A cloudy day today and a cold wind but no rain! We went for a long walk with our friends and the dogs and stopped off for lunch. Popped into the craft fair on the way back and it seems to be going quite well. Our local primary school children had made exhibits for the show and they were very impressive and colourful.
I wanted to share with you some questions put to experts about baby toiletry products. A new study has apparently shown that baby shampoo's, lotions and powders may expose infants to chemicals that have been linked to possible reproductive problems. Because there has been little research done in this area it is very confusing for parents. Should they stop using the baby shampoo they have always used. Switch to phthalate free products? What are phthalates? These are chemicals which are unknown in nature and there are no good studies on what a lot of these chemicals do to babies and pregnant mothers says Dr Lev Linker an American family medicine practitioner. Paediatrician Dr Benjamin Danielson agrees and says that sometimes yiou need a little more information before deciding which way to jump. It is a good thing when issues are bought to light and people can address them but it is not a good thing to cause people to panic.
So should parents stop using these shampoo's, powders and lotions altogether? It's a personal decision on the parents part. Some will decide to avoid the products as a precaution and others will want to see clearer evidence that they are harming their baby. It's easy enough to reduce exposure until more is known, most parents who use lotions or powders on their babies do so for cosmetic reasons rather than health reasons. Dr Linker points out that most of the time we don't need to put any of these chemicals on our babies they are not needed. Babies smell lovely anyway.
So what are the alternatives to using these products? In terms of bathing babies plain water is all that is needed. With the exception of excessively dry skin no creams or lotions are necessary. Dr Linker suggests that parents buy organic as much as possible and stay away from products that seem to have lots of extra chemicals added to them. Our organic baby skincare from Essential Care is free from artificial preservatives and fragrances, pesticides, petroleum, PEGS and sulphates. Essential care are a family run company started by a holistic therapist who created remedies for her children and friends with ezcema and other skin allergies. Final word from Dr Linker who says quite simply if there is a word on the packaging that you can't pronounce don't use it!
Linda
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