Breastfeeding Article

The following article was written by Kym, a mom on another blog site I am on. I think her research speaks for itself. Please take the time to read!



I'm a strong advocate for breastfeeding. Before Andrew was conceived (before I even got married actually), I knew that one day I'd have children and I would breastfeed them. I had heard stories of women breastfeeding babies for 3, 4 and 5 years and honestly, it never struck me as odd. But what I didn't understand is why were the women who choose to do so ostracized and attacked. I knew that breastfeeding was way better than formula....they can't even be compared. It wasn't until I became pregnant with Andrew that I started doing my research and realized how beneficial it really was, and not just for the first six weeks, three months, six months...but it continued to be beneficial as long as breastfeeding was continued.

The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that "Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child.." (AAP) The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recommend that babies be breastfed for at least two years. According to the WHO, the average age for a child to wean, worldwide, is 4 years and 8 months. (WHO - Breastfeeding, UNICEF-Breastfeeding)

That is definitely NOT in line with how we do things in America. From the time our children are born, we want them independent and growing up. Most children are separated from their mothers soon after birth because they are put in a nursery at the hospital. Upon coming home, babies are put on a strict schedule, only eating every three hours. Breastfeeding is something for babies and in order for our children to be independent, they are usually weaned soon after birth for several reasons: so mom can return to work and not have to concentrate on pumping to keep her supply up, to go ahead and let our baby learn to not be comforted by food, etc. I could put in a jab at "BabyWise" here but I'll refrain. But is this line of thought and this trend hurting our society?

In countries where babies sleep with their parents, breastfeed for several years and spend their baby, toddler and early childhood years with their parents, babies are found to cry less, sleep better and gain weight better, as well as having LESS weight problems when they are older. They also have less behavior problems, issues such as ADD is uncommon and in general, children are MORE independent and self-suffient. Diseases such as breast and ovarian cancers aren't common among mothers. For more information about this, check out the book "Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent" by Meredith Small. (You can go to the La Leche League website for a review of the book.)

This research is starting to be more understood in America as well: The American Cancer Society has now begun to encourage women to breastfeed longer than the average 3-6 months to decrease their risk of breast cancer. Every year of breastfeeding reduces your risk by several percentage points. Studies also indicate that breastfeeding can aid in reducing the risk of ovarian cancer as well. (American Cancer Society article).

But what about the benefits of breastmilk for children? We know that for babies, breastmilk is, by all definitions, perfect nutrition. Breastmilk provides immunities, as well as valuable vitamins and fats. Studies done in the 1970's and 1980's show that breastmilk CONTINUES to be the perfect addition to a healthy diet.

"Research has shown that second-year milk is very similar to the first-year milk nutritionally (Victora, 1984). Even after two years or more it continues to be a valuable source of protein, fat, calcium, and vitamins (Jelliffe and Jelliffe, 1978).

The immunities in breast milk have been shown to increase in concentration as the baby gets older and nurses less, so older babies still receive lots of immune factors (Goldman et al, 1983). A study from Bangladesh provides a dramatic demonstration of the effect these immunities can have. In this deprived environment, it was found that weaning children eighteen to thirty-six months old doubled their risk of death (Briend et al, 1988). This effect was attributed mostly to breast milk's immune factors, although nutrition was probably important as well. Of course in developed countries weaning is not a matter or life and death, but continued breastfeeding may mean fewer trips to the doctor's office." (Nursing Beyond One Year)

Research also indicates that humans were created to NEED breastmilk for several years to thrive.

"Our past has produced an organism that relies on breastfeeding to provide the context for physical, cognitive, and emotional development. The human primate data suggest that human children are designed to receive all of the benefits of breast milk and breastfeeding for an absolute minimum of two and a half years, and an apparent upper limit of around 7 years. Natural selection has favored those infants with a strong, genetically coded blueprint that programs them to expect nursing to continue for a number of years after birth and results in the urge to suckle remaining strong for this entire period. Many societies today are able to meet a child's nutritional needs with modified adult foods after the age of three or four years. Western, industrialized societies can compensate for some (but not all) of the immunological benefits of breastfeeding with antibiotics, vaccines and improved sanitation. But the physical, cognitive, and emotional needs of the young child persist. Health care professionals, parents, and the general public should be made aware that somewhere between three and seven years may be a reasonable and appropriate age of weaning for humans, however uncommon it may be in the United States to nurse an infant through toddlerhood and beyond. (A Time To Wean)

(Of course, while these are mostly health benefits, there are many more! Emotional, mental and personal benefits, articles discussing these can be found on the websites listed at the bottom.)

