NaturalFamilyJourney.com

Diapering is a huge part of those early years of parenting, it seems like there is always a diaper to change!  While we’ve always used disposable diapers, I’ve always been a little interested in cloth diapering.  Now it seems a little late in the game since we aren’t sure if we’re having any more kids to make the investment in cloth diapers, but if we were planning on more, I think I’d make the switch to cloth.  They seem to becoming more and more popular and I can see why, we all want to feel good about the things we do on a daily basis, and throwing diaper after diaper away, doesn’t really feel good. So, if cloth is out, what other options are there?  There are G diapers, a hybrid style, part is flushable, the other party is reusable.  Another choice would be to find a more natural brand of disposable diapers.  One brand we’re going to try is Seventh Generation.

They claim to be more natural as they don’t use chlorine in the manufacturing process, and use recycled materials.  They also are free of perfumes and dyes, and if nothing else “look” very natural!  They have no cute characters or bright colorful designs on them, just a plain tan diaper.

The diapers we have been using for all 3 of our kiddos have been the Pampers premium line, the Swaddlers and the Cruisers.  They seemed to be the only ones that prevented diaper rash and held in the messes of breast-fed babies.  So far, the Seventh Generation seem to be doing the job just as well!

The package says the pros of using a diaper that is free of chlorine is that they don’t contain a chemical called dioxin.  Dioxin has been linked to causing cancer, birth defects, environmental and reproductive disorders.   I’m pretty sure most parents would love to lessen their children’s chances of any of those side effects.  They do cost a little more, but if you can find coupons and sales, they compare pretty nicely with the other premium disposable diapers.

Seventh Generation has several other products, such as diaper wipes, laundry detergent and other household cleaners.  I’m excited to try other products they sell, and will post what I think about them.   I’m glad we gave these diapers a try, I think we may be hooked, and if they are better for the little guy, what else really matters?

Every natural family has that natural food store they love and trust, and for us it’s going to the The People’s Food Co-op in La Crosse.   We have been there several times in the past to look for specific things, but our last trip was our first one since starting our journey to natural living.  We mainly browsed, and compared their prices to what we’ve seen online, and just enjoyed our time there.  I admit, it was a bit overwhelming seeing the prices, and trying to know what items are worth the extra cost and which ones are not.  I still have a lot of research to do! We walked out of the store with a few items, they were: Kiss My Face body soap, Stacy’s Pita Chips, an organic avocado, Organic green tea, and some peppermint tea.  None of these products were really high on our list of priorities, but we needed soap, something to snack on, and have been drinking A LOT of tea as we enter cold and flu season.  I’ve been wanting to make some avocado baby food for L, so I grabbed one for him. I was also very  interested in checking out their bulk baking items.  I’m hoping to make homemade granola, and lunch buns in the near future, so I wanted to see what kind of ingredients I could get there.   I also noticed that they had bulk raw honey, which I have heard is very good for you, especially if you suffer from allergies.  I don’t know the entire scoop, but will research and get more information on it to do another post sometime, hopefully soon! I’m not sure that the prices could compare favorably when compared to Amazon.com, but I like the idea of supporting our local community.  There’s also something really nice about being able to see the product, feel it and smell it before purchasing, and then walking into the house with the product instead of waiting for it to be shipped.  I’m sure I will do a combination of online shopping and shopping at the co-op. If you are looking for a place to browse a great selection of natural and organic products, look for your local food co-op, you’ll be glad you did!

As we begin this journey, the amount of stuff out there is quite overwhelming!  There are so many articles, blogs and other websites that go into such detail about natural living, eating, cleaning, cleansing, etc that it’s hard to know where to start!  Fear not though, I am researching and hoping to have several posts coming up soon.  We’re trying to land at our first stop on our journey, praying it will be a great one!