Argh!!! When will the toxic baby products end??

[awallrising]

So here I am thinking that I have the best (i.e. safest) car seat around (Britax Companion). Now I just get an e-mail from Mothering about "chemical" car seat safety, it's still the safest in terms of an accident. Our car seat isn't the worst chemical offender, but it certainly isn't the best. It's full of bromine based flame retardants (I have a big problem with flame retardents). I've striven to make our life & the nursery as toxin free as possible (organic bedding, organic mattress, organic and or hand-me-downclothing, etc). I am so pissed that the car seat that Ian will be brought home from will be encasing him in toxins. I'm just sick of all the PVC, flame retardants & other crap that we all get exposed to.

I'm not sure if these chemicals just off gas or are absorbed thru the skin. I have the car seat sitting outside in the sun in hopes of speeding up the off-gassing process before he ever touches it. I wonder if I can line the car seat with a receiving blanket to reduce exposure. I guess I won't let him spend tons of time in the car seat (like to nap), plus I just don't think he'll be in there a lot since I'm a SAHM.

It feels like I've had to make a thousand decisions to ensure Ian's well-being & safety and as soon as I think I have something figured out, I run into a glitch.

Maybe I am being overly cautious & can only do so much. I know we can't reach perfection, in our current world, to lead an "organic" lifestyle.

[Jilian]

It is frustrating huh? It seems like everything contains dangerous chemicals these days. It is really hard to live a chemical free life! I hadn't heard about the chemicals in car seats yet but I have a britax too. I wonder if there is anything that can be done - like washing the cover to clean out some of the chemicals?

[awallrising]

Oh, the cover is actually washable, but I wonder how much that will get out. Flame retardants are typically built to stick. Still washing wouldn't be a bad idea. I'll also be complaining to Britax. Why shouldn't they be safe in every aspect. Here are the links:

http://www.mothering.com/sections/ne...7.html#carseat
http://www.healthycar.org/carseat.using.php

[willoLevin]

I just saw this same article, and, honestly, said to DH, "I think I need to forget this one even exists!"

Frankly, I spend very, very little time in my car. I think the risk to my children from the carseat chemicals is WAY less than the risk to them from an accident, especially given that I drive a small, fuel efficient car.

Babies really shouldn't sleep in their car seats anyway, though many parents let them because so many fall asleep so well in the car. It is bad for tiny infants for both breathing and spinal issues!

--willo

[nadia105]

Well crap. I heard about the study and was hoping that Britax came out well . The cover for the Graco Snugride that the babe will be in was been washed several times, so that ought to be a bit better, but I haven't washed the cover for the Marathon that I bought to use in a few months: . It's not like I plan to have the babe in the carseat a lot, but still....

[willoLevin]

It should be noted that it wasn't at all like a given brand won out for "least toxic" or "most toxic"--different COVERS of the same car seat got different results, sometimes by quite a big difference.

Also, from my own struggles with environmental illness (chemical sensitivities), I learned that my sleeping environment at home was the BIGGEST issue for getting me healthy. If your bedroom is optimized, as an ADULT that's where you spend 25% or more of your time. Babies much, much more so.

Spend your energy and money wisely! Start by purifying the sleeping environment and your food. Next take care of the rest of your home (or office, if you're a workaholic.) If you've gone totally organic and natural there, THEN think about the car--unless you are a traveling salesperson, or someone who lives in your van or something. Even with a long commute, you simply don't spend that high a percentage of your time there.

Of course, letting your favorite car seat maker know your feelings about toxic chemicals is still great. I just--personally--wouldn't agonize over this issue!

--willo

[awallrising]

[QUOTE=willoLevin;8248076]It should be noted that it wasn't at all like a given brand won out for "least toxic" or "most toxic"--different COVERS of the same car seat got different results, sometimes by quite a big difference. QUOTE]

Right, only ONE Britax infant seat model & design was tested, some Toddler & Convertibles did just fine. HUGE differences among brands & even just the fabric design. Overall, the Graco infants seats did much better.

Our home environment is about as good as it gets so I feel better (THANKS WILLO). We have IQAir filters that even remove gases. The only thing I would like to do in the house is to replace the foam in our furniture with latex or down or something & cover with natural slip covers. I know I can't be perfect though.

[wombatclay]

replace the foam in our furniture with latex or down or something & cover with natural slip covers.

And even that isn't always a solution...DH and I spent years moving towards more organic and natural materials only to run smack dab into my wool allergy (I'm actually allergic to the natural oils in the wool, not the chemicals and additives used in the wool processing industry...for example, lansinoh makes my skin crack and when I weave or spin with wool I need to wear a breathing mask and full skin coverage to prevent problems) and then hit dd's down allergy. If it came from a bird then she can't be in the same room without breathing problems!

So our beautiful down sofa, and comforters, and pillows, and...well...

These days I realize it's a question of picking battles and learning to let things go if there is nothing I can do about it right then. Of course I have a list of things I'd like to change (and I've written plenty of letters) and things I'd love to have for the house/our environment. But I try to focus on doing what I can and just letting the rest go. Otherwise I find myself just working myself up into a nervous mess!

[lunaleau]

I know what you mean, I read the article right after we got our 2nd Britax for the new baby. I mean I am so glad they are going to protect my child from the burning candles and cigarrettes we have them hold ( please take this as the sarcasm it is) It is so frustrating, I have tried to eliminate as much plastics and synthetics as possible from our lives I even bought glass bottles for storing pumped milk ( we already eat 99% organic) and then as soon as you start making headway, some other chemical shows up somewhere else. aaarghhh!

[saratchka]

It's funny, this came up here at the same time that the New Zeland mattress study came up as a topic on my mainstream moms group message board.

We're far from chemical free in our house, but are slowly but surely reducing the number of chemicals we surround ourselves with and ingest daily. Heck, I still haven't even finished using that last bottle of Windex I bought! : At this point we're buying local or organic whenever it's available, avoiding most disposable products, and buying natural materials (wood, cotton, linen, etc) whenever we can. And slowly switching to natural cleaning products as we run out of the stuff we've always used in the past. (The checkout clerks look at me like I'm crazy when they see all the baking soda and vinegar. )

I completely agree with Willo. The first big natural materials product I bought was DD's wool crib mattress. We've always slept on futons because they're comfortable and less expensive than standard mattresses, so I figured if cosleeping was right for us, the baby would be fine in our bed, but if not I wanted something non-toxic for her to sleep on. I'm glad we invested in it - she slept on that mattress for over a year. Now she's in a big girl bed with a futon mattress like ours and the new baby will get her wool mattress. I'm thinking of investing in organic bedding for the crib and DD's bed next.

Anyhow, the point of this long-winded post is that it makes more sense to me to focus on the home than the car in terms of concerns about chemical exposure. Sure, write to the company and wash the item as many times as you feel is reasonable, but don't lose sleep over this one. The simple fact that you're thinking about these things indicates that your kid(s) will be better off than the vast majority!