Are Disposable Diapers Safe for My Baby?

Everyone loves disposable diapers, right? They are so easy to use, you put one on, you take it off, you throw it away. It is a simple affordable solution to diapering.  Or is it? Lately I have seen very controversial information on the cost effectiveness of disposables and even their safety on your children.

Pros to Disposables:

• Quick and easy!
• Great to travel with.
• They rarely leak! (Great for kids with diarrhea)

Cons To Disposables:

• The waste, they just take up space in landfills because most do not decompose,
• Price- expect to spend at least $1,600 dollars on disposables versus the $300 you would spend on cloth.
• Chemicals- Some babies really have problems with this and others don't.

Now let's go a little more in depth on the chemicals and then talk about more natural disposable diapers.

Has your child had a diaper rash that will just not go away? This could be due to the chlorine bleach used on disposable diapers.

Disposables diapers also contain trace amounts of Dioxin. This is released when the diapers are bleached and is listed as one of the most toxic of all cancer linked chemicals. It is banned in most countries just not here in the U.S.

Other Chemicals in Disposable Diapers

• Tributyltin – This is toxic to humans and environment, is a persistent organic pollutant, causes irreversible damage to aquatic life, and is linked to obesity in humans (triggers genes that cause the growth of fat cells).
• Xylene – This is toxic to the respiratory and central nervous systems. Breathing
  high concentrations in an enclosed space can cause irregular heartbeats which can cause death.
• Ethylbenzene – This chemical is listed as possibly cancer-causing. It is mutagenic (capable of causing mutation). The substance may be toxic to the central nervous system. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage. It may cause central nervous system depression, is an aspiration hazard if swallowed and can enter the lungs and cause damage. It causes eye, skin, and respiratory tract irritation.
• Styrene- This substance is cancer-causing and is toxic to the nervous system and upper respiratory tract. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage. It is very hazardous to the eyes.
• Propylene – This chemical is an anesthetic at high concentrations. Inhalation may cause central nervous system depression producing dizziness, drowsiness, headache and similar narcotic symptoms. Extremely high concentrations can cause asphyxiation and death by displacing oxygen from the breathing atmosphere.
• Toluene – The substance may be toxic to blood, kidneys, the nervous system, liver, brain, and central nervous system (CNS). Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage.

But these chemicals are just in your generic disposable diapers. Lucky for us, we have many green companies producing diapers without all these chemicals and that are compostable.

 

These brands are:

• Seventh Generation
• Earth's Best
• Nature Babycare

There are also always cloth diapers (these are my favorite option), which I will talk about another time.

What is your thought on disposable diapers? Ever had a really bad or really good experience with them? What is your favorite brand and why? Please post answers bellow along with any questions you may have.

Sources:

Allsopp, Michelle.  Achieving Zero Dioxin: An emergency strategy for dioxin elimination.  September 1994.  Greenpeace.  http://archive.greenpeace.org/toxics/reports/azd/azd.html

http://awesomebeginnings4children.com/the-harmful-chemicals-in-disposable-diapers/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/111348-chemicals-disposable-diapers/

Homemade Chicken Soup

Who doesn't love a good chicken soup especially with dumplings or noodles?  Now that it is getting cooler there is nothing more that I want than a good bowl of soup and a warm fire to curl up in front, and maybe a great book.

The soup I make uses a whole chicken so you get all of the vitamins and nutrients from the bones of the chicken, which is great, and can really help if you are sick. I usually remove most of the skin on the chicken to make the broth lower in fat.

* Vinegar helps to bring out vitamins and minerals like calcium from the bones of the chicken.

Ingredients

1 Small Chicken

2 Tablespoon Vinegar*

5-6 Carrots

2 Large Onions

4 Celery Stalks

2 Garlic Cloves

2 Teaspoons Thyme

1 Teaspoon Basil

2 Teaspoons Oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

Optional

Your favorite biscuit recipe

Noodles

Directions

1.       Peel and chop the carrots and add to large stock pot.

2.       Quarter the onions and add to stock pot.

3.       Chop celery and add to stock pot.

4.       Mince garlic and add to stock pot.

5.       Take chicken and remove pack of organs from the inside. Peel off most of the skin and discard. Place the chicken into the stock pot and add water until the chicken is covered. Add vinegar and let sit for 30 minutes to an hour.

6.       Put on the stove and bring to a boil.

7.       While waiting for it to boil add in the thyme, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper.

8.       Once the water boils reduce heat and place lid on top and let simmer for at least 2 hours. A full 24 hours is best to get the most flavor and the most nutrients from the bones.

9.       Remove chicken from the pot and let it cool. Pick the meat off the bones and add it back into the pot.

If you want dumplings prepare your favorite biscuit mix and drop by spoonfuls into boiling soup. Reduce heat and cook uncovered for ten minutes. Cover and cook another ten minutes.

