Massive paranoia about flame retardants in baby gear and hubby is angry! HELP!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You obviously haven't read all the posts on this thread. People ARE putting others down. And by saying that chemicals are everywhere doesn't mean one is giving up but rather just accepting this fact and trying to do the best to live a healthy life despite this sad reality. But driving yourself and your family nuts over flame retardants etc is not the solution to the problem either. Be an advocate, just don't be a neurotic nut either!

sounds like you have your own insecurity issues about how you have raised your child. No one on this thread was disparaging those who don't go "green" or "organic". You are in the insane one here. You have added lots of negativity to the thread. Maybe you are a troll!??!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:sounds like you have your own insecurity issues about how you have raised your child. No one on this thread was disparaging those who don't go "green" or "organic". You are in the insane one here. You have added lots of negativity to the thread. Maybe you are a troll!??!

Wow, this seems a bit wrong to say. I just read all of the posts on this thread and I don't think the poster is a "troll" or was being "insane" or adding unnecessary negativity here. A lot of posts on this thread are pretty negative if you really want to sum them up. I think the poster was making a valid point. Be an advocate for safer chemicals but don't drive yourself or your family too nuts over it since sadly chemicals seem pretty hard to avoid.

[Anonymous]

OP - you will be laughing at yourself 10 months from now when your protected little newborn is a crawling-stick-everything-in-its-mouth active cruiser.

You'll be double laughing at yourself for being paranoid when you go on to have child #2 (or more) and you'll find that your paranoia is a waste of time and money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - you will be laughing at yourself 10 months from now when your protected little newborn is a crawling-stick-everything-in-its-mouth active cruiser.

You'll be double laughing at yourself for being paranoid when you go on to have child #2 (or more) and you'll find that your paranoia is a waste of time and money.

TROLL!

[Anonymous]

Not a troll at all! But rather a really really good and realistic post 22:59!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a troll at all! But rather a really really good and realistic post 22:59!

Ok, then end it, TROLL!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - you will be laughing at yourself 10 months from now when your protected little newborn is a crawling-stick-everything-in-its-mouth active cruiser.

You'll be double laughing at yourself for being paranoid when you go on to have child #2 (or more) and you'll find that your paranoia is a waste of time and money.

TROLL!

Sorry, 2259 poster here. Not a troll at all (and you can email Jeff to confirm), just a mom to 2 toddlers and preg. with #3 so I remember how silly-first-time-mom-to-be paranoia can be.

[Anonymous]

Well, for those who think that the neurotic bear mama is overreacting, please, watch this video of Senator Leno attempt to change flame retardant laws. There are many interesting facts in that video that would be interesting for anybody!

http://dist03.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC={F0DFD1A5-1C7B-4F09-9F09-C48A423D1072}&DE={9CF10502-107A-4285-AC02-FB6BA7BF5FA9}

Fire retardants are a very serious health concern. And yes, even in US ridiculous things happen, because involved industries (in this case chemical industry) are often lobbying bills that could help us live healthier lives just because they will lose gigantic amount of sales. Those corporations are often the ones who sponsor politicians. Corruption in US exists and is, actually, official! While improving environmental laws, we should also look into all the flaws that our political system has that allows all these environmental mishaps to happen in the first place. Here is an interesting article regarding the issue of flame retardants and the political system:

http://healthfreedoms.org/2010/01/21/why-you-should-fear-your-sofa-baby-stroller-and-nursing-pillow/

I wish we are all, as parents, would be more aware of such things going on. I've never knew about many issues that we have with our environment till I became a mom. Now, I truly want to help raise public awareness of such environmental issues.

I would to rather close my eyes and live in a happy ignorant bliss. This planet and our health can only take so much, however. We are at the point when we need to be more cautious with how we treat our world or there will be none left for those little cuties that we, mothers, adore so much.

