When bringing home a new baby, parents want to create a warm, loving and safe home where their child can grow and flourish. One way that new parents can help ensure the safety of their precious little ones is by choosing environmentally friendly products, which are free of toxins and hazardous substances. Bringing a new baby home can be a powerful motivator to go green and natural.
Many parents decide to seek the greenest products they can find for their baby and look for organic cotton baby clothing, foods, and bathing supplies, since their baby is in such close contact with those products. And while that is an excellent starting point, parents who want to provide their baby the safest nursery possible are also choosing eco friendly baby furnishings and gear.
New trends in eco friendly baby furnishings include organic cotton bedding sets and mattresses made of natural fibers and free of toxins. Considering how many hours new babies spend sleeping, furnishing baby’s nursery with an environmentally safe crib and bedding is a logical choice. If a family bed is where baby will be sleeping then everyone benefits from sleeping on safe green sheets and blankets. When choosing the color palate for baby’s nursery, more parents are also opting for paints with low (or no) volatile organic compounds (VOCs), to avoid harmful paint fumes.
The availability of an increasing number of eco friendly baby gear items also reflects that parents are becoming more aware of the benefits of providing baby with green baby products. Whether it is organic fiber baby carriers, organic cotton shopping cart covers, or smartly designed eco friendly strollers, parents can offer their babies the benefits of having all the environmentally safe comforts of home even while traveling. If you can’t afford the often times pricier premiums on greener products it is perfectly acceptable, and planet friendly, to buy used.
Even stylish baby accessories are going green–Moms love slinging hip organic fiber baby bags over their shoulders! Eco friendly toys, such as teethers, rattles, blocks, puzzles and bath toys are being made with organic and/or natural materials and are free of harmful chemicals.
Parents who choose organic baby bedding, strollers, clothing, and other eco friendly baby gear, enjoy greater peace of mind that their baby is nestled in comforting and safe surroundings right from the very beginning.
This week the question posed to Green Moms Weekly is “What do you say to people who can’t wrap their head around the cloth diapering phenomena? Give some simple and positive examples of how cloth diapering can benefit both mom and baby.”
I decided to cloth diaper my second baby in late 2003, before she was even born. I spent 4 months researching cloth like crazy and putting together my newborn stash. When I told friends and family of my intentions all I got were incredulous looks or an eye roll as if to say they didn’t believe I would stick with it for more than a day. You would have thought I told them I was planning on taking the dirty diapers to a nearby river and beating them against rocks. It was just an insane idea to them but I did not let them deter me from my decision. When I brought my daughter home from the hospital I immediately put her in a Kissaluvs fitted diaper and a wool diaper cover. I have since tried dozens upon dozens of different cloth diapers but I still think Kissaluvs and wool covers would be my go to diapering system for the newborn months. After a couple months we had fun playing with designer diapers, all-in-ones, pockets, and all manner of custom diapers sewn by wahm seamstresses. I also started making my own diapers right after she was born. Let’s just say that she had more than enough diapers in every color, design, and fabric known to man I think. Want to see some that I made? Check out my flickr set here.
And what did the naysayers think? I think they were green with jealousy at how much fun I seemed to be having and how adorable my two youngest babes looked in their diapers.
Here are a few of the benefits of cloth diapering for mom and baby:
Cloth is Healthy – Disposable diapers are loaded with chemicals that can irritate baby’s skin and cause rashes. It also doesn’t help that the baby’s bum is wrapped in plastic either. While I cannot say that we never experienced rashes in cloth diapers I can say that I think we experienced less of them. Cloth allows the skin to breathe and you aren’t exposing it to petro chemicals, perfumes, and all the other nasties in disposables.
Cloth is Fun – I had sooooo much fun making and buying diapers as well as putting them on my babies. My kiddos usually wore no pants because who wants to cover up that gorgeousness? Perhaps this is why my youngest still can stand to wear pants? LOL. Regardless, most moms find it fun to dress their little ones up in cute clothing and using cloth diapers ups the fun factor ten times. Can moms who use disposables claim to have as much changing diapers as us cloth diaper moms? I think not.
Cloth is Affordable – Disposable diaper purchases usually total 2 to 3 thousand dollars from birth to the potty learning. Cloth diapers done on the cheap can cost $300-$400 for the same period of time. Designer diapers may cost around $800 or more but still, much cheaper than disposables. Cheaper diapers include prefolds, fitteds, and covers made of recycled wool sweaters. Fitted diapers and prefold diapers can even be made using old t-shirts and blankets if you really want to keep it cheap. This would of course be a very green way to go as well.
