A big REDO!!

Ever since I had Rueben, & have thought about bringing another little beauty into this world, I've thought about how much I would have done differently with him. A lot of the things I seem to forget, so I think I'm just gonna start putting them here in this ol' blog so I can remember!
For one thing, I want to breastfeed our next child. (DON'T GET ANY IDEAS--I AM NOT PREGNANT NOW. thank you very much, just wanted to get that out of the way!) I was never really exposed to breastfeeding, with the exception of always knowing that my mom tried to breastfeed both me & my younger sister (I wouldn't latch on, Allison made mama sick). I was never around anyone breastfeeding, & I want to learn more about it. While I am not trying to get pregnant at the moment, I have been reading a lot into it. I learned that for every 6 months that you breastfeed, you knock off a 5% chance of getting breast cancer, which is great for me because my mom, paternal grandmother, & maternal grandmother all have had it. Another thing is the bonding... I feel that I bonded pretty well with Rueben, but I would just feel that this would help even more. I have read that it helps immunity for both the mother & child, & that it increases the IQ in the baby. And, I'm not gonna lie, I've also heard that it helps the mother lose weight, which is a huge plus in my book! It also makes it easier because you don't have to lug around tons of formula, bottles, water, etc. AND.. it's free!! Well except for a cover if you need it, & a pump. But I'm sure it pays off in the long run!

I also want to look into cloth-diapering. I remember that a family friend cloth diapered her youngest son, who had Down Syndrome, but I haven't been in contact with her in several years, & don't know how to get in touch with her now. I think that it would be cheaper, more natural, & possibly easier than disposable diapers, but I'm not sure. How does it work? How fast do babies leak through? Is it definitely easier?

I read all kinds of articles over & over again talking about how both of these things are better for you & your child, blah-blah, but I want the truth! I want to listen to & talk to people who did these things.. I want to know your experiences with it! It might even help if someone was in my situation, who experienced both sides to the issues (formula vs. breastfeeding, cloth diapering vs. disposable, etc). Which would you do if you could do it over again?

These are just a few of the things I've thought about trying when I ever have another baby... but more on others later :-)

Have a great day everyone!!