Baby products – Are you aware of what you are using? Guide to new moms on choosing the right baby products

Have you ever read the ingredients in the baby products and felt perplexed because you have never heard of them and you never know what effects these could cause on your baby? We have heard of carcinogens used in the manufacture of many products but how well do we know them? Can you identify these chemicals from the labels?

Image credit : Google Images

These toxic chemicals are present in every product right from our toothpaste to the food we consume. When it comes to baby, I trust nobody but me. I did a very deep research about the baby products I am going to use for Ishaana and I decided to go by ingredient list and not by brand name or popularity. To read how I choose my baby products, click here.

I use ‘Goddess Garden Organics’ calming shampoo and wash. Most of its ingredients are natural and derived from plants but it contains potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate for preserving and this is little concerning for me. However, research and their website say these chemicals are not very hazardous and are declared safe by FDA . I use ‘Earth Mama Organics’ Balm for skin and diaper related issues. I tried ‘Weleda’ face cream once when my daughter had dry skin and it worked wonderfully. But later I found that this cream has added fragrance that is not really recommended. So I have now switched to pure,organic coconut oil for moisturizing her skin.

Pure Coconut oil : My favorite moisturizer
Image credit : Google images

Now that I have decided to make most of the products at home and we are slowly shifting towards sustainable living, I thought I would give a try on making baby products. I recently made a DIY Baby Soothing Balm with just 4 ingredients and within 20 minutes. The recipe will be shared soon on my blog.

Guide to safe baby products :

Generally speaking, these are the main list of ingredients you should avoid when buying goods for yourself and for your baby :

1. Fragrance – This term fragrance sounds great but to create that amazing fragrance in your baby’s lotion, there are myriad chemicals being used and manufacturers never tell them. These fragrances are linked to various skin allergies and toxic to various organs of our body. There is a great documentary, STINK! on these fragrances available on Netflix. Please watch!
2. Phthalates and Parabenes – Linked to endocrine disruption which can lead to reproductive problems , allergies, asthma and cancer
3. Formaldehyde – This is a well know carcinogen and is used in many products as a preservative.
4. Oxybenzone – this is an endocrine disruptor and found to cause endometriosis and reproductive problems.
5. 1,4 dioxone – This is generally not found in labels because this is a by product and hence to avoid this, do not buy products that have sodium laureth sulfate, PEG compunds, oleth, xynol and ceteareth.
6. Quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, polyoxymethylene urea, sodium hydroxymethylglycinate, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol (bromopol) and Glyoxal release formaldehyde as a by product, so do not buy if your products contain these chemicals. Bromopol and DMDM hydantoin are mostly used in making baby wipes.

This is a great, eye-opening documentary on chemicals.Do watch!

There are also certain apps and websites, that help you to learn about these chemicals and their hazard levels. One such treasure is EWG skin deep cosmetics data base.

If you find this subject to be overwhelming, feel free to write to me and I will try to help you with the best of my knowledge. Also let me know about the products you use in your home, how and why you chose them.

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