The thing to realize is that the nursing relationship is a very personal relationship between mother and child. As long as the child continues to benefit from nursing, so shall the mother and breastfeeding should be allowed to be continued. Unfortunately in our Western culture, breastfeeding is seen as immodest, weird/gross and something for "babies". There have to be laws in place to protect a mother's right to breastfeed. That is truly a sad statement about our culture. Human milk truly is the best thing you can feed your child. The nutritional values do not disappear because the child turns one.

I have planned on nursing Andrew until he decides to stop nursing. I really could care less about an "appropriate" age to stop nursing a child that falls in line with the "American" way of parenting. The fact of the matter is, breastfeeding remains beneficial to both the baby AND mother as long as the nursing relationship continues. It's the way God designed us!

Other resources:
La Leche League International

Kellymom

Dr. Jack Newman

ProMom

Vaccines

Vaccines seem to be a controversial topic. I hesitate to even bring it up for that reason. However, I do think it's worth consideration by all parents. So regardless of your current stand please be open minded enough to read what I have to share.

It is incredibly appealing to think about a simple injection that could protect your child from several deadly diseases. Unfortunately, such injections are not without their own risks. Though these risks are often blown off by medical professionals for various reasons not to be discussed at this time.

At one point the controversy was regarding Thimerosal. For the most part this has been removed from vaccines. The new issue at hand is the content of aluminum. The following link is to an article that can state the facts far better than I can. It's written by Dr. Robert Sears. He wrote the "Vaccine Book" and is a practicing pediatrician in CA. When reading his book I found him to be unbiased in his presentation of information.

Is Aluminum the New Thimerosal

Dr. Sears is pro-vaccine in general but has encouraged parents to consider a selective or alternative schedule. If following the AAP's schedule your child's system will be bombarded with aluminum containing vaccines. Are you convinced this is safe?

I feel like the choice of whether to vaccinate my children or not is one of the hardest choices I have had to make. One one hand, I can choose to fully vaccinate my child and risk harmful effects of the vaccines that cannot be reversed. On the other hand if I choose not to vaccinate I am possibly putting my child at risk for contacting one of the various diseases that the vaccines could protect my child from getting. For this reason, the choice is very personal. Each parent must review the information and decide what risks they are willing to take.

It is my hope that those reading this will read it knowing my sincerest motives. It is not up to me to judge your decision on this matter. But I do hope you are willing to give this issue a second glance to insure you can be confident in your choice.

Once again, I have no issue with others making different choices as long as they are informed decisions.

Natural Childbirth

(Note: I wrote this to someone asking me about natural birth. I have edited to hopefully make it more general. It is not intended to judge other women's births. While I feel very strongly about the benefits of giving birth without medication I cannot expect all women to do so. It is a personal decision. I do hope this information can be helpful and encouraging to any women considering natural birth though.)

I had my son naturally in August. It was the hardest thing my body has ever done but also without a doubt the best thing I have ever done! I honestly cannot wait to do it again! I truly felt empowered. I knew I had done something that many people told me I couldn't do. Most of all I knew I did what was best for me and my baby.

Most women in my family have all had medicated births. I have one cousin that did it without pain medication but was induced (points for her surviving Pitocin contractions without meds!). I really didn't have anyone expecting me to do it naturally. A few ladies at church basically introduced the idea to me in my teen years. After getting married and doing my own research I knew I wanted to attempt a natural birth. Once I got pregnant and did even more research I knew I didn't want to give myself any choice but to have a natural birth.

My reasons for wanting a natural birth were probably somewhat selfish. I know many women fear the effects the medication may have on the baby. While that probably was a small concern it was not my main motive. The thought of the epidural needle was enough to make me queasy. I did not want to be numb. I hate even being numb for dental work I knew it would make me crazy to have my lower body numb. I wanted to remain in control. I wanted to move during labor and I wanted to be able to feel what my body was doing to deliver my baby. I knew my body was made to deliver babies and if let be it would know what to do. Medication was one intervention I did not want because it would likely lead to more.

I believe the following things really helped me achieve a natural birth.

