Tips to Reduce Toxins from Your Baby's Life

Having a newborn to take care of is a beautiful blessing that can come with many challenges. One of these challenges is the responsibility of taking care of the baby and protecting him/her from danger and harm of the existing environment. Many mothers and fathers are readily able to take care of their babies from external dangers, but what about internal dangers? The dangers I am addressing are toxins found in items that the baby eats, plays with and uses. There are many ways to reduce these toxins in the bodies of a baby by becoming a little more environmentally friendly and using common sense.

One way to reduce unnecessary toxins from entering the body of your baby is to use products that are BPA - free. BPA is Bisphenol A, which is a chemical that is used to make many plastics. BPA can slowly leak from bottles into the drink that the baby is having, and into their bodies. Some researchers believe that BPA is linked to hormonal problems in children that can range from early puberty to cancers of the prostate or breasts later on in life.

Try to make your own baby food, or buy an organic baby food such as Earth's Best to avoid potential neurotoxins from entering your baby's body. Any trace of pesticides can cause great harm in a newborn. Earth's Best baby foods are great because they organic, have no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, no preservatives, no genetically engineered ingredients, no added salt, no added sugar, and it's wheat free, kosher, and vegan. You can't go wrong with that!

You can also use cloth diapers to not keep a happy and healthy baby, but it's great to save money in the long run as well. There are dyes used in disposable diapers that can introduce problems to the nervous system, kidneys and livers of little ones. The absorbent gel that is used in disposable cloth diapers actually help contribute to those horrible diaper rashes you've probably seen before. The chemical that makes up the absorbent gel, sodium polyacrylate, has been linked to toxic shock syndrome. Not only do disposables take 500 years to start breaking down, but they can potentially cause great harm to the child. The easy solution is cloth diapering. I have had great success with BumGenius 3.0 cloth diapers. The look just like disposable diapers, but are made of natural fibers and are easily washed and dried. The BumGenius 3.0 diapers come in a size that grows with the child. If you think about this, parents spend about ten dollars a week on diapers. In a year, it's $520. In 3 years (age at which most children are potty trained), that equals to $1,560. If you have 3 children, that's $4680 total. That's a lot of money for something that is going to be thrown into a landfill somewhere and used temporarily.

There has been new evidence linking fabric softeners to many toxins that can be especially hazardous to babies. There are irritants, carcinogens, and other chemicals in fabric softeners that are released onto the clothes during the heating process in the dryer. They eliminate the effect of these chemicals on your child's body, you should think about using wool dryer balls. Wool dryer balls are easily bought or handmade. They separate and circulate the clothing in the dryer to cut down on drying time without all the unnecessary chemicals. You can add a bit of scented essential oil to the ball if you would like your clothes to smell nice!

You have probably heard reports recently that products from Johnson's and Johnson's were discovered to contain phthalates. Phthalate was found in high concentrations in babies that had a Johnson's and Johnson's product used on them. This means that the chemicals found its way into the baby's body, and that's not good news. What's frightening is that the government does not monitor phthalates, and these chemicals can cause reproductive birth defects in children, and even lead to early puberty. A product line you can trust is Nature's Baby Organics. These products are wonderful because they do not contain parabens, phthalates, propylene glycol, DEA, sulfates, or synthetic fragrances. They are purely natural! They sell everything from baby oil, to powders, to diaper creams, to shampoos! When I use the shampoo on my daughter, she is left smelling like an orange creamsicle. The lotions are unscented and helps moisturize her skin without introducing unnecessary toxins in her system.

These are just a few of the many ways to protect your precious baby from the dangers that can quietly be introduced and begin causing harm. There is a rise in many cancers and problems with the body, and many of these problems can be avoided if we cut down on the exposure to chemicals that exist in our everyday world. Granted, we can not protect our loved ones from all the dangers in the world, seen or unseen. But we can do the best we can for them by making sure that the products that they use are free from toxins that can eventually cause great harm in their bodies.