It really isn’t that hard to create a safe and toxic free bedroom environment for your baby.
Below I offer some helpful hints and recommend some healthier, safer, options for ensuring your baby’s room is a much safer and healthier environment for playing and sleeping in.
First find out why it is so important to ensure your baby’s room, see- Toxic Chemicals & Indoor Air Pollutants In Baby’s Room. Learn What To Not Have In Your Baby’s Room.
Creating a Clean, Fresh Air and VOC free Baby Room
Good Ventilation – always make sure your baby’s room is well ventilated, this means good air flow and whenever possible open windows. Try to open windows daily and yes even in winter!
Don’t overheat the room – keeping temperatures and humidity lower helps reduce the levels of VOC’s such as Formaldehyde off-gassing from the furnishings and building materials in the room.
Avoid PVC – do not put Vinyl wall decals up in baby’s room, these are PVC. There are now some gorgeous brands of PVC free wall decals made from Fabric, that are eco-friendly and BPA and PVC free such as by Love Mae.
Swap any PVC backed curtains and blinds, with ones that are PVC free and air them first for a couple of days before hanging them up in baby’s room, as they will still contain other chemicals. If your curtains are washable, then wash them first before use and every now and again to keep them clean, but do not get them dry-cleaned unless you can find a chemical free dry-cleaner.
Never use insect sprays in your baby’s room or in your house for that matter, they are highly toxic. If you have to get rid of an insect, either trap it and take it outside, or if you must, squash it quickly.
Use natural cleaning products only to clean baby’s room, or alternative just stick to these all natural cleaning tips, using simple vinegar, bicarb and eucalyptus oil.
If you need to disinfect a surface in baby’s room, do not use chemical disinfectants, try either plain vinegar or CitroLife make 100% natural and safe disinfecting sprays and wipes.
If your house is old have it checked for lead paint by a professional.
How To Sleep Baby Safely In A Non-Toxic Bed And Prevent SIDS
Buy only untreated hardwood or untreated pure pine and natural untreated bamboo bassinet, cots and baby room furniture. Organature makes beautiful, untreated and sustainable hardwood baby cots and baby furniture.
Sleep baby on and between natural materials only, no synthetic polyester filled or man-made foams mattresses etc.
If possible choose 100% organic cotton, mattresses, blankets, sheets – I recommend Organature for 100% organic cotton bassinet, cot, pram mattresses, sheets, blankets and bedding. There are not lots of manufacturers of organic cotton clothes and bedding for babies and children, just Google it.
I am a firm advocate for wrapping your baby’s mattress to prevent SIDS as outlined by Professor Jim Sprott and following the guidelines her suggests of what bedding to use and clothes to sleep baby in during the SIDS danger period: e.g. no sleeping bags or grow-suits with the feet sewn in . See my article Mattress Wrapping To Prevent SIDS. and Toxic Chemicals In Baby Mattresses
Do not use a PVC mattress protector, use a 100% pure organic cotton one, or the BabeSafe Mattress Wrap used in Mattress Wrapping will double as a mattress protector and is made out of Polyethylene and not PVC.
Always thoroughly wash all baby’s clothes and toys in natural washing detergent, such as Ecologic by Organic Formulations or Ecostore. thoroughly before baby wears, sleeps in, or plays with them. You could also add a cup of white vinegar to the final rinse.
If you are not buying organic cotton, or organic wool sheets and blankets, then wash sheets and blankets well and also hang out in fresh air before using, as they will be heavily treated with fire retardants and chemical dyes.
How To Minimize VOC’s In Your Baby’s Room
If in a new house, keep the fresh airflow to a maximum in baby’s room at all times. If possible air the new house fully for as long as possible before you move in, but then still keep airing it well once you are all living in it.
Have your house painted in Synthetic VOC free (SVOC’s) and as natural based paints as possible. I recommend Livos Australia – read Livos and it’s stance on VOC’s
Stain and Lacquer your floors in SVOC free and natural based products . I recommend Livos Australia
Even when using natural products such as Livos, it is best to give your house a few days to air out, as even natural products can irritate those who are sensitive. Even if you just steer clear of putting baby in the rooms that have just been painted or polished with the natural products for a few days, while you live in the rest of house is a good idea and keep as many doors and windows open in these rooms as possible.
If there is carpet or a rug in your baby’s room vacuum regularly and have it professionally steam cleaned at least once a year by a company that uses 100% natural citrus based products only. Do not use dry carpet cleaners, or conventional chemical carpet cleaners, the chemicals they use are not healthy.
It is healthier to have natural hardwood floorboards rather than carpet or rugs in your baby’s room, but if you choose to use carpet or rugs, use natural carpet that is latex and not pvc backed and ask them not to treat it with stain guard chemicals. One company we found is The Natural Flooring Centre. (We called them and they told us that only their front door entrance mats are pvc backed.)
How To Keep Baby’s Room Mold And Dust Free
Have your central heating and air-conditioning cleaned and treated with an all natural safe sanitizer, such as a Tea Tree Oil. Be very sure to ask the company you hire specifics about the products they use.
Vacuum and wipe away the dust regularly from furniture, blinds and floorboards in baby’s room. Microfiber mops and dusters are great for this purpose.
Wash baby’s bedding regularly using a 100% natural products such as Soapnuts or in natural detergent such as Ecologic by Organic Formulations or Ecostore.
Buy only soft toys that are machine washable and if possible choose organic cotton soft toys. When baby or toddler is old enough to sleep with a soft toy (past SIDS danger period), then this toy must definitely be washable.
If you can, keep baby’s change-table in another room, as we could not find a pvc-free change-table mattress top and also you would not want to sleep in your toilet area, so why would baby? If you have no other option and the change-table has to be in baby’s room, keep it right near an open window, or the door.
If you think you have a problem with mold and dampness, there are professionals that can come out and check and measure the levels and show you how to rectify the problem. You can get rid of mold naturally with clove oil and also eucalyptus oil rather than bleach- see how here
How To Minimize EMF Radiation In Your Baby’s Room
Do not have the baby monitor set up too close to your baby. Keep it at least a couple meters away. If you live in a small house, you really don’t need a baby monitor, as you will be able to hear your baby crying.
If you have to use an Apnoea Mat, then the safest one I found was the older Baby Sense II, which used Analogue technology.
Hire a Gauss Meter from ARPANSA to measure the radiation levels where baby sleeps in your house. This is a very cheap exercise and you can then choose the safest area of your house to have baby sleeping in. Or if you have a problem of high radiation levels coming from a bedside lamp, or unearthed water pipe, then these are easily rectified by removing the lamp and calling the plumber and electrician. If radiation levels are higher in one area of the room and there is no where else that baby can sleep, it might be as simple as moving baby’s bed to the other side of the room, as radiation levels can drop down significantly at only a couple of meters distance away from the electrical device causing them.
Do not make baby’s room the place that has the fuse box and smart meter on the other side of the wall. The same goes for not having electrical household appliances on the other side of the walls to baby’s room.
You can hire a building biologist to professionally check the only radiation levels in your house and find the source of the problem and offer solutions. We personally did this and this is how we found out about our own unearthed water pipe and the extremely high EMF levels coming off the desk lamps we used as bedside lamps. Read Minimizing Radiation Exposure in Your Home.
If you live close to major power lines, power stations, power boxes and mobile phone towers, there are certain shielding paints and insulation materials that you can use on the walls of your house to reflect the radiation away from the inside of your house.
Keep all electrical devices such as night lamps and music players well away from where your baby is sleeping.
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