Crunchy thoughts

*Warning: this blog post talks about periods. Exit now if it skeeves you out, or if it is something you just didn't want to know about me.*

So I kinda feel like a hypocrite. Remember when I wrote about the reasons why I wanted to use cloth diapers on my baby? That 2 of them were that I didn't want chemicals next to my baby's most sensitive parts, and that I wanted to reduce my involvement in putting disposables in the landfill? Well, recently while on the Great Cloth Diaper Hunt, I came across a few online stores that make "mama cloths", and it got me thinking.

Mama Cloth is basically a menstrual pad made out of, you guessed it, cloth. And honestly, up until very recently, was something I thought was a little too crunchy, even for me. I mean, don't most women just want to forget that AF even happens? Who needs a reminder of it when it comes time to wash them? Yeah, I know the same can be said about cloth diapers. But somehow I think mama cloths are in an entirely different category of gross. Anyway, back to my thoughts.

Why shouldn't I use them? After all, pads end up in the exact same place as disposables do, AND they're made mostly with the same chemicals. Why would I willingly put that against my most sensitive parts when I won't with my baby? It's a pretty big double standard. Not to mention that the cost savings would be pretty significant, too. So they've become something I could actually see myself using. But the thing is, when I get AF, while I do wear a pad because of leaking, I'm mostly a tampon girl. So then that brings me to another crunchy product: menstrual cups.

I've known about these for a few years after seeing discussions about them on various message boards. And even though I see women rave about them, I cannot see myself using them... especially if I'm out and about (because you're supposed to rinse them out before reinserting). Can you imagine being in a public restroom and seeing someone come up to the sink and rinse one of those bad boys out and then go back into a stall? Gross! I will absolutely not be *that* person. Yeah, I suppose I could use tampons when out of the house, but isn't the point to not buy that stuff anymore? And unless I'm in that 6-week time frame post-partum when you shouldn't put anything up your hoo-ha, I will not use just a pad for AF. I spent the first 5 years of my AF-getting phase of life not even knowing about the existence of tampons, and it is something I'd rather just forget and not experience again.

So after all that rambling, I guess what I mean to say is that I think I might be a little crunchier than I first thought since I'm considering using mama cloth in place of disposable pads. But I still have to research how one goes about washing them, and if there are any with a waterproof layer. It still does seem gross though, so I don't know. I shall have to think more on it.