Archive for November, 2008

Laundering Safely

Posted on Sunday, November 30, 2008 by bbb-admin

I was at a baby shower today and I always enjoy overhearing the “mom talk” that goes on during these sorts of gatherings. Great tips about this and that and for me…. validation that starting our Better Baby Bums business was a great step towards helping to educate my fellow moms about things such as the safety of laundry soaps.

In many cases, we all do what our mom did and/or what the hospital tells you to do when you bring your little one home. In this case, many moms are using laundry detergents supposedly made for babies because they are “gentler” on their skin, the fact is that I wouldn’t use some of these on my own laundry. A comment I heard today at the shower, that Ivory Snow “smells so good, like a baby” made me cringe. While I reserved comment there, I felt compelled to blog about detergents.

Most laundry detergents contain chemicals such as phosphates, phenols, optical brighteners, bleach, EDTA, and artificial fragrances. All bad stuff. Where to begin!

Phosphates are used in detergent to remove hard-water minerals and to make it more effective by preventing dirt from settling back onto clothes during the washing process. While phosphates may not be a direct hazard to your health, it does threaten the health of the environment as when it is released into the environment (down the drain), it encourages the growth of harmful marine plants such as algae that can choke out native plants critical to healthy fish habitat. For this reason a number of US states have already banned soaps containing phosphates.

Phenols are toxic and in low doses, those that are sensitive to them could experience serious side effects and even death. Phenols are rapidly absorbed into the body and have serious effects on the central nervous system, lungs and kidneys. The commonly used surfactant, nonyl phenol ethoxylate, in laundry detergents has been banned in Europe.

Optical brighteners help to make your clothes appear whiter when they emerge from the wash. The funny thing is that they do not actually make your clothes any cleaner. These chemicals have been found to be toxic to fish and cause bacterial mutations. They can also cause allergic reactions when exposed skin is later exposed to sunlight.

Our good old pal bleach is a chemical precursor to chlorine which is highly toxic. When these chemicals react this organic materials in the environment, carcinogenic and toxic compounds are created which can cause reproductive, endocrine and immune system disorders.

EDTA, ethylene-diamino-tetra-acetate, is used to reduce mineral hardness in water, is a foaming stabilizer, and helps to prevent bleaching agents from becoming active before they are put in water. These compounds do not biodegrade easily and can redissolve toxic heavy metals in the environment, allowing them to enter the food chain.

Take a whiff. Smells great, right? WRONG. Just cause it smells good doesn’t mean it is clean or good for you. A common misconception. Most of these artificial fragrances are made from petroleum-based products and therefore do not degrade in the environment. They have also been linked to various toxic effects on fish and mammals. These chemicals commonly cause allergies and skin and eye irritation. Why do you think so many soaps are offered fragrance free?

There are many other chemicals in conventional detergents that are not good for you and your family. Seek out alternative detergents that are phosphate, EDTA, bleach and fragrance free. There are many great ones out there. Make sure you read your labels carefully because many detergents advertise that they are good for the environment, natural etc…and they are not. Do not be fooled. Your little one smells great without the help of a fragrance (well, most of the time). Keep in mind that their clothes are up against them all the time and therefore so are the residues of the detergent you use. Choosing a detergent is one of the most important health decisions you can make for your little one. Think outside the box. Don’t listen to your mother.

Allergies and Moodiness in Kids

Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 by bbb-admin

This last week brought with it a couple of the most challenging days I have ever had with the twins. They were grumpy, whiny, uncooperative, and just plain crazy! At one point, all three of us were crying. Me, because I had a fat lip from a head butt to the face and broken glasses in my hand. Isn’t parenting glamorous? Wondering what happened to my happy little girls, I could only come up with the following explanations:

• they were teething
• they were getting sick
• they were overtired
• they were plotting against me

After careful examination of each of these, I decided that they were not teething (got bit a couple of times checking that one out, ouch!), they didn’t seem sick, they had napped and slept well, and I sincerely hope that they are not yet able to plot against their dear old mom. We will save that for their teenage years.

Perplexed, I found myself falling asleep after the second day of well…hell… thinking about what on earth could be going on. It suddenly hit me. Milk. It doesn’t always “do a body good”.

We have been dealing with a sensitivity to cow dairy products since they were 5 months old when we introduced one bottle at night of formula (I had to give the breasts a break!) Suddenly the girls had eczema. After trying this and that, we eliminated cow dairy from their diets and voila, eczema mostly cleared up!!! I recently was told by my pediatrician that I could begin reintroducing cow dairy to the girls’ diet to see how they tolerate it. A few days of cheese and yogurt later, and the eczema was a little worse and the girls were insane.

I wondered if it was just the increased itchiness that made the girls grumpy but the fact is that they have had way worse eczema and not been so nuts. I googled about the internet and found research that has found a link between the moods of children and allergies. In fact, constant fussiness and insomnia are classic signs of a food tolerance issue.

Relieved by the thought that there was a likely explanation for the girls behaviour, other than that I had given birth to two she-devils, I cut out dairy the next day and they were wonderful. Same with the next day. I am convinced that their mood was related to the milk sensitivity and I will certainly look to allergies as a possible explanation for behaviour issues in the future.

