Nina over at Queercents is adopting a baby in December, and wrote today about her meltdown at Babies R Us and her concerns about what to get for her new arrival. She was kind enough to mention that she found my list of baby gear recommendations useful.
I wrote the list a few years back, and tried to keep it pretty basic, with suggestions for a broad spectrum of families, but I’ll be the first to say there are probably as many lists of baby gear as there are parents. Go leave some of your own ideas as comments on her post.
A recent, relevant article is “The Great Diaper Debate,” from this past Sunday’s Boston Globe Magazine. I’ve always taken a middling stance on the sometimes polarizing issue of cloth vs. disposable. I think there is not one universal answer, but depends on one’s specific practices and location. Do you use a diaper service (and how close is it), have an energy-efficient washer, use an environmentally friendly detergent, live in a drought-afflicted area, or buy bleach free and biodegradable disposables vs. the major brands? The Globe concurs:
Still, many parents who want to do what’s best for the environment aren’t getting the best information. While many blogs, books, and online forums extol the benefits of cloth diapers, helping parents feel good about choosing what they see as the greener option, the research shows surprisingly little evidence supporting one over the other.
Which means it is up to parents to weigh the costs – in time, money, energy, and pollution – and decide whether cloth or paper diapers are right for their baby. For some, it’s an equation with ever-changing variables.
“An equation with ever-changing variables.” I think that could describe most of parenting, in fact. Best of luck to Nina and anyone else about to become a parent!