baby

Sleep Tight

scleaver — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:06:10 -0500

As winter nights get colder, check out the new bedding from OurBabyBedding.com. Their new organic bedding by Cotton Monkey comes in seven collections, including Casablanca, Sweet Jane, and pure white. All the bedding is made with cotton that’s chemical and pesticide free, and the batting isn’t treated with formaldehyde or chlorine bleach. And the dyes are non-toxic and water based. Sleep tight!

Image from OurBabyBedding.com.

Green Style

scleaver — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:59:55 -0500

Want your kids to send off positive messages? Check out the baby onesies, t-shirts and more at CoolGreenAttitude.com. Your little one will be sending off cool green vibes with t-shirts that have sayings like “I am infinite potential” or “I am love & happiness.”

There’s something for everyone at CoolGreenAttitude.com, though. For toddlers: “I am learning” and “I am kind & caring.” For three to seven-year-olds: “I am strong & brave” and “I am unique.” And, for the super cool 8 to 16 year olds, “Dream It, Believe It, Do It” and “Cool: Don’t follow the crowd.”

There are also tees and shirts for men and women, and accessories if you don’t want to announce your potential via t-shirt. But, the best message to send, all the clothing is 100% organic and sustainable.

Image from ReallyNatural.com.

Green Gifts for Little Foodies

scleaver — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:54:45 -0500

Looking for something for your toddler or young child this year that will satisfy their desire to cook and play pretend, but isn’t BPA plastic? Look no farther.

These green toys, including cooking and dining sets, are produced in California, using minimal packaging that’s recyclable. So, when they’re opened on Christmas day, they’re easy to open and ready to play with.

Pick up some play ice cream from Oompa Toys, you’ll get two double sided scoops of ice cream with two cones. Or, check out Lilly Bean for handcrafted play food, sandwiches, pita sandwich, pizza, doughnuts, and more.

For the real deal, Think Baby has kids’ tablewear that’s BPA free and their newly released six-piece feeding set has stainless steel bowls and storage containers covered with polypropylene covering.

Image from Eco Child's Play.

Eco-Friendly Baby Gifts

scleaver — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

With all the discussion about BPAs in baby’s bottles and dangerous levels of chemicals in toys, expect to see an abundance of organic and natural presents for the younger set this year. So, to start the season off right, here are some adorable, organic, and healthy toys and snuggly items for the infants on your list.

Baby Earth has organic clothes, onesies, and other organic cloth products, including the adorable Bunny blanket friends from Under the Nile Organics.

Really Natural recommends the Sassy Cuddle Dolls from Sassy. The dolls are made with bright, textured fabrics, and scented with lavender to stimulate the sense of smell and calm them.

Organic Baby Wearhouse sells bedding, clothing, toys, and bibs like the sustainable bamboo tie bib and the super-adorable organic orange giraffe rattle.

Photo from the Organic Baby Wearhouse.

Where To Find Baby Bottles Without BPA -- and Formula and Pacifers, Too

scleaver — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

We’ve gotten quite a response from the BPA-related articles, and everybody wants to know where to get BPA free formula, bottles, and baby products, and fast. So, here’s our guide to products that are practical, adorable, and, best of all, BPA-free.

Baby Formula

When it comes to baby formula, the Enviroblog recommends powdered—BPA is in the lining of aluminum baby formula cans and ready-to-feed baby formula that’s not diluted before feeding has the highest levels of BPA. The Environmental Working Group surveyed five baby formula companies in the U.S. and four (Nestle, Similac, Enfamil, and PBM) said that BPA is in the lining of the cans that hold their formula. BPA is also in metal in the powdered formula containers, but powdered is a better choice. According to the EWG, “babies fed reconstituted powder formula likely received 8 to 20 times less BPA than those fed liquid formula from a metal can.”

So, shopping for baby formula, the key is to reduce your risk. Enfamil and Similac powdered formula are sold in cardboard and metal cans that have less BPA. If you’re buying liquid formula, go for concentrate rather than ready-to-eat because adding the water to dilute it will reduce the BPA exposure.

Baby Bottles and Sippy Cups

When you’re buying bottles and cups, there are tons of BPA free options to choose from. And good thing too, because BPA can leach from plastic baby bottles into milk or other liquids that your baby drinks. General advice: stay away from bottles that are marked with the number seven, and use clear silicone nipples. Warm bottles in a pan filled with water, not the microwave, which cause chemicals to release into the milk and can heat unevenly.

