.

It’s getting to where I really need to pick out our cloth diapers, just to be sure they’re on hand when the time comes. I was also reminded by a reader, Diana, that cloth wipes are also a good idea. That makes a lot of sense to me. Why throw out wipes when you can just wash them together with the diapers?

My husband is also thinking he will install a hose and sprayer head for rinsing poopy cloth diapers into the toilet. Amazon sells a mini shower, but you can also get parts and make something similar on your own for less. I just can’t seem to find the tutorial I saw on that a couple months ago.

Now I just have to pick a brand to start out with. Anyone have a favorite?

New Theme!

I’ve spent some time working on a new WordPress theme for this site. Was getting pretty bored with the old one. I took some time to personalize a free theme, and make it more appropriate to this site.

I like that it gives you the chance to see both recent and popular posts. It should be interesting to see how that works over time. I also tried to make a point of keeping most of the old functionality, such as links to top commentators and the ability to subscribe to comments.

Are You Ready to Vote?

I know, I know, it’s a few weeks yet to the U.S. elections, but I think it’s important to be sure that you are making the time to educate yourself not only on who to vote for President, but for other offices and issues that are relevant to your area.

In California, for example, we have a bunch of propositions on the ballot. Happens every election, and my sisters and I are planning to get together this weekend to go over things. We don’t necessarily have to agree on them all, but it’s a reason to get our research done so that we will all know why we are voting the way we are.

We won’t be discussing Presidential politics. Most of us are in agreement, and at the very least minds are made up.

There are plenty of resources available to those who care to do the research. You can check your local newspapers, read through the tons of mail you may be receiving, or research online.

My favorite part is how easy it is to find both sides of the story. You aren’t just stuck with what the official analysis says. You can find opinions from people who have something to gain or lose as well as people who just have strong opinions they want to share. You can find opinions you think are idiotic and ones that will bring up points you hadn’t considered before.

It’s important to vote, but I think it’s more important yet to take the time to educate yourself before you vote. Otherwise you increase the chances that you will have misunderstood what you were voting on.

Going for a Greener Halloween?

Every major holiday is a good time to think about how you can go a little greener. You just have to look at all the consumption encouraged at such times. Just think about how much simpler Halloween was in the past.

Now stores are selling more and more elaborate decorations for Halloween, lights and so forth. It’s quite a switch from the decorations we used when I was growing up.

I’m still prone to buying the usual candies to hand out… it’s once a year, and my budget really doesn’t allow for organic treats.

But as I’ve posted in the past, I’m a fan of homemade and/or reusable costumes. If I can make it, especially with supplies on hand or minimal purchases, I’d rather do that than buy a costume at the store knowing that several other kids will doubtless be wearing the same thing as mine in that case.

One of my other favorite tips is to just use a pillowcase to hold treats, rather than buying a bucket or bag for them, no matter how reusable. Certainly you can get some great themed ones if you buy a bucket or bag, but it makes so much more sense to me to just grab a pillowcase.

When I was a kid, my mom cut bats out of black construction paper. Those decorations lasted for years! She also made gravestones out of some styrofoam she had gotten someplace or other. I think it was from something shipped to her work. They’re still in her garage and get reused most years.

My husband and I do have some decorations we’ve bought in the store. Not a lot; we don’t go all out in Halloween decorations. But we don’t go buying new often, or really even over the past couple years. Saves a lot of money that way, not to mention waste.

For costumes, homemade is my own favorite, but thrift stores can be good too… if they aren’t sold out already. That’s also a nice way to get dressup clothes for kids into that.

As with many things, I think the simplest way to go green is to just go simple. Make do with what you have. There’s a reason why reduce and reuse are so very important!

Cough & Cold Medication Makers Getting it Right

I like to see concessions like this. Drug companies have conceded that children under 4 should not be given any kinds of cough or cold medications.

Pediatricians have been saying this for a while now.

It’s been pretty clearly shown that these medications don’t do much, if anything, for children that young. Pediatricians would like it banned under age 6, so this is just a start. About 7000 children a year go to the emergency room due to reactions to or misuse of cold medications.

A warning is also to be added that using antihistamines to make a child sleepy is not an appropriate use.

I’ve had the worst time convincing my husband to lay off buying the children cold medications when they get sick. He sees them and forgets everything I’ve told him and had him read about how ineffective they are for children as young as ours. I’m willing to give Tylenol for fevers as appropriate, but overall I just don’t like giving medications.

Instead, I like humidifiers if the breathing is uncomfortable. A cool cloth on the forehead can make a feverish child feel somewhat better too. Even just playing in a lukewarm bath really helps a lot. A friend of mine taught me that tea tree oil can really help with congestion, but even though I have it in the cabinet I keep forgetting it when cold season rolls around.

It really all comes down to using your common sense as a parent. Most colds don’t need a medication to make the child feel better; you can do far better by taking other measures for comfort. Don’t go beyond what the labeling says when you do give medicine, and keep all medications, natural, over the counter and prescription, out of the reach of children.