[Anonymous]

I've decided that better to just not buy unnecessary items, such as swings, nursing pillows, and some others. I'm pregnant with my second child now, and it hurts me to know now that the nursing pillow I used with my son was full of fire retardant chemicals. I'm not going to use such items this time around. I'll use the organic latex pillow for nursing. It will most likely be less comfortable and who knows if it's really doesn't have any flame retardants, but I can only hope. I'm going to use a swing. The car seats are all flame resistant, but I just will try not to have baby in them unless we are driving. I will rather wake her up to put in a sling that have her in that car seat now. Strollers... why in earth strollers need to be fire resistant? I have heard of anybody catching fire while pushing stroller down the street! Maclaren strollers claim to be fire retardant free. I'll research some more and perhaps will trade my strollers on one double Maclaren stroller. I got my son a crib from solid wood and mattress from Naturepedic. It has some fire retardant but natural and seem to be close to harmless. Naturepedic has info about its fire retardants on their website. It's not cheapest mattresses, and my husband wasn't thrilled either, but I managed to convince him, promising to compromise elsewhere. I buy organic crib sheets and decided to live without a bumper, since it's a dust gatherer anyways. If you do want to have an affordable organic crib set, check out Walmart again, they have a cute one. Although just the other day, I found out that its bumper filled with resin treated polyester, and some resins contain formaldehyde in them, and there is no way knowing with what kind of resin did they treat this bumper. I definitely buy organic PJ's and some of the clothes. Walmart has some affordable organic PJs. They do not state whether the organic cotton staff wasn't processed or dyed later with chemicals, but I figure at least if it's organic cotton and not flame resistant, it's all ready a better deal. For changing pads, I just put water proof sheet on the bed and change my son. It works just fine, and I don't have that ugly changing pad out all the time. Check out places like Loehmann's, the other day I found a bunch of adorable organic clothes on sale there. Whole foods has some cute organic clothes also, and they average to cheap compare to internet prices, and you don't have to pay for shipment and can read all the labels on the spot. For our upcoming baby we wanted to get a bassinet for the begining, since we don't have space for another crib. After extensive research I've decided to purchase a plane moses basket without bedding from Toadpoolbedding for 30$, get a bassinet mattress from Naturepedic for 59$ backs and get an organic bassinet sheets. I'll probably do some more research to make sure it's a right decision, but for now it seems as a most affordable and healthy option among bassinets. Playards isn't really necessary unless you want to use it as a bassinet. Naturepedc has some playard mattresses too. My son would never sit in playard, so I'm glad I've never purchased one .

Honestly, I wish I could sell our sofa, or rip out our carpet in order to get rid of most flame retardant staff, but it's not possible at the moment. I'm trying to calm myself down by saying that at least I'm educating myself on the environmental problems, so for future purchases I can make better choices. And whenever time will come to change big staff, I'll choose safe products. Ultimately, my house will be come cleaner and safer, and hopefully kids will be okay too. As for now, I just try to vacuum, dust, and ventilate as often as possible, and get rid of all the little unnecessary staff that we can live without. My latest big purchase was a laptop. I made a mega research and decided to go with an HP model, since it was brominated fire retardants and PVC free (although Macbooks are also free of those things).

It's not an easy road to look for safe products. It's often frustrating for me that I can't just go to the store and grab the first thing I like, that I have to make an extensive research before purchasing anything. But I believe in the work I do. I believe it's better for my kids and the world. The more parents will start making conscious purchase and asking companies questions about their products' safety, the more affordable and available organic and healthy products will become. The world will just be a better and healthier place for our kids and grand kids. Good luck on your not so easy road! I think you move in the right direction, but try to find compromises with your husband, perhaps slowly feed him with facts, offer getting organic crib mattress and skipping the playard. If it would be only me and my husband I probably wouldn't quite as horrified with things like flame retardants, but my mama bear instincts drive me crazy with a thought that my kids may get some health issues later in their lives due to the exposure to toxins in childhood. All I can do is to keep my sanity, and make one step at a time.

[Anonymous]

This whole thread reminds me a bit about how people felt about germs a few years back. There were some moms who were truly neurotic about using anti-bacterial soap constantly.

Turns out, germs are good for building up an immune system and those people who were more laid back ended up with healthier kids.

I'm not saying that there isn't some concern in some of this. But really - do you have any idea how little your kid will be exposed to the chemicals in her/his little onesie? First, your kid will grow out of that onesie in about 2 weeks. Second, you will be washing that onesie about a billion times b/c the kid will poop through it constantly.

All the swings, bouncers, etc. - your baby uses them for such a small amount of time. The stuff you really should care about are the stupid little plastic toys you end up buying your older kid b/c that is what EVERYBODY is playing with. Of course, you can refuse to buy them and let your kid be shunned by all his classmates (this is actually a real concern), but I bet you will give in like everybody else. Because by that time, you will realize how totally stupid you are being right now.

