Most important baby items to be organic/natural

[bluedaisy]

I'm pg with my second child (a boy) and we bought all of our "big" baby items in gender neutral prints.  With DD, we were on a tight budget and I couldn't afford much organic.  Knowing that boys seem to be more sensitive to toxins, I want to be more careful with this one but we're still limited in what we can replace.  I am trying to avoid as many plastics and flame retardants and other toxins as possible.  What would be the most important items to buy organic?

Since newborns sleep so much, I am thinking of buying an organic cosleeper mattress for our Arms reach to replace the regular one.  With DD, she was on my bed most of the night but napped in the cosleeper.  We have a regular mattress but an organic wool mattress cover.  We definitely can't afford an organic queen mattress right now.

I have a standard car seat and stroller.  DD didn't spend too much time in either so I don't think I'll replace those.

We do have an organic bouncy seat from DD

I have a regular boppy.  I assume they have flame retardants on them?  I used mine so much with DD so I am thinking of making my own or looking for an organic one.

Baby carrier - do most carriers have flame retardants?  Would this be worth spending the extra money for organic?

Diapers - I make my own from upcycled cotton - not organic but still much better than disposables.

Clothes - are all those fleece/cotton sleepers usually flame retardant, or will the clothing specifically say if it is? 

Thanks!!!  This can be so overwhelming...I know I can't protect my son from everything but it's so frustrating to know how many chemicals he'll be exposed to

[parsley]

I have been under the impression that once the big things off-gassed the fact that they weren't organic wasn't as much of a problem.  (mattresses, pillows, etc...).   So, I wouldn't replace old (and off-gassed items) with new ones (per my budget). 

Also, by washing clothes with flame retardants repeatedly before wear I believe you can wash away most of the toxins.  In my experience if pajamas don't have flame retardant they have a tag that says that they must be worn snugly.   I do think that most fleece stuff has the flame retardant. 

For baby carriers, I again feel like washing a cotton item several times washes off the toxins.  To me the real problem with non-organic cotton is the environmental toll to grow it.  My understanding is that the user deals with fewer effects. 

I've been able to buy some things organic but definitely not everything.  I prioritized an organic mattress above every thing else.  I also prioritized organic diapers (we use prefolds with covers so the prefolds are organic not the covers) and as much organic clothing as possible. 

Our car seat will not be organic.  My boppys and my bedding are not organic. 

[sosurreal09]

I would stay far away from the fleece sleepers as they are 100% polyester (plastic based). You don't want/don't think you can get an organic car seat (that IS worth having the flame retardants if you get into a crash and a fire starts) Everything else sounds good :)

[BubbleMa]

We have to buy everything for this baby.  Here's my plan:

-used organic crib mattress

-second hand crib, if we have to buy new it will off-gas in the garage.

-brand new carseat, let it off-gas in the garage for as long as possible.  This will probably be our first purchase, hopefully soon.

-organic bedding

-organic cloth diapers, I'm not too worried about the diapers but the brand I like happens to be organic.

-baby carrier, not too worried about that

-Boppy, not too worried about that either

-will avoid flame retardant clothing, and buy organic and/or second hand when possible.

-baby skin care products will all be organic

-will use natural laundry detergent

Everything washable will be washed before using it.  I always do that anyway.

[1love4ever]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

I would stay far away from the fleece sleepers as they are 100% polyester (plastic based).

  They are made from petroleum, the black stuff that comes out of the ground, yes!  Very nasty.  Get 100% cotton clothing, always.  Even if its not organic, you can wash it several times and it will be much better although the environmental impact of how its grown does bother me.  i dont think that any kids PJs are allowed to have flame retardants, the polyester ones just say they are fire resistant because polyester does not catch fire, it just melts, which is actually more dangerous for the baby.  Cotton, hemp and wool absorb sweat so they are naturally flame retardant and safer.

