As much as your baby’s health and well-being are your top priorities, you may be unknowingly exposing your children to toxic chemicals. It’s not only the medical and nutritional decisions you make that have an impact on your little one, but also the baby products you use on a daily basis. If you’re looking to create a healthier home for your kids, start by focusing on the items you use on and around your baby. That’s especially true for products your kids eat and use every day, like bath and body care, bedding and drinkware, but also cleaning and laundry products they are surrounded with.
Each of these items has the potential to contain toxic chemicals, which can adversely affect your child's health. Some products containing harmful chemicals have been linked to disruptions in hormones (endocrine disruptors like bisphenol-A also known as BPA or phthalates), asthma, eczema, and even cancer. The correlation between the regular use of household cleaning products during early life and an elevated risk of childhood wheezing and asthma was confirmed by a study conducted in Canada.
But don’t worry, there is always time to course correct this. To make it easy to start with, today we will focus on the most impactful areas that do not take much investment, but have a huge impact on your kids and toddlers' wellbeing and (future) health. With every small step when you swap the conventional products for those non-toxic, you are a little closer to a healthy home for your family!
1. Non-toxic bathroom swaps
Many children's body care products claim to have safe and gentle formulas for little ones, but the reality is quite different. A significant number of these seemingly kid-friendly products actually contain ingredients that could be detrimental to your child's health (you can read more about greenwashing in our blog). In a survey conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), involving over 3,300 parents in the USA, it was discovered that children encounter a whopping 27 potentially harmful chemicals regularly in body care products - daily. Some of these chemicals are linked to health risks such as nervous system damage, cancer, and disruptions in hormonal balance. In Europe, we are luckily protected more by regulations of harmful chemicals than in the USA, but it does not mean the probem does not exist here too.
Here are some products to think about making simple non-toxic swaps in the bathroom:
- Kids shampoo and bodywash
- Kids body lotion
- Kids toothpaste
- Kids sunscreen
Ensuring your kids use clean and non-toxic body care and hair care products is essential. We've got you covered with recommendations for everything – from solid soap to liquid body wash and shampoo. To ease out post-bath tangles, you can swap a leave-in conditioner for flower water / hydrolate that helps to retain slightly acidic pH of hair and leaving nice, natural smell, while being safe to use with babies (unlike essential oils that should not be used for kids up to 3 years).
Extending the care beyond the tub by opting for fluoride-free toothpaste during teeth-brushing time. If your kid needs nappy care, try to opt for unperfumed natural ones. Keep dry skin at bay with non-toxic lotion designed for kids, and shield them from UV damage with non-toxic mineral sunscreen specifically crafted for little ones. If your babies or kids have skin rashes, consider using non-toxic eczema treatments as a safe approach to soothe inflamed skin.
2. Non-toxic cleaning swaps
Using cleaners without harsh chemicals is crucial, particularly around children who are in the developmental stage and more susceptible to toxins. Your cleaning spray should not leave harmful chemical residues and should avoid releasing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – the fumes produced by cleaning products.
But it is not only about the cleaning, but also about laundry washing. We would argue that having a non-toxic laundry is even more important, because skin is our biggest organ and we spend all day covered in fabric, whether it is clothes, bedding, blankets or home decor fabrics. Therefore caring what kind of detergent we use (not only) for our kids is crucial. And also for kids detergents the same applies as for kids body care products - manufacturers claim the products are natural and suitable for kids, even when you can find nasty ingredients and irritating compounds there.
For kid-safe cleaning supplies (note: "kid-safe" does not mean ingestible), consider the following recommendations.
Here are some products to think about making simple non-toxic swaps for cleaning:
- laundry detergent
- laundry softener
- stain remover
- floor cleaner
- disinfectant
- dishwasher detergent
Basically all our cleaning products and laundry detergents are natural, non-toxic and safe to use in the household with kids, because we do a very thorough and strict inspection of the ingredients list of every product we offer on the Pure'n'Well website. The easiest way to start is to read our blog on starting with natural washing and starting with non-toxic cleaning, where we summarized everything you need to know to feel confident when transferring to this lifestyle.
Are you also interested in other non-toxic topics? You might like:
Sources:
Association of use of cleaning products with respiratory health in a Canadian birth cohort J.Parks, L. McCandless, and collective; CMAJ February 18, 2020 192 (7) E154-E161
Cleaning products and asthma risk: a potentially important public health concern.
E. M. Abrams; CMAJ February 18, 2020 192 (7) E164-E165
Children Exposed Daily to Personal Care Products With Chemicals Not Found Safe For Kids
