Is It Wrong to Compare Babies and Animals? (plus baby FAQs)

(Scroll down to find some baby FAQs)

I made a comment on my Facebook page the other day about me not having a problem with putting little children on leashes. It generated a fair amount of commentary and one friend said “They’re children, not dogs.”

Yet it seems to me that there’s a fair amount of similarity between toddlers and dogs. Selective hearing, for one thing! And getting easily distracted or bolting when they want to check out something interesting.

Is it insulting to human children, though, to compare them to dogs or treat them in the same way you would a dog?

On the one hand all beings are part of the divine and dogs have God within them the same as humans do. On the other hand, dogs are trapped by instinct and lack the introspection to discover the God within.

Personally I don’t have a problem comparing children to dogs but maybe that’s just because I’ve been a dog momma for nine years!

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Off topic I wanted to share the answers to some questions that I tried to Google before the little man arrived and had trouble finding answers to…

1. Will an 8 lb baby fit in newborn diapers and newborn clothes?

Yes. My baby was 8 lbs and 13 oz. He fit into newborn sized cloth diapers for a week and a half. Not a long time, but I was very glad that I had a newborn stash for that time. We went through a lot of diapers. I used a combo of aios and prefolds with covers. He is still wearing newborn clothes at the moment (almost two weeks old) but they are getting tight. Again, it’s still worth having them even if it doesn’t last long. Footed sleepers for night time and onsies for daytime (since it’s summer here).

2. Should I get Depends (adult diapers) for postpartum?

Yes! I was very glad I took this suggestion and bought a pack of adult diapers for myself. I actually ended up using them in labor too. Sure the birth center had tucks pads but you can’t walk around with those. I was much more mobile during labor because I had the Depends. I continued to use them after. They were very comfortable.

3. Will I need padsicles?

I made these from both regular pads and cloth pads. You soak the pads in witch hazel and freeze them to soothe you after the birth. I found that the cloth pads did not freeze well. I also found that, though the cold felt surprisingly good, it didn’t last long. I got about twenty seconds of enjoyment before the cold was gone. And despite having a second degree tear and stitches, I really didn’t end up using padiscles (or a peri bottle either, for that matter)

4. Why cloth pads are a good idea.

The cloth may not have worked well for freezing but it has been very important for comfort. I’ve been using cloth pads exclusively for years but for postpartum I bought maxi pads. After a week of wearing them, I was feeling very sore from the plasticy surface rubbing on me. It was beginning to get quite painful. So I went back to my cloth, which is way more comfortable.

5. Should I get a rock n play?

A rock n play is a type of cradle (see one at Amazon). I do wish that I had gotten one. I thought I had a variety of sleep options but when I really looked at it all my options were too similar and the baby did not like them. I had a co-sleeper crib, an in-bed co-sleeper, and a bassinet. Once I was trying to get the baby to sleep I realized that all three had a very similar surface and he did not like it. I should have been prepared with more variety. My friend brought over a swing which has a similar cradling feel to the rock n play and that saved my sanity. We don’t even turn the swing on, just use it for its shape. Those first couple of nights were very tough because we didn’t have a safe place we could put him down to sleep.

Another tip: trim any nipple hairs, they can annoy the baby during feeding!