These Kids are Made for Walking

Posted on Friday, November 14, 2008 by bbb-admin

My daughter is attending a parent participation preschool this year and as part of that we are obligated to attend a prescribed number of parent educational seminars.  Our speaker last night was talking about the importance of our kids walking to school.  She maintains that our kids spend too much of their lives sitting: they get up in the morning, only to sit at the breakfast table (in theory!), sit in the car, sit at their desks…. and it often isn’t until after recess, when they’ve had an opportunity to run off some steam that they are they finally ready to learn.  This was good food for thought for me.  Although we’re still a year away from the daily grind of elementary school I have long realized the benefits of walking places with the kids.  I am fortunate enough to have most things within walking distance from my house.  Whenever possible I walk with the kids to the grocery store, to the mall, to the post office, the library, you name it.  I love it for the fresh air and the environmental benefits, the kids prefer it to the alternative of car seats and driving.  It’s a great way to get to know your neighborhood and the people who live around you and face it, if you’re a stay-at-home parent, as I’m sure some of you also are, how else are you going to fill the time?  This is a great way to set a healthy example for our kids and even though I usually end up pushing both of my kids up the grueling hill in the Chariot I know that one day, because of what’s been modeled for them, they will be willing and able to do it on their own.  I hope that Fall and Winter in Vancouver will be hospitable enough for me to continue this.  Time to don the Gortex!

The Trouble With Outgrown Clothing

Posted on Sunday, November 9, 2008 by bbb-admin

Now that I am preparing for our newest arrival in February, my nesting instinct has kicked in. Now that we know the baby is a boy, I am in the process of going through all of my twin girl’s outgrown clothes to pull out stuff that could work for their new baby brother, and get stuff ready to move on outta here!!! Seems simple enough, right? WRONG.

I have posted the clothing on Craig’s List for next-to-nothing and I get a flood of emails but no one has actually showed up to pick stuff up. I have attempted to have stuff go on consignment at a second hand kid store nearby but they only take the most perfect looking stuff. I have posted on a local kid swap facebook group to no avail.

I am perplexed by this. I am hunting up and down for second-hand clothing for the new baby. Aren’t there others like me out there? I’m willing to pay a little bit for it too. Fair enough, right?

This really has made me think about how much clothing must end up in landfills. In some ways I understand. Some people want their baby in new stuff because they are weirded out by the thought that someone else may have puked on an outfit. I personally have more faith in laundry detergent, but to each his/her own. I have also been in the situation where I am at the second-hand store and the prices are not much better or are even higher than what you would pay for something new at Superstore or even Walmart (if you happen to shop there). It is so cheap to manufacture kids’ clothing in many countries around the world. Too cheap if you ask me. What do we do about this? How do we encourage our fellow moms to purchase second-hand not just for the sake of their wallet, but for the sake of the planet?

If any of you know of any great websites out there to post kid’s clothing. I’d love if you could post it on here. I am sure that I am not the only one standing in my garage surrounded by stacks of Rubbermaid bins full of clothing that is in great condition, if it was worn at all.

Jen

Flushing is NOT Environmentally Savvy

Posted on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 by bbb-admin

At the Baby Purity Conference we spoke to a number of moms out there that were under the impression that flushing things down the toilet was more environmentally savvy than throwing things away in the garbage. Corina touched on this a bit in her blog post on g-Diapers.

I have noticed that since the announcement of the discontinuation of Tushies and Tendercare products, we have had a number of hits on Better Baby Bums’s website from people looking for flushable wipes (Tendercare wipes were flushable). This has prompted me to post this to clarify that flushing things down the toilet does not magically make things disappear. Nor does it cause things to really break down.

I highly recommend taking your kids for a tour of a local wastewater management plant. You will find it interesting too. As part of my old job at an environmental NGO, I have had the pleasure of going on a number of these tours in Langley. I have to say that I was quite surprised by what I learned as I too, was a flush it and forget it-type.

When flushing wipes or g-Diaper refills down the toilet, once the waste and wastewater make it to the treatment plant, the solids are separated from the liquids via a number of different processes. My personal favourite was a machine that spun in circles, like a roller, that caught all of the hair, toilet paper and corn out of the water. Yes, corn. Seems it doesn’t digest or break down at all.

Once the solids are removed, some are composted (in only certain facilities since composting human waste is a bit taboo in this country), and the rest is sent to the landfill. In our case, our main landfill is so full that some waste is actually being sent by truck to Alberta instead.

So flushing is not an environmental solution to our diapering and wiping issues. I would argue that flushing may even be worse than sending these items to the landfill. By flushing wipes and g-Diaper refills, we are using more energy (the energy at the wastewater management plant), more water (as Corina pointed out in her post), and endangering water quality since ultimately the water is released into a local waterway (in our case, the mighty Fraser River).

So there you have it. Don’t flush it! Compost or choose a brand of diaper and biodegradable waste bags that will at least give your diapers a chance to break down in the landfill. Namely, Nature Babycare.