Slightly more expensive would be all-in-one diapers, pockets, and various designer diapers. It is not unusual to pay $15-$20 or more per diaper but these can last years, for more than one child, and they usually can be sized to fit newborns and older babes alike. Some scoff at the price of cloth diapers but do you want to pay for a reusable diaper that can be passed on to subsequent babies or even resold used … or do you want to spend thousands of dollars on something that is used once and then thrown in the garbage? The answer seems like a no brainer to me.
Cloth is Green – Reusable products are greener than disposables. Period. Whenever you see an industry funded study
that proclaims there is no ecological difference between cloth and disposable remember what they are actually trying to sell. Well, yes they are trying to sell disposable diapers but they are also trying to sell a ludicrous idea. If someone told you that it would be greener if we all wear disposable panties and underwear instead of washing what we have and reusing them we would think they were nuts. Cloth diapers are underwear for babies. Washing and reusing diapers makes good sense and it is greener by far.
I could keep going but I think I have hit the major benefits. Do you have any to add?
Also be sure to check out what Carrie and Rachel had to say on the topic.
Related: The Green Diaper Smackdown
The following is an interview with small business owner and mom Megan Visser of Baby Swank on Etsy. I love supporting mom based businesses, especially Etsy and/or craft businesses (since I used to own one), and this is a shout out to one of those talented moms. Enjoy and enter the giveaway to!
Tiffany: Tell us a bit about your business & how you got started.
Megan: My name is Meagan Visser & I’m the owner of Baby Swank on Etsy. There I provide fashionable & eco-friendly products for babies & toddlers including OOAK, handmade bibs, cloth baby wipes, & natural skin care products. My shop is a little over 1 year old and it continues to grow daily.
I started my shop after making my OOAK Washcloth Bibs for my own kiddos & loving them…not to mention the fact that I received a lot of complements on them! So I decided to sell & create a small business around them which has worked out great for me since I’m a SAHM!
Tiffany: What all do you offer in your shop?
Megan: Basically I offer my Washcloth Bibs {designs vary by season}, flannel baby wipes, crocheted loofah’s & scrubbies, & an all natural line of skin care products for babies. Like I said, I started with my bibs only & from there I continued to add new product lines. My newest is the skin care line called Baby Swank Naturals & it’s doing really well. Since it’s the holiday’s I also offer gift baskets which combine most of my products as well as gift wrap & direct shipping on gifts.
Tiffany: Tell us a bit more about Baby Swank Naturals.
Megan: I’ve always been careful about what I put on my babies skin & I’ve always been into making things myself, so this just came naturally. The hard part was narrowing down my options & figuring out packaging, descriptions, & photos.
Anyway, most of Baby Swank Naturals revolves around bath-time & diapering. I offer Baby Wash & Shampoo & Herbal Baby Oil that comes in 4 different scents – Lavender Chamomile, Rosemary Mint, Orange Vanilla, & Lemon Peel. I also have Herbal Baby Powder, Herbal Bum Salve & Cream, Herbal Bath Bombs & Herbal Bath Tea…all for babies…all natural…all gentle…all tried & tested. All of my products are infused with actual herbs, not just scented with the essential oils so you’re really getting the benefits of the herbs in the product.
Tiffany: With the holidays right around the corner, do you have any specials going on?
Megan: I offer Facebook fans & my newsletter subscribers a one time discount in my shop that they can use whenever they’d like. Also, all customers get a coupon code good on future orders with every purchase so there are lots of ways to save money on my products!
Tiffany: What’s next for Baby Swank?
Megan: I’m in the process of wanting to branch out a bit more & offer my herbal products for more than babies only. Hopefully at the beginning of 2012, I’ll have things ready to go & there will be some big changes will follow. It’s exciting & I can’t wait to see where it leads.
Giveaway!! Megan is is offering a set of mini bath bombs to one lucky reader. Bath bombs are 100% all natural right down to the coloring used …herbs! No synthetic pigments or mica powders here! Just run your bath water, drop your bath bomb in & watch the fizzing begin. Little one will love seeing these fizzy bath bombs color their bath water.
To win just comment about something that has caught your eye at the Baby Swank Shop . For a second entry “Like” Baby Swank on Facebook and leave a second comment. Good luck!
It was about two years ago now that I wrote about the issue of toxic bubble bath. That post was spurred by a Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report that highlighted known carcinogens in baby bath products and Johnson & Johnson appeared on the report several times. This just happened to coincide with a blogger campaign the company was running, trying to get mom bloggers to endorse their products. I was pretty livid at the time and while I hoped that J&J would clean up their act, I highly doubted they would. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics called upon Johnson & Johnson to reformulate its baby shampoo and remove formaldehyde releasing chemicals. So did they?
Yes and no it turns out.
Between July and October of 2011, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reviewed labels of Johnson’s Baby Shampoo sold in 13 countries to see if the products contained quaternium-15, a chemical preservative that kills bacteria by releasing formaldehyde.
