One of the most overwhelming things about sharing with others that you're pregnant is all.the.stuff. Babies are a marketing dream and industry has done a phenomenal job of developing all sorts of items to make us think that we need them. Don't get me wrong, there are MANY helpful items these days, but I like the idea of a more minimalist approach to child rearing. (Trying getting grandparents on board with that one however!).
Since I'm also a huge environmental and personal health advocate, I like to really think about and research the products that I use or bring into the house. While so much of having a child has been about compromise, I've had to let some of my desires go....but generally speaking there is still a lot that I've been able to adhere to. Case in point on compromise: I'm not a fan of plastic. If I had my way, Max would have had limited exposure to plastic from the get go. There are so many great wood, metal and cloth toys available....but alas I've had to concede and he currently plays with way more plastic than I ever would have desired or imagined. Since plastic is so prevalent, much of his current foods-to-go also come in plastic/aluminum wrappers and most the personal care product containers are also plastic.
Some of the things I've made sure to maintain however are his PERSONAL CARE ITEMS: I researched all of the items we might need through Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database (Babies & Moms tab) and ordered the ones that scored the best in the categories of diaper rash cream, lotion, and body wash. While I still prefer the original body wash from Baby Mantra, I ended up switching to Burt's Bees Baby Lotion & Diaper Cream due to the fact that they scored fairly well and coated much better than the other items I'd tried. The lotion also does a fairly decent job with his eczema flares from food sensitivities. I use the Baby Mantra wash as both body wash and shampoo, and we tend to wash Max's hair every other night rather than nightly. We also nightly apply Burt's Bees powder in Max's armpits, as he developed a rash from sweating initially.
FEEDING: Breastfeeding started out well and that hand pump pictured (great loaner from a coworker) was a lifesaver for traveling for work (airport travel especially). It took longer of course, but was easy to clean and throw in a travel bag. I did use two Medela pumps: one at work and one at home and eventually figured out I could just pump into his glass baby bottles or into mason jars so I was able to reduce the plastic pumping pieces. Due to Max's food sensitivities and issues with having enough freedom to pump regularly at work, I also supplemented with formula once I was back at work. After a long spell with soy and another failed 6-8 attempts with other specialized sensitive formulas, we ended up with Kabrita goat's milk formula. Truthfully he did better on that goat's milk formula than he did on any other option, including my breast milk (even with all the foods I removed from my diet). Even though it's beyond the guidelines, at just over a year old, he's still drinking goats milk formula out of bottles....which leads me to....
BOTTLES: The Life Factory glass baby bottles have been truly wonderful. I read up on several different types of bottles and plastic alternative options. I went with the Life Factory ones for a couple reasons. First, I have one of the ones for adults and while it's not my go-to, I have been really impressed with it. I wanted glass over the stainless steel options as I wanted to see the contents in the bottle (although Max now has his own baby Klean Kanteen). The other thing that I LOVE is that with the trade of lids, the bottles transition to sippy cups or regular drinking bottles. They can also be used as snack containers and we now use his little ones for snacks in the car. Overall the Life Factory ones seemed to make the most sense to transition us from infant to baby to toddler without needing to purchase anything separate---minimalism at it's finest! The one thing I will say is that the reviews are accurate in that the bottle is too heavy for Max to hold it himself, which means that we always cuddle up for bottle time which I don't mind at all. Also, two little bottles and three big bottles would be about right for one child. I ended up with SIX big bottles which is way too many. Two size 1 nipples and 2-4 size 2, and two sippy lids.
FOODS: I'll review later in another post I imagine. I had such hopes here and was so saddened by the amount of food sensitivites he seemed to demonstrate. He's always loved to eat and because he showed the signs of being ready, I allowed him to eat some basic homemade purees made from organic food items starting at about 4 months. (Note: my parents advocated for me to add rice cereal as was standard in their general, but the research is showing that the baby's stomach isn't quite able to break down the rice at young ages.) Due to his sensitivites, he regularly ate purees but we pretty much had to keep him to the same "safe" food items for several months. He ate mainly homemade baby food and table shares until about 8 months. When we hike, he loves the organic baby food pouches and snack bars, but at home generally refuses pureed food at this point and prefers simple table items (banana, pear slices, peas, blueberries, sausage, sweet potato, shredded chicken, etc that he feeds himself). For a baby/toddler, this kid eats a lot.....