If you must be neurotic about something - focus on organic fruits/vegetables. That stuff is much more likely to make a difference to your kids long term health (of course, knowing your luck, your kid will probably be a smoker...).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - you will be laughing at yourself 10 months from now when your protected little newborn is a crawling-stick-everything-in-its-mouth active cruiser.

You'll be double laughing at yourself for being paranoid when you go on to have child #2 (or more) and you'll find that your paranoia is a waste of time and money.

This exactly.

[Anonymous]

NP here, why are people being called trolls? OP posted acknowledging her behavior as massive paranoia and asking for HELP (her caps, not mine) since her behavior was causing fights with DH.

It is not being a troll to help OP see that yes, she is probably going more than a little overboard. I'm a FTM and myself have striven to find balance. Some things matter more than others, but I would be ridiculous and naive to think that every single item that my DD touches or is exposed to is truly pure, organic and hazard chemical free. We prefer that she have only organic dairy products. However, when another parent at daycare brought in milk and cookies for her child's birthday celebration, I didn't make a big deal out of my daughter having a glass of conventional cow's milk. When I was pregnant, I was certain that only organic would touch her lips -- real world made me realize that I can protect her but not cocoon her.

We all want what's best for our children. OP, to the extent you can, assess where you can draw a line that works for both you and your husband.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've decided that better to just not buy unnecessary items, such as swings, nursing pillows, and some others. I'm pregnant with my second child now, and it hurts me to know now that the nursing pillow I used with my son was full of fire retardant chemicals. I'm not going to use such items this time around. I'll use the organic latex pillow for nursing. It will most likely be less comfortable and who knows if it's really doesn't have any flame retardants, but I can only hope. I'm going to use a swing. The car seats are all flame resistant, but I just will try not to have baby in them unless we are driving. I will rather wake her up to put in a sling that have her in that car seat now. Strollers... why in earth strollers need to be fire resistant? I have heard of anybody catching fire while pushing stroller down the street! Maclaren strollers claim to be fire retardant free. I'll research some more and perhaps will trade my strollers on one double Maclaren stroller. I got my son a crib from solid wood and mattress from Naturepedic. It has some fire retardant but natural and seem to be close to harmless. Naturepedic has info about its fire retardants on their website. It's not cheapest mattresses, and my husband wasn't thrilled either, but I managed to convince him, promising to compromise elsewhere. I buy organic crib sheets and decided to live without a bumper, since it's a dust gatherer anyways. If you do want to have an affordable organic crib set, check out Walmart again, they have a cute one. Although just the other day, I found out that its bumper filled with resin treated polyester, and some resins contain formaldehyde in them, and there is no way knowing with what kind of resin did they treat this bumper. I definitely buy organic PJ's and some of the clothes. Walmart has some affordable organic PJs. They do not state whether the organic cotton staff wasn't processed or dyed later with chemicals, but I figure at least if it's organic cotton and not flame resistant, it's all ready a better deal. For changing pads, I just put water proof sheet on the bed and change my son. It works just fine, and I don't have that ugly changing pad out all the time. Check out places like Loehmann's, the other day I found a bunch of adorable organic clothes on sale there. Whole foods has some cute organic clothes also, and they average to cheap compare to internet prices, and you don't have to pay for shipment and can read all the labels on the spot. For our upcoming baby we wanted to get a bassinet for the begining, since we don't have space for another crib. After extensive research I've decided to purchase a plane moses basket without bedding from Toadpoolbedding for 30$, get a bassinet mattress from Naturepedic for 59$ backs and get an organic bassinet sheets. I'll probably do some more research to make sure it's a right decision, but for now it seems as a most affordable and healthy option among bassinets. Playards isn't really necessary unless you want to use it as a bassinet. Naturepedc has some playard mattresses too. My son would never sit in playard, so I'm glad I've never purchased one .

Honestly, I wish I could sell our sofa, or rip out our carpet in order to get rid of most flame retardant staff, but it's not possible at the moment. I'm trying to calm myself down by saying that at least I'm educating myself on the environmental problems, so for future purchases I can make better choices. And whenever time will come to change big staff, I'll choose safe products. Ultimately, my house will be come cleaner and safer, and hopefully kids will be okay too. As for now, I just try to vacuum, dust, and ventilate as often as possible, and get rid of all the little unnecessary staff that we can live without. My latest big purchase was a laptop. I made a mega research and decided to go with an HP model, since it was brominated fire retardants and PVC free (although Macbooks are also free of those things).

