Newborn Care, Newborn Care Information, Newborn Care Articles

Spread the Word: Say NO to Flame Retardants!

In a previous post, we alerted you to the many toxins found in baby products and nurseries. Of these toxins, flame retardants are one of the most pervasive. These are synthetic chemicals found in and on couches, mattresses, and many other products that parents use on a day-to-day basis, including car seats, changing pads, nursery gliders, nursing pillows, toys, etc.

What’s especially alarming is according to recent studies from Duke University flame retardants spread and accumulate in dust and in our bodies.

More Toxic Truths = More Reason to Limit Your Baby’s Exposure to Unsafe Products

Healthy Child Healthy World recently published “The Toxic Takeover of Baby Nurseries: Chemicals of Concern Found in Almost Every Common Product and Furnishing,” a staggering report featuring a long list of toxins in everything from baby shampoos to cribs to wipes and their potential health risks to babies.

Also, in just 7 minutes you can watch The Story of Cosmetics from the Story of Stuff Project about the harmful chemicals – some cancer causing! – that manufacturers put in our personal and baby care products.

The sum of these studies — and many more — points to an important truth: we can no longer turn a blind eye to the toxic ingredients our children are exposed to every day.

Breastfeeding Reduces Risk of Fever After Vaccines

Parents often ask if they should premedicate their baby before immunization in order to prevent fever and discomfort that’s associated with the shots. In fact, a study published last year in The Lancet suggested that acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) blunts the immune system’s response to the vaccines. At GetzWell, where we often vaccinate children on a staggered schedule (fewer vaccines per appointment) and strongly discourage premedication, we rarely see post-vaccine fevers or pain. Additionally, an Italian study involving 450 babies (published in Pediatrics in May 2010), showed that half as many infants who were exclusively breastfed developed post-vaccine fevers compared to babies who weren’t breastfed at all. Yet another reason to support breastfeeding whenever possible!

Introducing Solids to Infants (from GGMG Sept 2010 Newsletter)

We’ve answered a few questions you had about introducing solids to infants. See our answers in this post.

What’s the big deal about Vitamin D?

All pregnant and lactating women should have their vitamin D levels checked because many of us are deficient and don’t know it. Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy has been linked with an almost 4 times higher Cesarean-section rate (J Clinical Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Mar; 94(3):940-5). Maternal deficiency during pregnancy has also been correlated with low birth weight, pre-eclampsia (dangerously high blood pressure, swelling, protein in the urine, and in some cases maternal death), and gestational diabetes.

Newborn Care

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