A mattress would be the first thing that I bought organic if you will not be wearing your baby and instead keeping him in the crib.  I dont think Boppy uses flame retardants, although their filling is still polyester which does off-gas.  And a product that off-gasses(the synthetic ones, plastic based, etc) will always off gas a little bit.  Most of its off-gassing will take place when its new, but for its entire lifetime it will always off gas a little, so I would be sure not to keep baby near something synthetic for too long, and always open windows when you can.  Buy an air purifier with a HEPA filter and a carbon thing that gets the VOCs

[sosurreal09]

1love-Do you have an air filter to recommend? I am actually in the market for one.

Bubble- I wouldn't bother with skin care products, just use BM! (seriously) Also from what I learned with DD and what I will now do for my current baby in the womb is to just buy ONE car seat and make it a good one! We finally bought the Radian XSLT (or w/e it's called LOL) after 2 other car seats for my DD...this time we won't waste our money and just get the Radian off the bat here. It's worth the money b/c it goes to a total of 80lbs and RF to 45. Something to consider...

[L'lee]

I agree that after you've had things for a while (ie things from your DD) you really don't need to worry about them being organic, and its more about the environmental impact of growing nonorganic cotton and making petroleum based clothing (blech!) so if you have clothes, carriers, boppy from before, I personally wouldn't worry about these things, especially 100% cotton and wool items. The environmental impact of reusing nonorganic items that you already have is lower than that of buying new organic items (not to speak of the money you save!).

If you are buying new, you could consider an organic baby carrier (not necessary, but they're only a little more expensive, but not twice as much or more like clothes and mattresses) and diapers because they are next to the baby's skin and exposed to urine. On the other hand, if you're using prefolds, used diapers are AWESOME because they're already pre-washed and softened and have the chemicals removed, and you can also get used baby carriers fairly easily. It can be harder to find good organic diapers of other non-prefold varieties, and I personally found the more natural materials to be heavy and less absorbent, as well as less tolerated by baby, unfortunately, so I recommend you try something in small quantities before investing a lot of money. I love consignment sales for used clothes, we have two big sales locally every year and it's a great place to find gently used cotton clothes (as well as lots of crap you don't need!)

I totally agree about being careful with cleaning and skin care products, I think that these are more important than buying organic clothes in most cases. Often you can make your own cleaning products with safe items like vinegar and baking soda. I found the book "Clean House, Clean Planet" very useful for recipes for inexpensive home made cleaning supplies, and I like the EWGs Skin Deep cosmetic database (http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/) for evaluating all kinds of skin/hair care products, etc.

[BubbleMa]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

1love-Do you have an air filter to recommend? I am actually in the market for one.

Bubble- I wouldn't bother with skin care products, just use BM! (seriously) Also from what I learned with DD and what I will now do for my current baby in the womb is to just buy ONE car seat and make it a good one! We finally bought the Radian XSLT (or w/e it's called LOL) after 2 other car seats for my DD...this time we won't waste our money and just get the Radian off the bat here. It's worth the money b/c it goes to a total of 80lbs and RF to 45. Something to consider...

I doubt we'll use very many skin care products at first, probably just soap.  But down the line we'll need lotion and hair care products.

We'll also only buy one car seat.  I despise those baby bucket type ones.  They're so stinking heavy and clumsy, and unnecessary. 

[sosurreal09]

I wouldn't use soap on a new baby! I used to wash DDs face with BM  and just wash her with water.

For soap now we LOVE Rainbow Light's line of products. The soap is very pure only essential oils and what not.

[parsley]

In the U.S. there is a federal law that all children's PJs must meet flammability requirements.  Some companies meet this by applying chemical flame retardants.  Others meet this by posting a notice that says that the PJs must be close fitting or snug for the childs safety.  I'm pretty sure that all synthetic PJs (polyester, nylon, fleece, etc...) have flame retardants added to the material in the process of making that  material.  Thus, the PJs that are cotton or other natural materials and include a caution that states that they must be worn snugly are the ones least likely to have flame retardants.  At least in the U.S.

Here's a link to the law:

 http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/regsumsleepwear.pdf
 

Originally Posted by 1love4ever 

i dont think that any kids PJs are allowed to have flame retardants, the polyester ones just say they are fire resistant because polyester does not catch fire, it just melts, which is actually more dangerous for the baby.  Cotton, hemp and wool absorb sweat so they are naturally flame retardant and safer.

