NON-TOXIC BABY

Endless hours at work, two parents working, help not always available and time pressures… who has the time to cook?

As Non-Toxic parents we are in the same boat.  With many responsibilities we occasionally gave in and visited the supermarket aisle to feed our baby.  However, we tried to limit this to only these extremely busy days.  We typically don’t eat out, stay away from ready made food and cook at home as many days per week as possible.

There are three main reasons to minimize commercial baby food.

1. They lack adequate nutrition.  The main ingredient is usually water and furthermore (thanks to product liability) the contents have been pasteurized at very high temperatures.  While not all products contain thickeners you are likely to encounter corn starch frequently for texture.   As we consulted with several nutritionists we also learned that the ounce for ounce caloric value for commercial baby products were less than home made versions.
2. The jar linings are made of BPA.   By now, if you are reading this blog,  you probably now that BPA is a chemical ingredient that makes the plastic soft and pliable.  Even if the content is organic, natural the lining of the cap may still contain BPA.
3. Contamination is still possible.   In at least one occasion we have encountered some greenish stuff in baby food.  As we did our search, we came across a web portal that displayed all the interesting things that were found (over the years) in commercial baby food, we were appalled.  Just google “glass, maggots, plastic found in baby food” and it will reference several such news articles.

With a tiny bit of planning and the right tools – it is very easy to keep extra “home made” baby food handy.  As a matter of fact almost anything can be turned into baby food.

For this we used a Vitamix blender.  While probably almost all blenders may work  we found that the texture with the Vitamix was much smoother.  If your baby gags with even smaller particles the powerful processing of this blender can certainly create a smooth, nice texture that makes swallowing much easier.   They are expensive and I recall my husband jumping at the price tag.  However, we purchased a refurbished model and a few years later we still keep it – but now for soups and making our own flour… But that’s a different topic.

Once we prepared the food then we simply divided the content into smaller cube sized portions.   We would simply take what we need every morning out and thaw it.  After reading many reviews I opted for Fresh Baby Milk Trays – which worked perfect for freezing small portions of food.

If we had to go for the day, we just would put the right amount in glass jars and keep them in a cool picnic bag.

With a little preparation – we were able to minimize commercial food.

 

 

 

 

SPF 50, SPF75, UVA, UVB, Natural Mineral protection, Non – Nano, Water Resistant, Apply liberally, apply frequently and the list goes on.

Currently Sun Screens are regulated in the USA slightly differently than the rest of regular cosmetics.  FDA regulates Sun Screens as over the counter drugs.   This is good in the sense that manufacturers must meet their claims.  So, if they claim, say, SPF (Sun Protection Factor) 10, it means when applied liberally this sunscreen will extend the time for one’s skin to get burned by 10 times.  Or say, if you were to get a sunburn in 5 minutes, now you are technically safe up to 50 minutes.

On the negative side, FDA only allows a few ingredients to act as sunscreens.  In general there are two groups. Chemical filters (which act like sponge absorbing sun’s harmful rays but also rapidly deteriorate) and physical filters made from mineral compounds.  FDA only approves Zinc oxide and Titanium dioxide as physical filters.  Say, tomorrow if we discover a new element that we know is 100% proven to reflect sun’s rays, until it goes on to the FDA list – a producer cannot simply add this ingredient and to make an SPF claim.   As for chemical filters you will usually see these in cheaper mass market brands.  Look for Octisalate, Octicrylene, Avobenzone.  They are very common.

Cosmetic safety is a debatable issue and often to a certain degree is used by some companies in negative marketing – such as “no this” and “no that.”  (I.e. no parabens)  We don’t want to go into the debate but as Non-Toxic life style advocates, we will share what we do.

1. We don’t keep our child under the sun for more than 10 – 20 minutes depending on weather.
2. If we will be on the beach or outside a sun screen hat is a must.  We found the following company and loved their hats.   You can reverse both sides of the hat and most importantly they are UPF 50 + tested.  UPF stands for Ultraviolet Protection Factor, basically it is a similar concept to SPF in lotions.
3. Buy a good beach umbrella.  Sport Brella is another Sun Screen tested product.
4. Consider sun proof beach wear.  Some surf wear is called rash guard. UPF 50 tested Kanu products are getting good reviews. Good to keep the little ones covered as much as possible and as comfortably as possible.
5. Finally, if you have to still cover the neck, hands, face… and minimize applying chemicals “liberally” consider a mineral based sunscreen.  We know through experience that they tend to leave a chalkish residue yet this is also a testament that there are probably no nano-particles – meaning particles so small that they pass through your skin into your bloodstream.  Badger sun screens have been a hit in the natural product stores and cater as as good alternative to Non-Toxic parents like us.

As the “non-toxic / organic / healthy” parenting generation we read calories on packaging,  check the fat content on our foods.  We pay extra for organic tomatoes, we double wash our lettuce to get rid of the pesticide residue…  We avoid flame retardants on clothing.

Living in a medium sized US city, in a residential community – I just sometimes close my eyes and focus on all the sounds.  Birds chirping is usually suppressed by lawn mowers – almost any day, any time.  At night time, from the distance loud motorcycles, speeding cars, airplanes all can be heard roaming.   Luckily most of the the time we are far away from these sources.

But recently on a flight to Connecticut, we sat on the end row in a smaller aircraft.  Right next to the engines.  We could barely hear each other.  Then we ended up in a local festival.  While it was cute, the sound level originating from the Scottish bag pipers was absolutely shocking.

So pause for a moment.  Your newborn has a very fragile hearing system and our ears will be needed for all through our lives.  We protect our skin from sun exposure – but why not our ears?

Next time when you take your baby to a concert, a ball game, aircraft, even sometimes noisy malls.. remember that his/her fragile system is under attack.

So protect her/his hearing.

What my wife does, she carries with her always with her ear plugs.  Sometimes these are not very comfortable.

We have recently located EAR BANZ BABY.   The idea is great.  Easy to put on headphones made with excellent noise suppression excellent for babies.   This is invented by another mother/father who took action.   We congratulate them for their efforts.

One note to add, if your child is in NICU, this or a similar product is a must.  The constant sounds from machines, cardiac monitors cannot only damage hearing but may further on result in sensory issues.

The message again – be alert and vigilant.  If you think it is loud for yourself, then definitely protect the hearing of your children.

Hello world!

For over 5 years we had the idea of creating a website that would offer products that were as least harmful as possible – or simply Non-Toxic.  Both my (Non-Toxic Daddy) and my wife (Non-Toxic Mama) have our roots in the natural products world.

Then we realized that even starting an online business was getting tricky.  Some of the best natural / non-toxic brands are already sold online at very competitive prices.

Thus, we decided to bring our experience to recommend products that we think are great in contributing to a healthier start.

Hence the disclaimer:  Non-Toxic Baby LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com