healthy ideas, product info and comments about babies, tots and little ones
Here’s a picture of some baby stuff I bought recently:
A couple of toys, some formula, bottles, a drying rack, and some Dreft detergent. I’m doing some laundry now with the Dreft, and I plan to sterilize the bottles momentarily.
I also setup a “Pack-N-Play” to use as a crib:
Can you have a lead-free, BPA-free, phthalate-free, worry free holiday season?? God- I hope so. With all the ability to test, research and procure we are bound to have a safer gift giving season. In my house, it means I am researching the toys we give my daughter, limiting what we are giving her, looking for wooded toys, buying US and European and hoping our generous relatives follow suit. We’re in the same boat with everyone- you can’t have total control over what other people pick out for them. So I have hit the internet to check out where to look for reviews and tests, who is carrying the good stuff, and maybe even how to get a deal!
Check out: Fawn and Forest~ one of my favs with lots of natural and eco friendly products, even many handmade. They have a bunch of giveaways with purchases with month too!
Etsy’s Natural Kids section features handmade clothes and toys that are carefully, naturally and lovingly made. You’ll be dealing right with the creator so their standards are especially high.
Palumba~ a beautiful selection of all natural toys and gifts
Oompa Toys~ Lots of nice wooden toys, they have a link that you can see where all the manufacturers of the toys they sell are made.
Craftsbury Kids more handmade, high quality toys and items for kids.
Want to support us? Click on Earthy Birthy Mama, Nubius Organics, Baby Earth or Wild Dill on the right for your safer all natural toys and we’ll get a percentage of the proceeds! (albeit a small one but everything helps support the site!)
Last but not least~ Cool Mom Picks for a great safe toy gift guide and a bunch a deals listed, too! Click above.
Where to go if you’re worried: HealthyToys.org will be available on Dec. 3rd with loads of info on dangerous/safe toys. Consumer Safety Product Commission, Recalls.gov and the CDC Lead Program are all sites that will have recall information.
Still worried about that toy your kido got from your aunt in the midwest- which he/she loves and will flip if its suddenly “missing”? Buy a lead testing kit, they can be found at most big hardware stores and online.
Sound advice: remember always buy for your child’s age group, some toys are meant for older kids because they are age appropriate but many times it’s for safety reasons.
Yuck, bleck, ugh! That’s what goes through my mind when I think about all the toxins lurking in our houses. Long before it was on everyone’s radar, my stepfather, a mechanical engineer, was always reminding us to be careful with household chemicals, don’t let them touch your skin, careful of the fumes from them, open the windows, air out dry cleaning and shower curtains, use nail polish remover outside!, keep the thermostat low, turn off the lights, consume less, recycle, compost- the list goes on. He earnestly drove a tiny car for years, putting along in the slow lane, while others drove bigger and faster cars. His knowledge came from years working for engineering firms and as a professor and having understanding and insight into chemicals, waste, limits on resources and their impact on the future of the environment.
Since having my daughter more than two years ago, these matters went from subconscious, ingrained habits to a forefront priority to make sure I am doing all I can to make our home a safe place. And with the more knowledge I gain I find that many of the things he preached over the years are becoming a bigger part of what we all need to pay attention to, some of which are toxins in the home. I have dutifully draped my shower curtains outside to gas out for 4-5 days and since they been on the market been using EVA curtains instead. We compost, try to use as many non-toxic household products as possible, keep chemicals off our lawn (aka the clover patch- whatever, it’s green), rarely dry clean our clothes (only the ones that can’t be washed with water), use safer bath products. Today, we are at an advantage and disadvantage, every year there are more chemicals on the market but there is a greater awareness, demand for safer products and availability to information on how to make your home a safer environment. Everywhere you turn in your house there might be something unhealthy, here’s where to look.
This is a huge subject so I am going to list some articles and provide links to some good resources out there, including an article I wrote for a friend’s blog about indoor pollution and solutions. Please comment with any questions or ideas you might have and I will do my best to get you the answers.
