The Perfect Nursing Pillow March 31, 2009

Breastfeeding is being available, loving, stopping, resting and giving.  Breastfeeding is all the time, everyday and every night.  It’s something you may desire to do for months or years.  It’s a beautiful commitment, but not without it’s challenges.  I breastfed both of my children exclusively from day one.  Could I have done it without a nursing pillow?  I suppose so, but I liked it so much that I owned more than one!  Here’s my story.

I registered for a Boppy pillow.  Doesn’t everyone?  Moms and magazines praise it like a miracle device.  “It’ll save your back,” they say, “and baby will use it for tummy time and learning to sit too!”  My pretty pink Boppy looked nice in the nursery, but quickly showed its faults when baby was born.  Because it is so firm, the Boppy cannot mold to your body or your baby.  How do women keep it in place?  I felt that the moment I placed my baby on it things started sliding about.  Baby would slide towards my breast, face squishing in until I worried she couldn’t find air.  The Boppy would slide away from me, with the baby’s body finding its way into the growing space between me and the pillow.  I tried different positions for both of us, but nothing seemed to help.  Using a nursing pillow should be easy, right?  My arms shouldn’t be busy adjusting or securing the pillow.  Eventually I eyed the curved, rounded top of the Boppy with suspicion.  Why was it rounded?  How could my baby help but slide off of a curved, very firm surface?

My mom had brought home a My Breast Friend pillow, “Just in case.”  It was everything Boppy was not:  a little softer, but not too soft; a flat surface for baby to lay upon without sliding; and equipped with a strap that goes around your back, fastening with velcro so that the pillow stays right against your belly, where it belongs.  It was ideal, and I used that badly-named pillow every single time I nursed at home, even at night.  I could totally relax.  My arms where completely free.  Ahhh….  The Boppy was exiled to grandma’s house.

Along came baby #2.  My Breast Friend Pillow was back, times two.  I purchased a second so that I’d have one on each level of our new two-story home.  I used it constantly.  I washed the removable cover as needed, never realizing that the yellow foam core inside was entirely toxic.  It wasn’t until I was nearing baby #2’s first birthday that I found out about the dangers of polyurethane foam.  Most baby mattresses are filled with polyurethane foam.  We purchased a new, organic mattress for my baby, but I didn’t realize that my Breast Friend nursing pillows are made with polyurethane foam until it was too late. 

Of course, I felt guilty.  Day after day, hour after hour, I’d cozied up with my precious little one over a lump of toxic, air-polluting foam.  And polyurethane foam is that bad.  Really bad. I share the sordid details in my article Toxins in the Nursery at EuphoriaBaby.com.  But, one cannot undue the past.  We can only share the news with others.  To that end, I searched for “the perfect nursing pillow”, one that would work well, but was made of pure, safe ingredients.  We added the Blessed Nest nursing pillow to our website EuphoriaMaternity.com and never looked back.  It’s made entirely of organic cotton and filled with organic buckwheat hulls – pure, simple materials from nature – materials I can trust.  The Blessed Nest pillow is also flat.  The nature of the buckwheat hull filling is somewhat like a beanbag.  It molds to the body, but offers strong support.  As such, it stays still and no one slides off.. hooray! 

So that’s it, that’s my story of the perfect nursing pillow.  When you choose your pillow, just make sure to avoid polyurethane foam at all costs and to choose a pillow that’s relatively flat on top.  Babies aren’t meant to slide.  If you’re not sure about those buckwheat hulls, a flat nursing pillow that’s filled with organic cotton (like the Organic Caboose Nursing Pillow) is another good choice.

Children’s Books for Spring March 28, 2009

The trees are blooming, bulbs are growing tall and pollen is everywhere…. Hooray for spring!  It’s definitely time to put away the children’s books about snow, hibernation and whatnot, in favor of new picks for springtime.  Here are a few favorite choices for spring for my children ages 2 and 4.  I was able to find almost all of them at my library:

G is for Goat by Patricia Polacco 

   Pelle’s New Suit by Elsa Beskow

The Story of the Root Children by Sibylle von Olfers

Jennie’s Hat by Ezra Jack Keats

Flower Garden by Eve Bunting

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

 

Our Preschool at Home March 26, 2009

Throughout this year I have been officially homeschooling my 4-year-old daughter.  But what does that amount to, really?  The preschool-aged child needs to be in a safe, nurturing environment.  She needs to eat healthful foods, play outside everyday, make-up her own games and contribute to the home.  She desires outlets for socializing, creating art, singing and making music!  This, we have been providing at home… and it has been my pleasure!

