Healthy Parenting Articles

Sunday 8th January, 2005

Basically i think about a lot of thngs everyday and sometimes I truly wish i had written some of the important things down. So I'm going to do that here. My intentions are for these things to be interesting and informative and perhaps something to be further discussed in the forum. These things will all be related to the Healthy Parenting topics and will hopefully spur on some further thoughts.

Monday 9th January, 2005 - Television

Its been about about 3 weeks now since we got rid of our television. Its feels strange that I don't miss, but now i'm starting to feel even more addicted to work. I think I now understand why my husband stops to eat dinner and is quickly back in the office working. But back to the tv thing for a moment. I used to be a major TV addict. I had Optusvision (a version of what USians call Cable I think). I'd stay up till 2am watching MTV or the Discovery Channel. I'd go to Uni during the week days and then on the weekends it was time for sport and veging with the TV. I now realise TV was just part of a never ending cycle. The 9 to 5 grind, the get drunk on weekends, the know the time by the tv show you're watching typical life. People working 5 days a week looking forward to the 2 days off, and dreading the Sunday night realisation that tomorrow is time to get back to the 9 to 5.

We still have our two computers and watch dvds but I guess what I'm saying is that even though it was hard to let go of, losing the television(which we sold for $5 at a garage sale was one of the best things we've done. One less thing to tie us down and hubby has been reduced to keeping up with cricket score via the net. I'm not sure what I'll think once the new bub comes along though. Desperation for veging may get the better of me and I may go out and buy a new one.

Wednesday 12th January, 2006 - Ultrasound

I am now 18 weeks pregnant and so, today I went for my one and only ultrasound. We decided even before this baby was concieved that we were not going to have more than one ultrasound. The evidence to us isn't conclusive and with the tired, exhausted feeling I now feel and the tension I felt during the Ultrasound, I am now convinced that barring medical reasons, an ultrasound should not be used (on me atleast).

The feelings I felt on my part and the baby's, during the ultrasound, were not good. I could feel and see on the screen my baby kicking at the device being pushed and rolled over it. It was trying to push the device away and this was very clear to me. The first few minutes were amazing seeing the baby, but the last 5-10 minutes dragged on as the technician went through the routine measurements, only to tell me that my due date was spot on. It felt intrusive and abusive to the baby. There he/she is kicking away in its happy home and its all of a sudden bombarded by sound waves and prodding. Charlie was not too impressed either. She was unfamiliar with what was happening to me and Tristan had to try and calm her(the mobile phone came in handy as a toy.

So, yes the baby looks healthy and the placenta is in the right place but if I have another child I will try my hardest not to have an Ultrasound again.

Monday 16th January 2005 - cloth nappies

The following is some great information that I am always referencing. Its taken from the the Well Womens page on the Royal Womens Hospital site. So if anyone questions whether cloth is better for the environment than disposables. Here is the info.

Cloth vs Disposable
http://www.rwh.org.au/wellwomens/whic.cfm?doc_id=7691
Myths about nappies
1. There is no significant difference in the rates of nappy rash between babies wearing disposables and babies wearing cloth nappies. The most important factor in avoiding nappy rash is changing nappies promptly when soiled.
2. The environmental impact of disposables is much higher than for cloth even when the energy and water waste of washing and drying cloth is taken into account.
3. The new varieties of reusable nappies and even a good traditional flat nappy system can be user friendly.
4. Even if you only use cloth nappies some of the time, you are still reducing waste.

Environmental Issues
It is a common misconception that there is very little difference between disposable and reusable nappies in overall environmental impact. This misconception is based upon two scientific reports on the lifecycles of nappies produced by Procter and Gamble in 1989 and 1990. (Procter and Gamble are the makers of Pampers disposable nappies

Independent studies have since critiqued these studies finding that the assessment was flawed in that it focussed on the environmental impact during the nappy 'use' phase without proper assessment the impacts of both the production and disposal stages of the nappy lifecycle.

A subsequent study conducted by Landbank Consultancy in 1991 had the following findings;

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