Massive paranoia about flame retardants in baby gear and hubby is angry! HELP!!
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Anonymous
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OP -- I totally understand the temptation to be overly nervous about this stuff. The amount of chemicals in baby gear in infuriating and frustrating. I had to take a lot of environmental health in grad school and to keep myself from going crazy, this is what I tell myself:
1) The studies I read suggest that the most detrimental effects of exposure to flame retardants are pre-natal exposure -- so by working in an office with carpet that was likely treated with flame retardants and sleeping on a non-organic mattress myself, my children were already screwed. So I might as well relax a bit and remind myself that I can't control everything. That said, I still bought them organic mattresses (but not "organic" cribs -- not ask me to explain my logic, I can't 
2) Will my children eventually get cancer due in part to their exposure to carcinogens from childhood? Probably. Will they likely not develop cancer until they are in their seventies or older? Probably. 3) If you are concerned about diapers, I'd go with organic over seventh generation. My understanding is that the scary stuff in diapers is the stuff that absorbs the pee -- not the chlorine. I used cloth until my kids started solids and the poops became too gross and I didn't want to deal anymore. If it makes you feel better, once you have your second kid (if you have #2) you won't have time to worry about any of this!!! |
Anonymous
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I agree, totally scary and we need better laws to protect us because all moms (not just educated, wealthy, neurotic...) deserve to have safe products for their families. This is one group working on the bigger problem: http://www.saferchemicals.org/.
I think the best advice is just to get less stuff. Better from every possible environmental and health perspective. Maybe you don't really need a swing at all. I put that in the category of things that our moms/grandmothers didn't have and we all managed to survive, so we therefore do not "need". If you ask yourself that question, there is a lot that you will eliminate. |
Anonymous
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OP - don't feel bad. I did the same thing with baby #1. I am more Type A and felt like I had very little control over pregnancy and obsessing over a mattress is what I chose to focus on.
There are books devoted to this: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Organic-Pregnancy-Deirdre-Dolan/dp/0060887451/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301959930&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Baby-Green-Earth-Friendly-Childbirth/dp/078799622X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1301960010&sr=8-2 Just order one or two books and read through them. PPs are right - chemical are everywhere and you will find a way/time to relax. Good luck! |
Anonymous
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FWIW, by employing this inane, sole criterion for making your baby gear selections, your future self is going to want to kill you. Though you tell yourself that you are doing this out of concern for your baby, it's clearly to mollify your own neuroses and paranoia. You are going to end up with a bunch of expensive hippy crap that your baby is probably going to hate anyway (probably just to spite you). More pragmatic considerations, such as size, quality, comfort, and functionality, are likely to make you and your baby much happier.
And let's not overlook the irony regarding the fact that, out of concern for your baby's health, your solution is to leave your baby in more flammable clothes/cribs/bouncers/swings/seats. Real danger: fire. Real solution: flame retardants. Imaginary danger: long-term health effects of early exposure to chemicals that are completely unavoidable in modern society. Imaginary solution: organic products. |
Anonymous
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJF7vD9nFrA |
Anonymous
I agree with ur first paragraph, but not the fire comment. I don't think flame retardants will stop a fire. If your baby's bouncer is that close to a fire, chances are the baby is doomed anyway. |
Anonymous
Yes, you're right. If you throw a baby into the middle of a fire, things probably won't end well. The point is that they significantly decrease the risk of fires starting/spreading. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93VQdyQan3g Remind me not to let my child sleep over at your deathtrap, I mean house. |
Anonymous
| Had mine at 34.5 weeks and also was not counting on shower guests for important purchases. A couple week later would have been fine. A friend gave birth before her shower and brought baby to the shower. Another friend came to her shower while her preemie twins were in the NICU. |
Anonymous
Um, yeah, I obviously meant to respond to the thread about a shower at 36 weeks. Oops. Not sure how that happened! |
Anonymous
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My kid does this in his regular highchair if he is in kicking distance of the table. |
Anonymous
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OP - I'm another neurotic mom! I don't regret it one bit and in fact, my complete neuroticism about this the first time around completely scared everyone around me about gifts for us and our baby, so we've received minimal plastic, toxic junk (which aside from the health and environmental concerns is ugly and bulky and frankly we don't have the space for). So relax, try to be calm around your husband so your relationship doesn't suffer, but view this as just the first of many mama bear battles you'll wage for your little one. These are REAL dangers whether other posters believe them or not. If you're a non-smoking household (which you should be if you're not now, because talk about toxins!), then your baby's risk of catching fire is virtually nil...so you do NOT need all those fire retardants that were mandated when smoking was much more common and fire a much more real threat.