We found that Johnson’s Baby Shampoo sold in the United States, Australia, Canada, China and Indonesia contains quaternium-15, while Johnson’s Baby Shampoo sold in Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and the U.K. contain non-formaldehyde preservatives.
Obviously, it is possible for Johnson & Johnson to make baby shampoo without formaldehyde, and that’s what the company should be doing in all countries.
Wow. They prove that they can in fact do the right thing and make a safer product but apparently have decided to do so only in the countries with tougher product standards. American babies still get the cancer causing chemicals. Only after this latest report came out has J&J promised to phase these chemical nasties out of their products worldwide but I think a boycott is in order until they do. There are plenty of other companies who were ALREADY doing right by babies and they should be the ones rewarded with our patronage.
A better brand to try:
Earth Mama Angel Baby - USDA Certified Made With Organic Ingredients. No 1,4-Dioxane, formaldehyde, or phthalates. No sodium lauryl sulfate, cocomidopropyl betaine or other synthetic surfactantsNo artificial preservatives (parabens, phenoxyethanol, etc).
In particular you might like the Angel Baby Shampoo & Body Wash. They also have some great soaps and washes for the whole family, mom approved.
They smell great, they work, and they aren’t filled with questionable and potentially unsafe ingredients. A+
For a budget alternative you can do what I personally do and use Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap. They have an unscented variety for babies. We use the peppermint. I dilute a few squirts in some water and usually add some essential oils as well, inside a Ball jar. The jar sits next to our shower and we shake it up and pour a tablespoon or so into our hand and then use on our hair and bodies. Works like a charm and my kids get snarly when some other shampoo product makes an appearance. They prefer the Dr. Bronners.
Do you have any alternative suggestions?
The Green Moms Weekly question is this: Why is it as important to begin your journey as an attachment parent during pregnancy as it is after the birth of your baby?
Being an attachment parent can begin even before your baby is born. Mostly this is done by educating yourself and preparing for the birth of your little bundle. I have lots of ideas on how you can accomplish this:
Natural Childbirth – The more alert you and baby are the easier it will be to start bonding and learning the art of breastfeeding.
Consider Water Birth or Home Birth – Proponents of water births believe this is one of the most peaceful entrances to the world that can be had by a baby. It is easier on mom if she can soak and relax and the environment is less of a shock to baby since they are immersed in water during pregnancy. Home births mean that doctors and nurses are not trying to whisk your baby away for shots and other interventions. Want to have the best of both worlds? Check out some of the ideas in the book Homebirth in the Hospital: Integrating Natural Childbirth with Modern Medicine.
Breastfeed – The bond between a mom and her suckling baby is tremendous and special. You do not want to miss even a moment of it or shortchange it either. Make preparations to breastfeed for an extended period of time.
Eat Healthy and Stay Active – Make a conscious effort to eat the best foods for you and baby. Also make sure to get plenty of exercise. Eating nourishing foods puts less stress on your pregnant body and staying active will help you have a healthy birth.
Interventions After Birth – Don’t let bonding be interrupted by needless interventions… circumcision, vaccines, trips to the nursery, etc. In fact, make it clear that baby is to be kept at your side at all times and “handled” by medical staff very little.
Invest in a Sling – Plan to wear your baby in a sling or wrap. Before baby arrives is the perfect time to read reviews and find out which sling sounds like the best fit for you. If you have any friends who practice babywearing ask if you can try on some of theirs so you can get a real life feel for them.
Forget the Crib – Cosleeping is much easier on mom and baby and it makes it a million times easier to bond. Figure out the sleeping situation before baby arrives by adding a twin bed next to your own if need be, making sure baby cannot fall out or get wedged against a wall, or getting a co-sleeper bed.
Get Help - Ask friends and family to help out with household duties like cleaning and cooking so that you can enjoy your time with your new baby.
Educate Yourself About Developmental Stages – Be prepared with this info and you won’t have to needlessly stress.. you can just enjoy that little bundle and savor every moment. This is a process you will continue for your entire journey as a parent.
Find Your Tribe - Attachment Parenting is easier if you surround yourself with people who share your values. Start looking for them early so you will have that support system in place before baby arrives.
Stop and Smell the Roses – Enjoy all the little moments of your pregnancy.. the kicks, hearing the heartbeat,
purchasing new baby stuff, etc. Also reflect on the moments you will savor as a new parent… that unique baby smell, the way they grasp your finger or pull your hair while they breastfeed. Its all good and we need to enjoy every moment of it while it lasts because it is over to soon!!
Enjoy those babies!
Read: Attachment Parenting starting at conception at Happy Green Babies and
Attachment Parenting During Pregnancy by Natural Moms Talk radio.
Welcome! Here you will find the random thoughts and experiences of a mom trying to live a more natural and green family life since 2004. Enjoy! Feel free to 
