Crunchy, Silky or Scrunchy?

Maybe you've heard someone say that they're a "crunchy mom". Perhaps you knew what they were talking about. If you didn't, I can guarantee that you were supremely confused. If you do know what the term means, perhaps you're wondering what the name for exact opposite of a crunchy mom is. What is you already know both terms, but you're personally somewhere in the middle? What would you be classified as then?

This post will simply explain the difference between the popular terms "crunchy mom", "silky mom", and "scrunchy mom". I'll also tell you what I would be classified as currently and what I plan to change when a future Ellis baby joins the family.

Crunchy Mom -

The term "crunchy" comes from the crunchiness of granola, which, stereotypically, people who are prone to the all-natural mindset are likely to eat. I've actually heard some women refer to themselves as "being very granola". Many topics are associated with being a crunchy parent, some of which are very trendy at the moment.

- Natural birthing

- Home birthing

- Placenta encapsulation

- Breastfeeding

- Baby-wearing

- Baby-led weaning

- Cloth diapering

- Elimination communication

- Co-sleeping, or bed-sharing

- Non or selective vaccinating

- Anti-circumcision

- Attachment parenting

- Homeschooling, or un-schooling

- Natural medication (probiotics!)

- Organic eating

- Vegetarian eating

Silky Mom -

Nicknamed the “modern mother”, silky moms are pretty easily explainable. They’re the kind of moms who do what you’ve always heard of when it comes to parenting. They don’t go out of their way to be all-natural, or try to follow a newly popular path. They go with the flow of well-known mothering. Silky moms often use sleep training methods like “crying it out” and tend to rely on modern products for comfort and convenience.

- Prefer medicated hospital birth

- Bottle feed, or part-time breastfeed

- Use rice cereals

- Prefer disposable diapers and wipes

- Crib sleep

- Pro-circumcision

- Pro-vaccinating

- Mostly stroller using

- Closely follow the advice of established medical authority

Now, if you can look through those lists and find things on both that make you comfortable, then you’re what’s called a scrunchy mom. I’m not the biggest fan of this term, just honestly because I don’t really like to word scrunchy. I usually call myself quasi-crunchy since I fall into that category so much more.

Here's my list of mothering choices and techniques -

- Breastfeeding (until he decided to stop)

- Baby-wearing

- Co-sleeping, or bed-sharing

- Attachment parenting

- Organic eating

- Vegetarian eating

- Bottle feed, or part-time breastfeeding (not by my choice)

- Prefer disposable diapers and wipes

- Pro-circumcision

- Pro-vaccinating

- Closely follow the advice of established medical authority

Some of these things are not 100% true.

My son eats as much organic as he can at this point in his life. I did not want to bottle feed, it just sort of… Happened since he hated breastfeeding.

I desperately wanted to try cloth diapering, but my husband asked me if I would give up that one thing. He wasn’t familiar with changing diapers and wanted to learn in an easier arena. He has since said we can try it with our next little one. (It worked out better for us anyway. Our current apartment doesn’t have its own washer and dryer. It could’ve been horrendous.)

Before we had our son circumcised, we talked to many people who were both circumcised and uncircumcised. The men who were not said they wished that they were for sanitary reasons. We went with that option.

“Closely following the advice of medical authority” is one I needed to talk about as well. I do listen to our pediatrician, but there have been cases in which I was uncomfortable with some of the things that she said. (Like the fact that she diagnosed our son “failure to thrive” because he was incredibly long when he was very small and wasn’t gaining enough lbs per inch, but everyone in both of our families are over 6 feet tall. He is going to be a tall guy. Genes should matter more than the idiotic idea of the BMI.) However, I have seen some mothers argue with their pediatrician about obvious health issues, then ignore the doctor to the detriment of their child. That is something I certainly don’t agree with. They do have a very in-depth degree after all.

When we have another child, these are some of the things I would very much like to attempt -

- Placenta encapsulation

- Baby-led weaning

- Cloth diapering

I would love to know what category you all fall into and what you may do differently, or something you think should be added to any of those lists!

#MomLife #Breastfeeding #PersonalStories #Jarrett