It's not an easy road to look for safe products. It's often frustrating for me that I can't just go to the store and grab the first thing I like, that I have to make an extensive research before purchasing anything. But I believe in the work I do. I believe it's better for my kids and the world. The more parents will start making conscious purchase and asking companies questions about their products' safety, the more affordable and available organic and healthy products will become. The world will just be a better and healthier place for our kids and grand kids. Good luck on your not so easy road! I think you move in the right direction, but try to find compromises with your husband, perhaps slowly feed him with facts, offer getting organic crib mattress and skipping the playard. If it would be only me and my husband I probably wouldn't quite as horrified with things like flame retardants, but my mama bear instincts drive me crazy with a thought that my kids may get some health issues later in their lives due to the exposure to toxins in childhood. All I can do is to keep my sanity, and make one step at a time.

I think you should honestly considering seeking help from a trained professional and I'm not trying to be snarky. If you want to rip out your carpeting you are going down a slippery sloap.

Our parents put us in unsafe cribs, substandard car seats in cars without airbags or anti-lock breaks, painted the house with leaded paint, let us roam the outdoors without sunscreen and through time we've learned that cerain things should not be used. However, making yourself a homebody because you are paranoid about leaving the house is not healthy for you or your family. Your child will never experience camping, a hotel room, friends homes or even school. There is plenty to worry yourself about but you have to make sure you're not going overboard. Please consider talking to someone who can help manage this with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've decided that better to just not buy unnecessary items, such as swings, nursing pillows, and some others. I'm pregnant with my second child now, and it hurts me to know now that the nursing pillow I used with my son was full of fire retardant chemicals. I'm not going to use such items this time around. I'll use the organic latex pillow for nursing. It will most likely be less comfortable and who knows if it's really doesn't have any flame retardants, but I can only hope. I'm going to use a swing. The car seats are all flame resistant, but I just will try not to have baby in them unless we are driving. I will rather wake her up to put in a sling that have her in that car seat now. Strollers... why in earth strollers need to be fire resistant? I have heard of anybody catching fire while pushing stroller down the street! Maclaren strollers claim to be fire retardant free. I'll research some more and perhaps will trade my strollers on one double Maclaren stroller. I got my son a crib from solid wood and mattress from Naturepedic. It has some fire retardant but natural and seem to be close to harmless. Naturepedic has info about its fire retardants on their website. It's not cheapest mattresses, and my husband wasn't thrilled either, but I managed to convince him, promising to compromise elsewhere. I buy organic crib sheets and decided to live without a bumper, since it's a dust gatherer anyways. If you do want to have an affordable organic crib set, check out Walmart again, they have a cute one. Although just the other day, I found out that its bumper filled with resin treated polyester, and some resins contain formaldehyde in them, and there is no way knowing with what kind of resin did they treat this bumper. I definitely buy organic PJ's and some of the clothes. Walmart has some affordable organic PJs. They do not state whether the organic cotton staff wasn't processed or dyed later with chemicals, but I figure at least if it's organic cotton and not flame resistant, it's all ready a better deal. For changing pads, I just put water proof sheet on the bed and change my son. It works just fine, and I don't have that ugly changing pad out all the time. Check out places like Loehmann's, the other day I found a bunch of adorable organic clothes on sale there. Whole foods has some cute organic clothes also, and they average to cheap compare to internet prices, and you don't have to pay for shipment and can read all the labels on the spot. For our upcoming baby we wanted to get a bassinet for the begining, since we don't have space for another crib. After extensive research I've decided to purchase a plane moses basket without bedding from Toadpoolbedding for 30$, get a bassinet mattress from Naturepedic for 59$ backs and get an organic bassinet sheets. I'll probably do some more research to make sure it's a right decision, but for now it seems as a most affordable and healthy option among bassinets. Playards isn't really necessary unless you want to use it as a bassinet. Naturepedc has some playard mattresses too. My son would never sit in playard, so I'm glad I've never purchased one .

