[deleted account] ( 36 moms have responded )
Hi everyone,
I've recently been bitten by the "eco" bug and have been doing as much as I can do to ensure my family home is eco friendly and efficient. I'm now looking at all the products we use in the home and I've discovered that some of the regular everyday products I use for my children are basically poison. They contain cancer causing parabens and hormone disrupting phthalates. My husband thinks I'm being hysterical but I don't think I am. Pacifiers, teets, bottles and teething rings all contain phthalates. Lotions, creams, shampoo and bath soap contain parabens. What is going on? I've been looking online for some "healthy" products but they are quite costly and would appreciate some advice on which ones are the best to buy or some useful links. I don't mind spending the money as long as the products are worth it. The one item I've bought to try is called Halos n Horns baby bath and it has no SLS, Phthalates, MIT, Parabens, Triclosan, Propylene glycol and SLES. All of these are very harmful for our children. Anyone know about Halos n Horns?
Would love some advice or to chat to any other Mums who have been bitten by the eco bug or who are concerned about the "poisons" being pumped into our children!
Thanks you,
Catherine.
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MOST HELPFUL POSTS
Danica - posted on 05/22/2010
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Here are a few good ones, I started my daughter with cloth diapers, went to all natural cleaning products like: vinegar, baking soda, and oil of thyme. I also bought Norwex cloths, in Europe and other countries hospitals have gone to using norwex cloths they are filled with microfibre and silver. You can read about it here: http://www.norwex.com/
It really blew my mind when I started researching chemicals in things, it is so hard to get away from it. You must read labels or only use natural. There are products that are banned in Europe and other countries but are still used in North America. It is terrible, and I wish we had more influence in being able to get them banned. Things like parabens and triclosan. Here are 10 product ingredients to stay clear of http://beauty.suite101.com/article.cfm/b...
A few insightful sites are the following:
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ here you can look up products that you have or want to buy, and find out the chemicals in them and it gives you a percentage. For instance my daughter has excema and we were using aveeno baby and it is 77 % chemicals.
http://www.thegreenguide.com/
some good bathing products are some of the following: kissmyface http://www.kissmyface.com/
Live clean http://www.live-clean.com/
Look for things with European standards as they have taken out many of the bad ingredients, if not all! seven generation and ecos are both good too!
hope this helps! :P
Anne - posted on 05/09/2010
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We live in the UK so maybe you can't get some of the things where you are but...
Washing products (detergents soap powder etc) - BIO-D
Note their washing powder eventually makes your laundry crunchy because of the high clay content but a squirt of their dish soap and some ordinary washing soda does a great job.
Bleach ( oxygen bleach ) - from various manufacturers
Toiletries - green people http://www.greenpeople.co.uk/
Toothpaste - Toms of Maine http://www.tomsofmaine.com/home
Baby Wipes - Tushies http://www.tushies.com
note they do disposable polymer gel free diapers but we couldn't use them because they were too stiff and the wrong shape.
Tiny Tush http://www.tinytush.com/ do great organic cotton diapers but as with all cloth diapers they need changing every five minutes.
Steam sterilizer unit instead of tablets
Nuk http://www.nuk.com/ do BPA, Pthalate, PVC etc free and orthodontically shaped bottles and pacifiers
Medela do BPA etc free bottles as do Born free and Breastflow
Bibi do BPA etc free infant snack pots and cutlery
Sophie the Giraffe http://www.sophielagirafe.co.uk/ is a natural rubber teething toy and I highly reccomend her. My baby loved her.
Natursutten http://www.vupbaby.co.uk/category/catalo... do BPA etc free teethers. Note the Apple teethers are rather big and are better for toddlers than babies for that reason.
Clothing and bedding -
Spirit of Nature http://www.spiritofnature.co.uk/ ,
Cambridge Baby http://www.cambridgebaby.co.uk/catalog/
HippyChick http://www.hippychick.com/,
Greenfibres http://www.greenfibres.com/pages/default...,
Prolana http://www.buyorganics.co.uk/m-prolana-1...
Organic and biodynamic baby food -
Holle http://www.holle.com.au/ (supplied in UK by Ulula),
Goodness Direct http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-loca...
Whole Foods in the US do a great range in organic foods, toiletries and baby products
Megan - posted on 06/14/2009
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Go old fashioned. Stuff from a hundred years ago contained a lot less dangerous chemicals. If you can get natural stuff... as far as soap... you can get old fashioned handmade soap to use. You can use products like vinegar and backing soda and lemonjuice for cleaning solutions, you can sun-bleach stains out of clothes and you can use olive oil to mouturize your skin. Look for cheap basic old fashioned remedies and you can bypass a lot of the chemicals that are harmful. Oh and to avoid BPA and other plastics problems... you can use glass bottles. Actually a great way to "go green" is to make sure everything you use is reusable. No paper products or disposable anythings. A great way to offset toxins and carbon buildup in your home is simple... houseplants! Being Green doesn't have to be expensive!
Kristin - posted on 06/02/2009
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The environmental working group www.ewg.org provides a list of almost all products and a rating of how bad/ good they are to use.
Kimberly - posted on 04/16/2009
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Hi Catherine! I used to be a super duper eco gal, but then had fallen out of the habit of a lot of things until I had my baby. Then, like you, I started paying attention again. Here are some of the things I use and love:
1. Earth Mama Angel Baby products. They have a website which I think you can buy from. The products are SOOO great...lotion and soap are olive oil based, I believe, and do not contain harmful ingredients. I find they last a very long time because we use smaller amounts of items. Oh, and the bottom balm is TERRIFIC at healing diaper rash, works with cloth dipes, and also is a great first aid balm on cuts or scrapes. I recommend ALL Earth Mama Angel Baby products. http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/index....
2. Biokleen household cleaners. I use Bac-out (odor and stain remover) in our laundry (cloth dipes and regular wash) and to clean up furniture and carpet stains. It's a lime-peel-enzyme product. Terrific stuff. I also use their powdered dishwasher detergent, oxygen bleach poweder, soy kitchen and bath cleanser, soy toilet cleanser, and laundry liquid. They also have a website with a directory of stores you can buy from. If there is not a location near you, find out if your local health food store will try carrying these products. They really are amazingly good and good for us and the planet. Some of their prices are right in line with other brands, and some are a bit more expensive, but last FOREVER! (You only use 1 tablespoon of the dishwasher powder per load!) http://biokleenhome.com/
3. As for toys, teethers and things like that, I have recently started sewing and find that my 11 month old LOVES chewing on a small stuffed fish I made him out of organic cotton. :) It is stuffed with a poly-fill, but if you wanted, you could probably stuff it with scraps of the organic cotton. If you don't sew, lots of natural baby websites have a toy section where you can get items like the vegetable crate pictured for this group. Oh, also, wooden teething rings are great. My son just LOVES the little german doll with a wooden teething ring we received as a gift. The company name escapes me, though. Something Kruse... It's a woman's name, I think... Also, there are bottles and nipples that are phthalate and other chemical free, you just have to do a little web-searching. http://cottonbabies.com or http://babyworks.com are two sites I use.
Good luck and congratulations on your move to a healthier family. I totally understand where you are coming from, because the same sort of worry and near paranoia happened for me when my son was just a couple months old and all the news stories came out about BPA or whatever it is called and phthalates in plastics. Nerve-wracking for sure. Have a great day!