Parenting isn't all or nothing, people.

Way back when before having Bean, and even when I was pregnant, I thought I knew how I was going to parent. I read a jillion books, magazine articles, research articles, online articles... I read, a lot. I knew what was right and what was wrong when it came to parenting. I knew what I would and would not do, what I would and would not allow. Some things I was stubborn about and didn't back down - and for that, I'm thankful and proud of the research I did and the decisions I made. But there are some other things that I changed my mind about when some obstacles popped up in the middle of my road - and for that, I'm thankful and proud of my decisions.

Case in point: Diapers.

  (Just look at them!! Aren't they beautiful!!)

I am a cloth diapering Momma. I loooooooooooove our cloth diapers. They're so super cute, they're way cheaper than disposables in the long run, they don't destroy the planet, they're so easy,  they aren't chock full of chemicals, they're so soft and fluffy..... I love them! I didn't have one single solitary problem with CDs until Madeline weaned off of breastmilk. So, for the first 17 months of her life she was in cloth diapers and we were both loving it. Then, on New Years Eve, she had her last drop of breastmilk and within 2 days she had a horrible rash.

Sure, she had the occasional rash due to teething before then, but they could be cleared up in a day of daiper-free time and some Bordeaux's Butt Paste. But after her last drop of breastmilk? Forget it. This rash was vicious. My poor baby would pee and then instantly start screaming. She'd poo and cry and scream for 20 mins after I changed her diaper. It was horrible. 

At first I didn't think it was related to the CDs, I thought it MUST be teething. But the diaper free time and Bordeaux's didn't help. I thought it was something she ate, but after not eating ANYTHING acidic or out of the ordinary for a week and still being rashy I started to suspect the diapers. 

So I stripped them. I stripped them using every single stripping technique I could find online. Nothing helped. I caved. I practically ran to Target (fave store, ever, by the way) bought her some diapers and went home. Ripped off her cloth diap, COVERED her entire bottom with rash cream and put her in a disposable. The rash was 50% better by morning. 100% better in 2 days. I couldn't believe it. My beloved cloth diapers were hurting her bum.

Really, it's her pee and poo that was hurting her.... something in my breastmilk countered something in her pee and poo... it calmed it down, changed the acidity or pH or something, so when the BM wasn't there anymore her waste burned her poor skin. With cloth diapers the wetness from the pee or the yuck from the poo just sit there against your baby's butt. But with disposables the gel and chemicals in the diaper actually pull the wetness away from baby's skin. 

    (Target UP&UP diapers are my fave of the 'sposies.)

So, as much as I haaaaaaate all the crap that is in disposables, and I haaaaaaaaaaate how bad they are for the earth, they've become a part-time necessity in our home. I still put our CDs on her when we're home (when she's not just running around bottomless), but at naptime and bedtime when it'd be longer than an hour-ish in between diaper changes she's in disposables. And most of the time when we're out running errands and will be out of the house for a long time she'll be in a disposable - especially with the weather getting warmer.

So, if we have more babies I plan on loving all over my cloth diapers all over again, but if/when the time comes that they need to be in disposables part time that's what I'll do. And that's ok, folks. Because parenting isn't about things being black and white, right and wrong... it's about doing what is right for that particular child in that particular situation. 

Can I get an AMEN?!