[beautifulboy]

Thanks for this thread!  I think a lot about this a lot too, although I hadn't considered that boys are more sensitive to toxins (which yes, of course they are!).  I agree that the organic cotton issue can be sidestepped by just washing the non-orgnaic clothes a few times.  I'm buying some organic cotton clothing for this baby but it is really a luxury item for us.  Winter clothing has been on my mind lately because you don't really wash them all that much, I guess I have to make a point to do that.  We just received a new winter coat in the mail for my 3 yr old from my mom and it is so stinky!  Yuck.

-  What about the changing pad?  I have a used changing pad that I bought from a woman in my town, it's the standard contour pad, not the organic one.  Right now it's in our storage space and every time I go in there it sort of glares at me with all of it's yucky plastic chemical foam and vinyl.  I'm not sure if I can afford to buy a new organic one at this point. 

-  The car seat is a big one, we will be buying a new one.  Yet another reason NOT to carry your babe around all day in the bucket seat IMO. 

-  Cleaners--we clean with vinegar and Dr. Bronners (not mixed together, just depending on the moment).  I think this is extremely important.  There are no chemical cleaners in our house. 

-  Laundry -- We use 7th Generation laundry soap and also Tide sometimes.  Do you think this a problem?  (especially for the little babe?)  With the last baby I made a point to use very gentle laundry soap for his clothes.  I soon gave that practice up though and just wash the whole family's clothing together and so the soap choice changes from time to time depending.  Also I started using Tide for diapers when my toddler's diapers started to get stinky.  What laundry soap is everyone using for infant cloth diapers?  Maybe I should reconsider my choices here.  (we use regular Tide not 'Free and Clear')

[L'lee]

I would personally use a free & clear detergent if I used Tide (I use All free & clear sometimes, but usually 7th gen free & clear) - babies' skin can be very sensitive, and none of us need the scents and added chemicals. If you do loads of just baby clothes, you could run them through an extra rinse, that could help also.

I use Allen's naturally detergent for diapers, but there are lots of alternatives for that. You need very little detergent for diapers. Here's a chart I discovered at one point: http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm

[beautifulboy]

Thanks for the detergent chart!

I've decided to search out a used organic changing pad and pass on the standard one we have.   ( or maybe if i don't find one just use a folded up towel like we did with the last babe). Just checking with the sane mothering parents out there....Am I over-reacting here?  

[BubbleMa]

Originally Posted by beautifulboy 

Thanks for the detergent chart!

I've decided to search out a used organic changing pad and pass on the standard one we have.   ( or maybe if i don't find one just use a folded up towel like we did with the last babe). Just checking with the sane mothering parents out there....Am I over-reacting here?  

I don't think you're overreacting.  My rule of thumb is that anything that smells "new" is toxic.  I won't ever buy a new car or live in a new house.  When DD was little my ex and I bought a brand new house and DD and I were both sick the entire time we lived there (one year).  I constantly had headaches and felt nauseous, and she had some respiratory issues.  Obviously, I can't prove that it was the house, but it's enough to make me say NEVER again!

Anyway...I never used a changing pad or changing table with DD.  I just put a towel down on the floor, bed, wherever and changed her there.  I'm not sure what we'll do with this one yet.  Probably the same thing.

[sosurreal09]

There is a local store by me that has changing pads from a WAHM that are cotton. I'm going to get that :)

[beautifulboy]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

There is a local store by me that has changing pads from a WAHM that are cotton. I'm going to get that :)

Hi- can you tell me about that?  What do they look like?  Who makes them?  Maybe I could make on or buy one from her online....

[beautifulboy]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

There is a local store by me that has changing pads from a WAHM that are cotton. I'm going to get that :)

Hi- can you tell me about that?  What do they look like?  Who makes them?  Maybe I could make on or buy one from her online....

[sosurreal09]

IDK the bran doff od my head but next time I go there I will write it down! They are really beautiful and fold in a trifold and have ether velcro or a ribbon to tie.