Buy glass bottles if you can (Silikids and The Soft Landing both sell safe glass bottle covers). In the store, Playtex, Gerber, and Parent’s Choice (in Wal-Mart) all have BPA free bottle options (look for the BPA free labels and assume a plastic product has BPAs unless the packaging says otherwise). And, there are a host of newer companies with safe bottles and sippy cups:

The Adiri Natural Nurser is a uniquely designed bottle.

Born Free has bottles, nipples, trainer cups, and drinking cups for infants and toddlers.

Nurture Pure sells bottles and cups.

The Boon No Spill Sippy Cup is a two-piece sippy cup with a creative design.

Think Baby has a whole line of safe plastic baby bottles, covers, and nipples.

Get a full list of BPA free baby bottles recommended by Safe Mama at Amazon.com.

Pacifiers and More

Pacifiers are another product that end up in baby’s mouth and should be as safe as possible, and then there are all the other little plastic products (storage containers, spoons, etc) that you need to keep baby well fed. Here are some online shopping options to choose from:

The Razz Berry pacifier is all natural and designed to soothe teething babies.

The Natursutta pacifier is made of natural rubber without any nasty plastics or artificial colors.

Eco Piggy has all natural pacifiers, clothing, and other products.

One Step Ahead has a storage system of small plastic containers to store your homemade baby food, or just the leftovers.

For older kids (or you) Laptop Lunches is a lunch storage system that’s designed like a Bento Box.

Browse Munchkin for safe pacifiers, snack containers, and more.

For more baby recommendations, visit the Nature Moms blog.

Photo credit: the Razz Berry pacifier from Amazon.com

For more information on BPA, check out these stories:

BPA in Dental Plastic: Are the Fillings in your Teeth Dangerous?

BPA: The Dangers of Canned Food May Be Greater Than Plastics

BPA: 5 Tips to Avoid the Dangers in Plastics

Where to Find BPA-Free Baby Bottles and Sippy Cups

BPA: Plastic Products That Are BPA-Free

Your BPA Questions Answered

Where to Find BPA-Free Baby Bottles and Sippy Cups

scleaver — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:13:05 -0400

There's bad news and good news on BPA in plastic baby products, like bottles and sippy cups.

The bad news: BPA, bisphenol-A, a chemical found in plastics -- including baby bottles and sippy cups -- is linked to “changes in behavior and the brain” including hyperactivity and cancer, according to an Associated Press article in The Wall Street Journal, “Companies Move to Curb Risk From Chemical BPA. BPA doesn’t stay put; instead, it leaches into liquids and foods, creating obvious concern for parents.

The good news for babies everywhere: infant companies and retailers are responding to concerns of consumers, scientists and the National Toxicology Program concerns about BPA. On Friday, April 18, Playtex Infant Care announced that they’re converting to BPA-free material by the end of the year, and Wal-Mart is converting its baby bottle selection to BPA free products by 2009.

According to Gary Cohen, Vice President and General Manager at Playtex, “while US and worldwide regulatory bodies continue to deem the ingredient safe, as a leader in infant care products, we are listening to consumer concerns and believe the right thing to do is eliminate any confusion or concern that parents may have. For this reason, we will stop using BPA in our products this year and we offer consumers a chance to immediately switch to BPA-free infant products.”

While companies are busy pulling BPA bottles and replacing them with safer versions, you’ll already find tons of BPA-free products on the shelves. When shopping, however, remember that this BPA risk extends to many plastic products, not just bottles and sippy cups, but forks, spoons, pacifiers, and more.

Here’s where to find BPA-free products online:

1. Want to stick with plastic? BPA-free bottles and sippy cups are flying off the shelves at Diapers, Etc a site that also sells BPA-free pacifiers, spoons and forks.

2. Ready to go for glass? Especially in light of recent news, glass bottles are making a comeback. Learn about glass bottle feeding at the Natural Baby Store Web site. Then, grab a safe “Siliskin” plastic covering for your baby’s glass bottle at Calamari Baby, or a cute Wee Go bottle cover at Go Baby Life.

3. Here’s a list of what Playtex products are made of and how safe each is: Playtex Materials Chart.