DIAPERS: What goes in, must come out and one of the biggest environmental concerns regarding kids is the amount of long-term waste that occurs due to disposal diapers (not to mention the chemicals frequently in those diapers that are soaked in liquid and held against sensitive baby skin). For those reasons, I knew that I wanted to cloth diaper Max if he did okay with it. Due to the fact that I was returning to work and didn't want the stress/additional work of washing diapers, I decided to use a diaper service and had every intention of using it through at least the first year. We went with Tidee Didee Diaper Service, who is eco-friendly in their approach, didn't require any pre-rinse (literally just throw them in the bag, poo and all), and had a registry option available. If we had continued on a regular schedule and location then I definitely would have continued utilizing their service and with the registry, I had the first six months of service covered. Because we were splitting our time between family and my home, it eventually was easier to just purchase our own used inserts and do the washing ourselves. (After trying many options, I prefer the old school cotton tri-folds. They also give Max room to grow and can be folded down in front which is especially great for little boys.) While home washing is not always the most glamorous, it makes my environmental heart feel a little bit better. The whole process of figuring out and deciding on diaper covers took a lot of research and trial and error actually. In the end, I loved and preferred Thirsties Hook & Loop (ie velcro....I'm not a fan of any snaps). We tend to have 4-5 covers for the size he's in. The disposables that you see pictured are Naty Diapers and we use their wipes also. Naty Diapers were developed in Europe (which has better health and environmental standards) and are supposedly compostable ie they break down much faster than the plastic counterparts. Price wise they're fairly comparable, are easily ordered in bulk online, and they contain less chemicals than mainstream versions. We use Naty diapers when traveling or doing outdoor activities. (When traveling I order online the diapers, wipes, and formula and have it delivered directly to our destination....MUCH less to pack and that much easier.)
MEDICATIONS: True to form, I'd prefer a more holistic approach to Max's health, although I compromise on that as needed as well. We did use a prescription to reduce the reflux as he was so miserable from it for a period, but true to form it only took a month for tolerance to develop and it no longer worked that well. That colic was no joke and I read up and tried many a potential treatment. We tried gripe water, I tried regular homeopathics I had to mix and dilute, I tried herbal teas, I tried infant massage, we always had a relaxing bedtime ritual, I cut out all.the.foods, I tried acupressure, we tried a lot. The only thing we found to work for Max was Hyland's Homeopathic Gas Drops. It didn't get rid of the screaming periods by any means, but it did shorten the duration down to 1.5-2 hours. (While they worked for us and our situation, they didn't work for a fellow mama with a colicky baby...) Even after the colic subsided the Gas Drops were lifesavers as they ease his stomach discomforts. I cannot tell you how many boxes of Gas Drops we have gone through, but they've been worth every penny. We have also used Hyland's Cold & Mucus for the few colds he's had. I also regularly use Honest's Breathe Easy Chest Rub when he's congested and a humidifier in the room. Almost nightly, I also rub an infant friendly modified version of Doterra's essential oils FLOOM combination to peak his immune system. (My sister is a distributor and mixes it as FLOM; for my own health I daily pop an OnGuard and it does wonders!!!) For teething, he wears a Baltic Essentials amber necklace (we had to replace the first one because it stretched and he could get it in his mouth) and I rub a local homeopathic teething rub on his gums. We also use dyefree Advil....a LOT--much more than I want to admit but it seems to be one of the only things that regularly works to get him physically relaxed enough to fall asleep. The dyefree is a must for me due to many of the students that show the potential harmful effects of food dyes on kids.
While I lost the battle on plastic free toys, I'm at least glad that many of the other areas of importance to me were adhered to. (And at the very least, I kept plastic out of his tub for at least six months, including no plastic baby tub nor did we use a PVC "rubber" ducky.) Additionally many of his clothes, toys, and books are hand-me-down or thrifted items, further decreasing the amount of new consumption and in the case of used clothes & linens also decreasing his chemical exposures. They're only little for so short a period of time that it just makes the most sense to me to use less overall and to try to keep their overall chemical exposures to a minimum during this important time of development and growth. We were very fortunate to buy thrifted baby furniture or restore some of my own childhood pieces. I also received several great hand-me-down items from friends (shared about in a much older post), including a baby swing, still good car seats, a simple style hiking pack, wraps, a changing table, bouncers, etc. All of these items were either returned or passed on to others once Max either outgrew it or it was apparent that he wouldn't use them. To further try to increase minimalism, I also monthly go through his clothes, toys, and books and rehome what we no longer need.
What are your thoughts? In what ways have you tried to implement "greener" approaches to raising a baby? Are there other suggestions you have?