1. Support. You have to have support. Labor is hard work! You need people that believe in you and will encourage you to meet your goal. Since I didn't have family members that had natural births I needed to know that other women have succeeded in it. I thankfully found a natural birth forum. I often thought of them as "my cloud of witnesses". Despite the naysayers in my life I knew a natural birth was possible because so many other mommies had done it before me.

2. A labor support team. Again, labor is hard work! I labored for 20 hours. All but 6 of that was done at home. My mom and good friend were with me most of that time since my husband was working. They applied counter pressure to my back during contractions. This helped me tremendously but was tiring for them! My husband was with me for about 8 hrs of my labor. Once at the hospital our doula was there. I used all four of these people! They kept heat packs warm for me, got me drinks, fed me, massaged me, applied lotion, etc. I know many people want it to be them and their husband only. I see no issue with this for the delivery if you so choose but for labor please consider having other help! Your husband will likely tire before labor is over leaving you high and dry. You may not need four people but two would be great so the other could have a break. Because I had four people helping me the nurses had to do very little for me. Believe it or not nurses quite often encourage medication because it makes their jobs easier. Since I didn't require their help they had no reason to push medication on me.

3. Research!!! I cannot stress that enough! I started off reading Henci Goer's "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth". I also read the Sears' "Birth Book". (As a side note anything from the Sears has been good. I have the "Vaccine Book" and the "Baby Book". They are straight to the point leaving you to judge the information.) I also spent HOURS learning from the mom's on forums.

I firmly believe that lack of knowledge is what leads many women to request medication. I knew going into it what to expect. I knew each stage of labor. I knew what my body would do. Therefore I was not scared when those things happened.

I also researched many of the interventions that occur in hospitals. Quite often one intervention opens the door for many! My ultimate fear of childbirth was requiring a c-section. I knew I could greatly reduce my chances of that if I did not allow them to induce me or give me Pitocin. Pitocin shuts down your body's coping hormones which will make you more likely to request an epidural. Both pit and having an epidural require you to stay in your bed. Movement is key in natural childbirth. It allows your body to get the baby in the proper position. Without movement you may be labeled as failure to progress which will lead to a c-section.

I also liked reading this blog: http://nursingbirth.com/ She is a labor and delivery nurse but she sees the error in our maternity care. There is a lot of good insight to be had there. Do be warned that she does use the occasional profanity. Be sure to read the entries where she discusses real births and what went wrong. It will help you know what types of things may come up at the hospital.

4. PREPARE! Would you run a marathon without preparing? Yet women expect to just show up and have a baby??? Doesn't make sense to me! We went to Lamaze class. Lamaze was way different than what I thought it would be. I loved it! We took it at a local hospital. It did cost us but I felt this made it more legitimate. Do not rely on the free hospital classes. Invest in a good quality birthing class. Some women really like Bradley Method. Many are leaning towards hypnobirthing. Regardless of your method do choose something and take classes!

5. Pray. I had about a week of prodromal labor. Every night I would have consistent contractions only to have them stop by morning. I became very discouraged and wondered if I would be able to succeed at birth. I prayed tons about it. God answered every prayer. I may have labored for a week but I started active labor at 4 cm! Put your faith in Him that He will give you strength to have the birth you hope to have and most importantly He can keep you and baby safe during delivery.

6. Be confident. Believe that you can do it because you can! Think of how many women before our generation HAD to give birth without pain medication and they succeeded! Think of the women now that choose to. You can do it and don't let anyone tell you that you can't. It amazes me how our bodies work and allow us to give birth. I hope in your research you will come to a great understanding of that whole process. When you are giving birth without medication you are completely in tune with your body and baby. You will know what to do. You will know what positions you need to be in to help get the baby in the right position. It's also cool to me that with each contraction your body releases endorphins. Let these work! As soon as you introduce medication whether that be Pitocin or an epidural it shuts down your body's own pain coping. While I tell you to be confident also know that there will be a point in labor that you will think you can't do it. I even said "I can't". Most women do. Good news is that when that is said you're more than likely almost ready to push!

It really helped me to realize that this pain would be short lived. It may last 20 hours but what's 20 hours in the grand scheme of things? I was not willing to take pain medication and risk bad tearing at the very least or a c-section at worst. I would much rather deal with 20 hours of labor than to have 6 weeks of healing from major abdominal surgery (which is what a c-section is).