Top Ten Products for Your Non-Toxic Household
EcoMall’s guide to non-toxic product ingredients and safe substitutes
More non-toxic homemade solutions and recipes
The Green Guide Household Buying Guide
SafeMama’s and The Soft Landing Shower Curtain Reports
HealthyTot’s Phthalates and Safer Cleaning Posts
We are hot and heavy with potty training these days. When my daughter turned two, she became very interested in using the potty. But it was the dead of winter, and the chilly Northeast wasn’t an inviting time to run around without your pants on. So I pushed it off until now, when days are warm and we spend much of the day outside. It has made my life a lot easier and she seems to have regained her interest.
If you’ve potty trained or are doing it, you know some days are all hits, cheers and clapping, others- many misses, a pat on the back and a “we’ll get it next time”. We are trying to use a pull-up training pant when we’re out or if she’s sleeping, no pants any warm day we are outside, and Gerber cotton training pants with the vinyl cover in the house. (I confess she hates the vinyl cover, so it is a challenge to get her to keep it on) But overall, its going well. She says “no, thank you” when I try to put a diaper on her. I have to do major reminding when she’s deep in play, all stuff to be expected. Aside from disposable and washable pull ups, we bought 2 potties the Baby Bjorn
One thing that I had set out to find to assist our potty training was a good chemical free, flushable wipe. I headed to Whole Foods to see if they had some, but they did not. So I hit the next best place- the internet. To my surprise there are very few, I found only two- Avalon Organics flushable wipes at a wow worthy $8.95 a container and TenderCare at Diapers.com for $2.58 per container. (each container has 50 wipes) It looks as though it is the same company that makes Tushies and its recognizable six ingredient list passes my first test. By the way, there seem to be a pretty big variety fitting the chemical free flushable wipe category available in Europe- no surprise here…
Diapers.com is set to deliver them in 2 days, so I’ll let you know what we think of them. In the meantime, good luck keeping the floors dry!
In my post a few weeks back about phthalates, I provided a link to a site called Serendipity Soap Company and their Wildly Lucky Soaps. They are a small Colorado based company that makes high-quality handmade, phthalate-free soaps. So I placed an order a few weeks ago and my family and I have been soaping up with them and we ready to give you our review.
We bought Bergamot Lime, Lavender, and Pear for me and my husband, and for my little one we bought Night, Night Baby, Sweetheart Baby and Twinkle Baby. Because my husband oft complains that the soaps I buy smell too girly I went with a couple of their “soapdude” approved choices. The package arrived a little late - no big thing for me, I would have never noticed, but they were nice to include some free samples to make up for the delay.
My husband is pretty happy with the subtle scent of the Bergamot Lime and the Sweetheart Baby is so pretty smelling. Since I love the smell of my little girl just as she is, there is just a light sweet smell post tubby (as she says). I also need to mention that my husband and daughter have pretty dry skin and they both seem less itchy and irritated. The soaps use olive oil and shea butter which are pretty kind to skin, so we already notice the difference.
Did I mention the soaps are phthalate-free! The other things I love about this soap (you know what’s coming)- it’s a mom-owned and operated company, it’s handmade and you’ll recognize every ingredient on the wrapper. At $5.50+, the bars of soap are little expensive if you’re used to getting the major brands at your local grocer but the bars are quite solid and should last you a while (longer than the typical buck-a-bar varieties) just make sure it’s kept out of a puddle in the dish. But you’ll feel good that this is not only good for your family and the environment that you can support a small company with a very nice product.
And they have a blog loaded with great info: Serendipity Soap Dish
Some entries you might want to check out:
Johnson’s Baby Cream–not so good for baby
What’s the difference between Phthalates and Parabens?
Feeling ambitious? Make your own! Soapchix Soap Making Tutorial
(wish my best friend Holly lived closer to tackle this one)