The year began with my focus on creating a rhythm for our weekly life together.  Once that was established, I was freed up to relax, enjoy our days more and enrich them as new ideas come. 

In the late fall, I learned to request seasonal children’s books from the library.  Focusing on the time of year means our read-alouds reflect the weather, moods and holidays of the season.  The books stay around for a couple months, which is just long enough for them to become familiar, without getting a bit old.  I put effort into selecting my seasonal library book list, so that the books reflect good values and positive personalities to my children.   

Next I settled into comfortable art sessions.  At first I couldn’t enjoy wet watercoloring with my 4-year-old, because I didn’t know how to manage my 2-year-old at the same time.  And, at the beginning, coloring time was rather haphazard as well.  As I found what works for my family and, perhaps as my children learned what to expect too, I discovered ways to make these art times peaceful and productive.  Sometimes my 2-year-old doesn’t paint, but just watches.  This is very good for his always-on-the-go personality.  Othertimes I set him up in just such a way that he is able to paint (with tempera paint) without causing a ruckus.  For coloring, I found that my daughter thrives when given a concept to work with.  For example, one winter day we colored pine trees on black and then added white crayon snow.  When spring arrived, we colored a rainbow (her first) using the soft sides of thick block crayons.  Usually I color alongside of her, trying to be an example without getting in her way.

Late winter I finally hung our first, small blackboard, which my husband made for me.  I enjoy writing seasonal poems, verses from our circle time and Bible verses on the board.  My daughter loves to memorize the poems.  It is amazingly easy for her and works to sharpen her memory, while enriching her vocabulary.

This spring I am focusing on developing our circle times.  On Fridays our Waldorf friends come over for a regular playdate.  We begin with circle time, Waldorf style.  For us that means a unifying theme, such as tea time, worked out through songs, poems, and miming activities.  We begin with large movements, standing up and work our way down to the floor, where we finish with fingerplays.  All of this purposeful bodily activity works to develop the brain in preparation for academics.  It appeals to the children imaginatively, never failing to completely delight them.   I have found that our playgroup needs a bit more structure than originally expected.  It is still a work in progress, but a very exciting one!

Combined with household chores, cooking, free-play and plenty of time out-of-doors, this is our preschool at home.   I am so thankful for the many Waldorf-inspired mamas who have gone before me, paving the way with ideas and wonderful resources that keep me inspired to enjoy my family.  I particularly recommend the Seasons of Joy curriculum, which is a set of 4 seasonal idea books, designed for children from baby to kindergarten.   It is not a rigid curriculum at all.  Instead, it’s a rich resource book, filled with circle times, stories, art, poems, cooking and projects that are all season-appropriate.  There’s more than enough material for many years, in my opinion!  I turn to Seasons of Joy to formulate circle time, come up with coloring “concepts”, source poems for our blackboard, and etc.  I’m sure it’ll get even more use as we explore kindergarten next year!

Top 10 Benefits of Breastfeeding March 24, 2009

An excellent refresher on why we all want to breastfeed, from Pregnancy & Newborn magazine:

1.  Build Immunities.  Breast milk decreases the incidence and/or severity of many infectious diseases.

2.  Lose Weight.  Breastfeeding burns an average of 500 calories a day, so the pounds melt away faster than that pint of Ben & Jerry’s you’re eating.

3.  Bond with Baby.  Bonding over a bottle works too, especially for daddy, but the intimacy of nursing is unequaled.

4.  Reduce Risk of SIDS.  Post-neonatal mortality rates in the United States are 21 percent lower in breastfed infants.

5.  Fight Cancer.  Breastfeeding decreases your risk of breast and ovarian cancers.  Mothers who breastfeed also have a reduced risk of osteoporosis later in life.

6.  Save Money.  Formula costs around $150 per month, so start a college savings plan for your little one (or buy a new dress!) with the money you save by breastfeeding.

7.  Keep it Simple.  No bottles and no warmer necessary means you’re ready to feed your baby any time, any place. (If you’re concerned about privacy, consider a nursing cover).

8.  Start Smart.  Studies propose breastfed infants have higher IQs.

9.  Save Time.  Who wants to wash bottles when you could be playing with your newborn or taking a nap?

10.  Play it Safe.  Research is continually revealing more benefits of breastfeeding.  Recent studies suggest breastfed babies may have less risk of obesity and lower cholesterol levels as adults.

And the winner is… March 23, 2009

Congratulations to Grace Nathan, whose baby will look adorable in Kiwi Industries’ green vine tee!  Grace has won our drawing for the free organic tee by entering the giveaway with these comments, “The Kiwi Industries stuff is beautiful! I love the colors and designs, and it looks very comfortable for baby.”  Thanks for reading our blog, Grace.