7. Do not fear birth. That is closely related to being confident. I realize that God has thankfully given mothers the ability to "forget" some of the pain involved. However, it really wasn't that bad. It wasn't fun but it wasn't terrible. Most of labor is relatively mild contractions. Once things pick up it's almost over! I also don't like for women to consider contractions "pain". Did it hurt? Yes, if I didn't focus through each contraction. I had a few that snuck up on me and I screamed through them. Most of labor I was able to moan or say "o-o-o-o" and get through them without pain. If you start dreading "painful contractions" you are looking to fulfill that. If you think of them as say, pressure waves, you will hopefully have more positive outlook on them and we know in other areas how effective a positive outlook is!

Two of my biggest fears were tearing and the ring of fire. I was afraid of pushing for this reason. I really think I delayed my son's birth for this reason. I showed up to the hospital at 3 am and was 8 cms. Yet it took me 6 hours to have him.

8. Stay out of the hospital! Doctors will admit you at 4 cm with contractions every 5-10 minutes. There is really no need for this. I labored at home. This allowed me to be comfortable as well as eat and do whatever I wanted while I labored. I had several friends about to go crazy because I had contractions every 3-5 mins and wasn't in the hospital! If you fully understand the process you will know when you need to go. The less time you can spend there the better!

(If you test group b strep positive they will want you there 4 hours prior to delivery. You don't HAVE to consent to antibiotics but if you don't they will likely want the baby in the nursery for observation. You can reduce your chances of testing positive by taking probiotics. Some women have used garlic to kill the group B. You can also request that they test you again after you have done some things to kill it. You will likely pay out of pocket but again this would have been worth it to me to avoid being in the hospital.)

9. Have a plan. Write out a plan, go over it with your doctor. Take copies to give to the nurses at the hospital. Be sure your husband and whoever will be with you know what you expect. But also be aware that things may not go as planned but so much of labor can be what you want it to be if you just know what you want.

With natural birth you have to be your own advocate. Truth is that it's often easier for the doctors and nurses for you to be medicated. Do your research and be confident in what you want. Realize that no one can make you do anything! For instance, most women do the test for gestational diabetes. I didn't want to. I told my doctor and she agreed that I didn't have the risk factors so there was no need. I simply monitored my sugar at home. Doctors generally do vaginal exams starting at 36 weeks. I didn't want them to do one at 37 or 38 weeks so they didn't (of course they looked at me like I had 3 eyes or something). They will tell you you can't eat when you're in labor. EAT! They can't throw you out out of the hospital for eating! If you feel like eating, eat. Your body is about to do the hardest job ever. Why not eat? (If you read the Thinking Woman's Guide, she will explain it in detail but basically they tell you that you can't eat because they MIGHT have to do a c-section with general anesthesia in which you MIGHT aspirate. You have like a .002% chance of dying because of this! Yet without eating and fueling your body you have a greater chance of things happening one of which is having a c-section and aspirating on your stomach acid!)

I hope I have not overwhelmed you. Please let me know if there is anything I need elaborate on as this is a topic I LOVE!

Motherhood My Way

I LOVE being a mom. I have always wanted to be a mommy. I had tons of baby dolls (probably still have them all, who can throw away their "children"?). They all had names, real names (not just "Baby", no, there was Susie, Mikey, Crystal....). I always took a baby with me where ever I went. I cared for them, nursed them, changed their clothes and diapers even wore them in a baby carrier.

I remember when I was about 6 and my sister was pregnant I would pull out a medical book we had and show her what her baby looked like. I looked at this book so much that those pages are falling out now.

When I got to be in my late teens, (very) early 20's I became unsure if I would ever get married. While I looked forward to being married and having someone I was also sad at the prospect that I would not have children. Sure, I could have possibly adopted but I wanted to be pregnant, to feel the baby, to know that they were growing in me. I would often pray something along the lines of, "God, I really desire to get married and have children. If this is not Your will please help me to be content."

Thankfully, God saw fit to bless me with a husband. Not only a husband but a husband that wanted children too. We had planned on waiting a bit before trying to get pregnant. We waited 6 months. After 5 months of trying we finally conceived. Our joy was short lived as that child left this earth for something better. Despite having a husband and being pregnant once I feared we wouldn't ever have a healthy child.