Also...it's true that your baby will be exposed to all kinds of things in the environment outside of your home, so you can't put it in a bubble...but that's all the more reason in my mind to protect the environment that you can...and frankly, where the baby will spend the most time in the first few years of life (e.g., when most vulnerable). Anyway, my specific recommendations: 1) cloth diaper. seriously, the chemicals in disposables are disgusting. even if you don't use organic cotton diapers (although for ease I recommend bumgenius organic all-in-ones), just having cloth next to your baby's sensitive parts is much healthier. 2) nature babycare disposable diapers - don't trust the mainstream "green" brands...they are not safe at all, it's just a marketing scam. even 7th generation has the nasty chemical. 3) detergent for washing clothes and diapers - use something natural...again, not a mainstream greenwashed brand. i love planet detergent. avoid scented anything. 4) stop using fabric softener if you use it. vinegar in the rinse cycle works fine and i found that if most of your laundry is natural fibers, you don't have static cling anyway. clean should smell like nothing, not nasty chemical laden fake scents 5) don't buy into the need for EVERYTHING possible for your baby. be miminalistic in your purchases and uses. it's hard and expensive to find organic swings, bouncy chairs, etc....because you really don't need most of that stuff. you need a place for your baby to sleep and a seat to prop him/her up to eat when it's time. really that's all the equipment. other things MAY make your life easier but they are not necessary and may just irritate you when you don't have room for them or cause more stress because they are toxic. - get used when possible - air out when you buy new - avoid plastics as much as possible (even if it's BPA free - there are many other chemicals that are bad in plastics) - try to get things that will last as long as possible. it's likely these will be made with natural materials and avoid plastic as well. - use wool for moisture-resistance instead of plastic. or just cotton rags. again, even if not organic, MUCH better than plastic or disposable paper - Baby Bjorn Babysitter bouncy chair (bought used on Craig's List, not organic but free of plastic and had been washed many times) - Svan high chair - Organic latex with wool and cotton cover mattress from organicgrace.com (once again beware of mainstream brands and what you can get at babies r us and the like - it's just marketing!! it will be more expensive and not better for your baby) - Wool mattress pad. we also laid cotton cloth diapers under baby in the beginning just in case - Organic cotton sheets have to run, will add more things if i think of them...hope this helps. one last thing...know you're doing the best you can and let go at some point so you don't drive yourself crazy (spoken from experience!). 
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Anonymous
Buy the bassinet and get a piece of wood or slats cut to fit & replace the particle board. Shouldn't be too hard. You may be able to get it cut at Home Depot. Is your DH handy? |
Anonymous
| is it safe to take apart these cribs/bassinets and rebuild with different pieces? I'm no building genius, but couldn't that compromise the stability/safety of the piece? I'd try it If I was super handy or if my DH was, but otherwise, I'd be concerned about the integrity of the construction. The last thing I'd want is for the thing to fall apart with baby in it... |
Anonymous
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You know, the best thing you can probably do for your kid is have a good relationship with their dad. Try concentrating on that and don't worry so much. Your baby's going to grow out of all that stuff so quickly, anyway.
I personally didn't bother with any of it and I would bet that my kids end up as happy, healthy and intelligent as the ones who's parents spent a fortune on all that stuff. |
Anonymous
Amen!!!! |