Giveaways are fun, but even moreso if they’re for a product you’re itching to try.  Please let me know if there’s any product at EuphoriaMaternity.com or EuphoriaBaby.com that you’d love to see us give away.  I’d be happy to see if we can make it happen!

Johnson & Johnson products Removed from Shelves in China! March 19, 2009

Today I was reading a report put out by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics called “No Toxic More Tub.” It details a study they did on popular baby and children bath and care cosmetics, such as Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Creamy Wash, and Grins & Giggles Milk & Honey Baby Wash (from Gerber). The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics hired an independent lab to test products for formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane, known carcinogens. These chemicals would not be on product labels because they’re contaminants, not ingredients, and therefore are exempt from labeling laws. I was not too surprised with the results:

What We Found

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics commissioned an independent laboratory to test 48 products for 1,4-dioxane; 28 of those products were also tested for formaldehyde. The lab found that:

17 out of 28 products tested – 61 percent – contained both formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane.
23 out of 28 products – 82 percent – contained formaldehyde at levels ranging from 54 to 610 parts per million (ppm).
32 out of 48 products – 67 percent – contained 1,4-dioxane at levels ranging from 0.27 to 35 ppm.

Health Concerns

While a single product might not be cause for concern, the reality is that babies may be exposed to several products at bath time, several times a week, in addition to other chemical exposures in the home and environment. Those small exposures add up and may contribute to later-life disease.

Formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane are known carcinogens; formaldehyde can also trigger skin rashes in some children. Unlike many other countries, the U.S. government does not limit formaldehyde, 1,4-dioxane, or most other hazardous substances in personal care products.

Again, I find these results deplorable, but not too surprising.  If you look up mainstream children’s care products on Skin Deep you will go running in the other direction.  No parent wants to expose their child to toxic chemicals in the tub, especially when perfectly natural and safe products are available at a reasonable cost.  That’s why I was moved to preform My Cosmetic Purge January of 08.  And that’s why we added a line of organic, truly pure children’s care products to our site at the same time. 

But, there was something surprising…  At the end of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report, “Toxic Tub” there is a “status update” that reads:

A major supermarket in China has pulled Johnson & Johnson products from the shelves amid concerns that the products are contaminated with carcinogens, driven by our testing. The Chinese government is also reportedly testing products. The Vietnamese Drug Administration announced March 16 that it will test baby products in that country.

So far, there has been no action by the U.S. FDA.

If you go ahead and read the article, you’ll find it’s true.  One major Chinese chain has decided that Johnson & Johnson is not safe enough for China!  Wow, not safe enough for China!  Considering the excessive amount of lead and phthalate-tainted products that are manufactured in China for the USA, how does this make you feel about the safety of your Johnson & Johnson products?  For another eye-opening article, check out Case Study: Pure and gentle? Children’s products can be deceptive which takes a close look at an American classic: Johnson’s Baby Shampoo. 

Bottom line: don’t take the purity of your skin care products for granted.  The skin absorbs those chemicals day after day and year after year.  While the FDA is so completely inept, it’s worth doing your research and purchasing natural products.   To evaluate products, see Skin Deep.  For a safe, practical baby care line, I can wholeheartedly recommend Earth Mama Angel Baby, which we use and enjoy in our home.

Do your Homework Before Buying an Organic Mattress! March 17, 2009

Barry Cik, the Founder of Naturepedic, responds to an article questioning the transparency of the organic mattress industry.

A recent article in the New York Times called The Stuffing Dreams Are Made Of?, details the growth of the manufacturing industry for organic and natural mattresses. It points out (in a gentle manner) that there is more than a bit of trickery used by manufacturers in order to have the magic word, “organic”, on the label.

So why is this happening and what’s going on? Well, it all boils down to a lack of regulation of the term “organic”. Ah, but you thought that use of the word “organic” was highly regulated? Yes and no. If you’re buying an organic carrot or cucumber, then yes, those items are regulated. For agricultural products there are strict regulations in place to label the product as organic. (This includes organic cotton as well, as it doesn’t matter whether or not the item is edible, but only whether it’s under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.)

However, if the item is not under the jurisdiction of the USDA, then there are no regulations. So Mattress A may be called organic even if it’s basically made with “natural” latex, which, by the way, is a potential allergen. Mattress B may be called organic because they mixed some soybean or castor oil into the polyurethane foam. Believe it. Mattress C may highlight the crushed organic coconut husks, but forget to point out that it’s dipped in latex which is the glue that holds it together. Mattress D may highlight various animal hairs but fail to mention the chemicals used to clean up the dirt, grease, and dried sweat. And Mattress E may add some aloe vera to the filling. Yet, due to misleading marketing and lack of disclosure, the public thinks that it’s all “organic”.