During that short pregnancy I began to research various things. Prior to that I had no strong feelings regarding pregnancy, birth and child rearing. I remember buying a certain book and telling a friend. She warned me of some possible concerns if I were to parent with that method. I read the first chapter before I got distracted with other books. Now it's collecting dust. (Yes, my son is nearly 4 months old and I have not needed that book.)

When I conceived again I read even more books. Two books really changed the way I looked at things, "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" by Henci Goer and "The Birth Book" by the Sears. I seriously could not put these down! They opened a whole new world for me. This is when my strong feelings began to submerge.

It was at this point that I began to realize how the medical field instills so much confidence that women do not research on their own. I am not at all against modern medicine (though it's sad to think how much of it is motivated by the almighty dollar but that probably a topic in and of itself). I am, however, all for women doing their research. Doctors do not know everything. How can they have time to see patients, deliver babies and still have time to stay on top of every issue?

I don't like to look at pregnancy and childbirth as a medical condition but bear with me. If you had ANY other medical issue would you not research it??? You would want to know who the best doctor was, what was the best treatment, what you could do to have a good outcome. Despite this, women in general do very little research regarding pregnancy and birth.

I was blessed with a great pregnancy. I had zero complications. I just knew the birth would throw me for a loop. My biggest fear was having to have a c-section. (There are often medical reasons for needing one but I do think doctors abuse this. Again, that's not the point.) I knew that despite planning for natural birth I could handle having to get an epidural if that would help the baby. But I knew I would have a hard time emotionally handling a c-section.

I began to figure out why so many births happen through c-sections. The answer: medical interventions. The trend seemed to be that for every intervention you allowed, the more risk you would need another one. (Let me also say that medical interventions are often needed but again are often abused.) I knew that the first step was not to be induced. If I could avoid that I could avoid the painful Pitocin contractions. If I could do without those I had a better chance of not needing an epidural. I knew that with Pitocin I would also be confined to bed rather than being able to use movements to help my labor. Without moving my labor could stall or I could stop progressing and then they would begin saying the C word.

I was unwilling to take these risks. I knew that God created my body to birth babies. I knew that countless other women had given birth without pain medication. I knew that I, too, could have a natural birth. But I also knew that I had to be determined. This was not something I could go into half-heartedly. As my son's birth approached I began to have some doubts but kept reminding myself that I could do this. I reminded myself that any pain I would experience would be short lived in comparison to everything else. For me, it was not worth all the possible risks that would have long term effects to take a medication that would (or might) take away my pain for the hours I was in labor. Thankfully, God heard my prayers and gave me the strength to have the birth that I desired.

His birth was only the beginning of my role as a mom. Just as his birth was not mainstream, many of my parenting choices are not mainstream. Because of this I keep some of my decisions and choices to myself or only share with close friends. Others I am more than happy to talk freely about. Bottom line is that I am C's mom. I will raise him in the way that is right for him, me and M (my husband). It may not work for anyone else and that's okay.

Before C was born I decided I would do what worked for our family. I did not buy into any one style of parenting. I was not going to put myself in any box. By deciding to instinctively parent I have never doubted my abilities or whether or not I was doing things right. I believe firmly that God gave mothers instincts just as He has given every animal instincts to mother their young.

I really believe that if we learned to trust these instincts in everything and not subscribe to what others think or expect us to do that we could be more confident in our skills as parents. I think it's important to gain this confidence when his biggest needs are keeping him fed and dry. It's kind of hard to mess that up! But yet, if I can become confident in knowing how to care for my son then I can be more confident when making bigger decisions later in his life. How many parent's are feeling overwhelmed or like failures because they trust others rather than themselves.

I made a commitment to C the second he was conceived. It was then that my life was not my top priority any more. I gave up my right to be selfish. This is not always easy. Sometimes I get overwhelmed at the thought that I will always be C's mom. No one else can do my job. This is a big commitment but one that I gladly made. C did not ask to come into this world. I asked him to be part of my life. How can I ask him to fit into the exact spot I've made for him? Babies aren't always convenient but too many parents expect them to be.

