We have all brainwashed ourselves, as parents, into thinking that there is an easier way. We are also constantly brainwashed by packing and advertisements that lead us to believe we have found it.
More and more, as of late, I have noticed products spawning into a horrible new breed: disposables!
When I was a kid, they were just coming out with things like disposable cameras. My parents still used cloth diapers on me because most people still used them instead of disposables. “Disposable” products were still relatively few and far-between, and certainly were not staples of everyday life!
Just think about the things you already use that are disposable: plastic baggies instead of Tupperware, paper towels instead of rags, travel-size shampoos for the gym instead of refilling small bottles from a larger one.
Guilty Pause
Okay, well now, how about using disposable bottle liners for each and every bottle you feed your baby (for breast milk or formula?) Better yet, disposable bottles themselves? Please note: a newborn eats about eight to twelve times a day, or more. How convenient! You don’t have to actually wash anything (well, you probably still do), but you can create loads of unnecessary trash, not to mention the packaging they come in? If you are a breastfeeding mother, you can also use disposable nursing pads, throwing away the equivalent of one maxi-pad worth of trash, per breast, each time you feel you have leaked.
In the name of keeping baby germ-free, we can use disposable placemats each time we go to a restaurant, disposable changing pads instead of cleaning and reusing a standard one, and disposable covers for shopping carts! Meanwhile, he or she can wear a disposable bib, use a disposable spoon and bowl, and then be wiped up with antibacterial wipes in a plastic canister! Yes! To be fair, it seems like it is in the interest of one’s baby to keep him or her clean. However, these products are not sterile, as a band-aid is, and very few babies are out there catching diseases from their own diaper bag’s changing pad or from restaurant tables. May I point out as well, that the overuse of antibiotics, which is contributing to an ever-larger, ever-stronger population of bacteria who may eventually take over the city, is not strictly due to their over-prescription, but also to the overuse of antibacterial products. Doctors tell us the only agent we need to keep healthy is plain old soap—not even the antibacterial kind. We do not need to wipe down our entire lives with throw-away antibacterial wipes. Our children also probably do not need the additional exposure to chemicals they provide.
And what about bathtime? Now, instead of using one of those pesky washcloths to wash your baby or child, you can use and throw away single-use washcloths that are already loaded with baby soap! They are just like the disposable facewash wipes you can wastefully buy from Olay and Dove, only for baby!
This rant could go on an on, as the list of new disposable items does, but you get the point. Do not believe the hype. Your wasting your money and environmental resources, along with polluting the earth, will not help your baby. If you breastfeed, just wash some cotton pads, and no matter what kind of milk goes into a bottle, just wash it and reuse it. Don’t rob yourself of the experience of touching your child with your hands as you wash them, while being wasteful. If you somehow happen to be blessed with a child you can bring to a restaurant, clean the area they will be in as best you can, then grimace and don’t think about it—after all, kids just get dirty. They do. If you are traveling, put small amounts of food and products in small Tupperware containers, or rinse and reuse your paper bags. Sometimes it might be just as easy, and sometimes you might have to take five seconds, or even five minutes to go the extra mile and be frugal and selfless.