Truly organic mattresses originally began when manufacturers removed polyurethane foam and replaced it with organic cotton, with the point being to remove harmful chemicals. The term “organic mattress” quickly became a convenient consumer term to describe these mattresses. Today, consumers understand the term “organic” to mean healthy and safe, but without regulation there is no guarantee of either. Organic mattresses, like many consumer products, have fallen victim to the practice of greenwashing (or shall we say organic-washing?), when companies disingenuously spin their products and policies as environmentally friendly.

Courtesy of Healthy Child Healthy World: a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit inspiring parents to protect young children from harmful chemicals.

The Birth Survey March 10, 2009

Pregnant with your first baby, you start to think about that all-important, rather intimidating day – the day you will give birth.  You want to be prepared, so you read books, take a class, talk to other moms.  But, how to choose the right doctor, midwife, hospital, doula, etc?  Word of mouth seems to be the best bet… but wouldn’t it be great if you could hear from hundreds or even thousands of moms about the practitioner you’re considering?

Giving women that kind of access to patient feedback and care-related statistics is the main goal of The Birth Survey.  The Birth Survey is an actual online survey put out by The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services.  Any woman in the USA can go online to fill out a detailed survey regarding her most recent birth.  You’ll be asked to give feedback about one or more specific health care provider(s) through straightforward ranking systems, along with opportunities for your comments.  It’s, “a mechanism to share, systematically track, and retrieve up-to-date information about the quality of care received” so that women can make informed, confident decisions about their caregivers and location of birth. 

Last week, I filled out the Birth Survey.  It felt so worthwhile to take a few minutes (about 20) to share my experiences, so that others can make an informed decision on this critical question.  Unfortunately, local results from The Birth Survey are only available to NY residents, as the survey was first released in NY in a testing phase during 2007.  After success in NY, they expanded the program nationally and have been collecting national results since.  They plan to release national results this year!  Let’s get involved and share the news to improve maternal care and transparency in our nation.  I hope that this database will help women who are considering homebirth or birth at a birth center to feel more confident about their “unusual” choice.  Seeing the statistics of different options side-by-side will really help those on the fence to see that midwives provide excellent, oftentimes superior care to healthy moms, and that those moms are usually quite delighted by their experience!

Click here to visit The Birth Survey now!

Another Way to Win! March 10, 2009

Our current giveaway is for one organic cotton Kiwi baby shirt in their new green vine print, size 6-12 months.  It’s adorable, especially when paired with chocolate brown!  Here’s another way to enter the contest: submit a review for any product on EuphoriaBaby.com now through March 22nd. 

Have you used any of our products, regardless of where you purchased them?  We have a whole range of safe, wholesome selections for baby including:  BumGenius One-Size diapers, Wahmies diaper pail liners, Beco carriers, Adiri bottles, Naturesutten pacifiers, Bambu bowls, Foogo/Klean Kanteen/Safe Sippy sippy cups, BabySoy layette, Speesees clothes, See Kai Run shoes, Earth Mama Angel Baby skin care, Aden & Anais wraps, EcoBaby bedding, Plan Toys, Haba toys, and a huge selection of children’s artwork.  Our product review feature is relatively new and in need of your feedback!   

Just review any product online and then enter a quick comment, such as “reviewed Klean Kanteen sippy cup”, at the original giveaway post. Winner will be announced March 23rd, and prize will be shipped for free!

PaperbackSwap.com – Recycle Your Books! March 5, 2009

Speaking of books… if you love to read or simply love to recycle, start a free account at www.PaperbackSwap.com.  I’ve been using this site for a few months now, and it’s really a great idea.  You post unwanted books as available to other members on the site.  If someone requests one of your books, you mail it to them and pay the postage yourself (which tends to be around $2).  Everytime you ship a book, you get a credit for a free book for yourself.  So, when you find a book on PaperbackSwap that you want, you request it and the other member pays the shipping.  Great!  You also get two free credits just by starting your account and listing a certain number of books. 

PaperbackSwap has much more than paperbacks.  I’ve scored books for my kids, as well as an inspirational Christian read and current bestsellers.  I even found one Waldorf book in the system!  Of course, the more of us that use the site the more variety their will be.  This is a great way to expand your pregnancy or parenting library, as well as pass on books you no longer need.  It’s recycling that helps everyone!

My wish list is full of books I’d love to have, so you all get on their and start posting!