Honestly, I wish I could sell our sofa, or rip out our carpet in order to get rid of most flame retardant staff, but it's not possible at the moment. I'm trying to calm myself down by saying that at least I'm educating myself on the environmental problems, so for future purchases I can make better choices. And whenever time will come to change big staff, I'll choose safe products. Ultimately, my house will be come cleaner and safer, and hopefully kids will be okay too. As for now, I just try to vacuum, dust, and ventilate as often as possible, and get rid of all the little unnecessary staff that we can live without. My latest big purchase was a laptop. I made a mega research and decided to go with an HP model, since it was brominated fire retardants and PVC free (although Macbooks are also free of those things).

It's not an easy road to look for safe products. It's often frustrating for me that I can't just go to the store and grab the first thing I like, that I have to make an extensive research before purchasing anything. But I believe in the work I do. I believe it's better for my kids and the world. The more parents will start making conscious purchase and asking companies questions about their products' safety, the more affordable and available organic and healthy products will become. The world will just be a better and healthier place for our kids and grand kids. Good luck on your not so easy road! I think you move in the right direction, but try to find compromises with your husband, perhaps slowly feed him with facts, offer getting organic crib mattress and skipping the playard. If it would be only me and my husband I probably wouldn't quite as horrified with things like flame retardants, but my mama bear instincts drive me crazy with a thought that my kids may get some health issues later in their lives due to the exposure to toxins in childhood. All I can do is to keep my sanity, and make one step at a time.

I think you should honestly considering seeking help from a trained professional and I'm not trying to be snarky. If you want to rip out your carpeting you are going down a slippery sloap.

Our parents put us in unsafe cribs, substandard car seats in cars without airbags or anti-lock breaks, painted the house with leaded paint, let us roam the outdoors without sunscreen and through time we've learned that cerain things should not be used. However, making yourself a homebody because you are paranoid about leaving the house is not healthy for you or your family. Your child will never experience camping, a hotel room, friends homes or even school. There is plenty to worry yourself about but you have to make sure you're not going overboard. Please consider talking to someone who can help manage this with you.

I completely agree - all parents have things that they worry about excessively, but we also need to be aware of when our worry is going too far. It sounds like your desire to avoid flame retardants is controlling your life - I, too, think you should see someone about this. Your paranoia and fear could cripple you and your children. I wish you all the best.

[Anonymous]

I think you should honestly considering seeking help from a trained professional and I'm not trying to be snarky. If you want to rip out your carpeting you are going down a slippery sloap.

Our parents put us in unsafe cribs, substandard car seats in cars without airbags or anti-lock breaks, painted the house with leaded paint, let us roam the outdoors without sunscreen and through time we've learned that cerain things should not be used. However, making yourself a homebody because you are paranoid about leaving the house is not healthy for you or your family. Your child will never experience camping, a hotel room, friends homes or even school. There is plenty to worry yourself about but you have to make sure you're not going overboard. Please consider talking to someone who can help manage this with you.

I don't think I need to seek help. I'm just passionate about the environment, and I'm seriously thinking to switch my carrier in that direction. You say that our parent lived with lead, asbestos, and many other things. I know that. I also know that besides fire retardants we are surrounded by many many other toxins that price we pay for modern conveniences. I know that my kids probably will not suffer any immediate health issues. However, if you would even made a little research on fire retardants or any other toxins for that matter, you would learn that they have cumulative effect. So, if our parents may have gotten away with just a light increase in cancer rates, there is no guarantee that our generation or generations to come will get off the hook quite that easily. We have to realize that if we keep on polluting our bodies and environment, one day it will build up to the point where our livers or medicine will not be able to keep. It is already known that due to poor environment there is an increase in cancer rates, as well as those of some other diseases. I'm not paranoid, I just made it to be my choice of living. I think we can have modern conveniences, but with a bit of lesser price for the environment and our bodies. And I believe, that first step I can do is to become a conscious consumer, and let manufacturers know that consumers are not as dumb as they tend to think.

And finally, I'm not making myself a homebody, since if you would bother to learn more about environmental issues, you would know that pollution inside of our homes are much higher than the one outside. I actually try to spend more time outdoors.

Honestly, since I'm passionate about environmental issues, it was sad for me to see your comments about my letter. I love this planet a lot, and I hope we will be able to preserve it. Most likely we'll learn to make right choices, but I wish we would be faster in realizing so. You have to realize that just 100 or 200 years ago, we were did not have all these industries and chemicals, or cars for that matter. It means that only within one century we managed to create so many environmental problems that scientists are trying to get masses to realize. Imagine us going on with the same pace another century or two. Do you really think the environment as we know it now will survive?