I feed C on cue (I once referred to this as on demand but have since found on cue to be more accurate). Sometimes C eats every 2 hours. Sometimes he goes as many as 5 or 6. Before I was a mom I thought mothers that did this were setting their children up to be snackers, demanding, overweight, etc. That could not be farther from the truth! Thankfully, I learned that breast milk is digested quicker than formula. Breast fed babies typically do not over eat. While a child may learn to be demanding an infant is not capable of that. They only know that they are hungry. Who am I to decide whether my child is hungry or not? It's also interesting to know that babies will nurse in a way to effect their mother's supply so that there is enough food. Nursing is a give and take relationship. I rely on him to help me produce milk and he relies on me to nourish him with that milk. Upsetting that balance by extreme scheduling can often have negative consequences.

C gets held most of the day. I have gotten varying comments about this. Some parents have told us to hold our children because they grow up to quickly. Others have told me that I am spoiling him and will regret holding him. I'm not going to say how my holding him will effect the person he becomes but I do know that there are plenty of benefits. This contact with him also helps me produce the milk he needs to thrive. Holding him also forces me to take breaks. I need these breaks to fully heal and to keep the strength and energy I need to have to be a good mother. More than any of that holding him helps us to bond, helps him to trust and feel loved.

When I do not have two free hands to hold him I wear him. I wear him at home while I work, at worship services, the grocery store. I LOVE it! People stop us all the time and question us about this. It's not a new concept but one that has been thrown aside in our society. It really makes my life easier to have this option. It keeps C happy and gives us more time together.

We do not make C cry for long periods of time. I cannot refuse that affection and quality time when he asks for it. That goes against every instinct that I have. There are times that he has to cry because I am otherwise occupied. These times break my heart. It is interesting to me that studies have been done regarding the mother's reaction to her child's cry. There are physical changes in the mother's body when her child cries. As mothers we wish to make our children happy. I wouldn't ignore my talking child's requests but some in society expect us to ignore what our babies are trying to tell us. C doesn't cry for the fun of it. He is always trying to tell me something. He has different cries for each need, even my dad has made note of that. Experts also tell us that babies that are not made to cry for extended periods of time are smarter. This is not to say that other babies are not but it stands to reason that if C is not spending his time being unhappy and crying that he has time to be alert and focus on the things going on around him.

As I said, there are other choices we have made that may not be popular. I'm not sure how many I am going to divulge here but time will tell. Before I was a mom I never thought I'd be doing some of these things. Again, I do not think my way is the only way but it's working great for us and I can't help but hope other parents would give some of these choices a chance. The bottom line though, is that each of have been given children to raise and nurture so that they are able to serve the Lord. Despite the different techniques this is the only desired outcome. If you succeed in that nothing else matters.

Disclaimer

Before I start revealing my crunchy ways I want to make something clear. I WILL be opinionated (isn't that what blogging is really about?). I may make you mad or you may find yourself agree wholeheartedly with me.

Regardless of your current viewpoint it's my hope you will at least consider the facts and what I have to say. Remember that I haven't always believed in some of these things. I grew up rather "mainstream".

I don't believe I am superior or know everything. But I have researched many topics and feel like the choices I am making are best for my family.

I don't have a problem with you not doing what I do but I DO have a problem if you're not making informed decisions. If you're willing to inform yourselves we should get along just fine.

Introduction to Crunchiness

I am a 24 year old wife and mother. I am a self proclaimed crunchy mom. I do believe there are degrees of crunchiness though. While I am not the crunchiest I have come a long way!

My mom gave birth to me (and my two older brothers) with pain medication. She nursed me for 9 short months. I was given all of the required vaccinations. I took antibiotics when I had one of my frequent ear infections. I went to public school (until middle school anyway). We ate meat. Convenience foods and fast foods were common place. We were not crunchy! (This fact really doesn't change my opinion that I have the best parents.)

During my teen years I started learning about other options. Since then I haven't done anything but get crunchier.

At this point you may be wondering what in the world crunchy means. It's really any combination of the following:

-Organic food
-Vegetarian/Vegan diet
-Natural Childbirth
-Home birth
-Extended nursing (past 1 year)
-No vaccinations (or delayed/selective)
-Baby wearing
-Co-sleeping
-Cloth diapering
-Elimination communication
-Homeschooling
-Natural healing methods vs. medical doctors
-Fertility Awareness Method or Natural Family Planning vs. hormonal birth control

I'm sure I'm forgetting something! You get the point though.

Now I'm sure you're wondering just how far I take my crunchiness. I suggest you stay tuned because I will be revealing some of my crunchiness in future blogs.