Or

Add your favorite noodles and follow cooking instructions on the package.

Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Who doesn't love sweet potatoes over the holidays? I know I do. Especially candied ones or sweet potato casserole covered in warm ooey-gooey marshmallows. But those are just so unhealthy for you. So I played around in the kitchen and created some oven honey roasted sweet potatoes. These are sweet enough to satisfy the craving and much healthier for you.

Here's what you'll need:

4-5 sweet potatoes

1/4 Olive oil

1/4 Honey

Cinnamon

Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Salt

Pepper

Instructions:

1.       Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.       Peel those sweet potatoes and cut them up into 1 inch cubes. (Smaller for faster cooking time)

3.       Lay them out on a roasting tray in a single layer.

4.       Drizzle with honey and olive oil and toss. I find that heat the honey up in the microwave for a few seconds helps get it to coat the sweet potatoes better.

5.       Next sprinkle some cinnamon salt and pepper over the potatoes. I like to add cayenne pepper as well for a bit of a kick.

6.       Toss those potatoes again and stick them in the oven for about 30 minutes or until fork tender.

This recipe would work great for different squashes too or maybe a combination of squash and sweet potatoes.

Homemade Baby Formula

Today I am going to let my daughter who had twins on August 22, 2013 talk to you about homemade baby formula.

My babies were born at 34 weeks to the day. My sweet baby boy who was the top baby, and not supposed to come out first, broke his water early. It was three days before I was going to be 34 weeks so they stopped the contractions and made me wait 3 days then induced labor early on the morning of the 22. At 6:07 PM my baby girl was born she weighed 4 pounds 11 ounces. At 6:10 PM my boy was born he weighed 4 pounds 3 ounces.

They were the most precious things I had ever seen in my life. I got to hold my sweet girl for a while but the boy was having some difficulties breathing. I held him for all of two minutes before they whisked him and his sister down to the NICU. About two hours later I got to go visit them. It was heartbreaking to see them both inside those incubators. My girl only had an IV in her my boy though had a cannula in his nose to help him with breathing and IV. I know many babies have more problems than mine did, but it does not matter what you know. It still kills you inside to see your babies there knowing there isn't much you can do for them.

I knew there was one thing I could do though, I could give them the best darn milk they had ever had. And so began my strict pumping regimen. From that first night I began pumping religiously, every 3 hours. I went to the hospital at least once a day to bring in milk and cuddle with my babies. A week later my first baby came home she wasn't breastfeeding so I was still trying to pump every three hours but was having to supplement with formula. Four days later the other one came home and there went my pumping. I was still trying but I was pumping less and supplementing more.

I started noticing that my babies were more and more fussy and pooping less and less. They went a week without pooping and screaming all day before I finally asked my pediatrician if the formula could be a problem. She told me that it wasn't that around their age babies start pooping less. That just didn't sit right with me. So I pumped and saved the milk until I had enough to feed them only my milk for a whole day. After the second feeding they were both pooping like crazy. The pediatrician was wrong, needless to say she did not stick around long for that and other reasons. I tried it two more times with same results and I knew without a doubt that the formula was causing my problems, but I didn't know what to do.

I began researching about different baby formulas looking for a good option and became absolutely horrified by the things I was finding out about them. Most formulas contain soy which is really bad for babies. The iron in the formula may constipate babies if it is not the right kind there have also been studies linking too much iron to cognitive problems. There are also many other bad things done to formulas and you can read about them in this article.

Then my cousin who had a premie son 2 years ago introduced me to the Weston A. Price Foundation and their homemade baby formula that she used for her son. She said it was great and I was willing to try anything to help my babies. So I got all the ingredients and tried it. At first it seemed like they were spitting up more and it smelled awful, I almost wanted to give up but decided to stick out a little bit longer. Soon their stomachs got used to it and now I absolutely love it. It does take a bit of work each day but it is well worth it knowing my babies are getting a healthy organic formula.

Once the twins were used to the formula they started pooping at least once a day and stopped fussing all the time. When I went to their two month check up my girl weighed 9 pounds 15 ounces and my boy weighed 9 pounds 5 ounces they had doubled in size! I love this formula and can't even begin to tell ya'll how much this has helped my babies.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole raw cow's milk, preferably from pasture-fed cows
• 1/4 cup homemade liquid whey (See recipe for whey, below) Note: Do NOT use powdered whey or whey from making cheese (which will cause the formula to curdle). Use only homemade whey made from yoghurt, kefir or separated raw milk.
• 4 tablespoons lactose¹
• 1/4 teaspoon bifidobacterium infantis
• 2 or more tablespoons good quality cream (preferably not ultrapasteurized), more if you are using milk from Holstein cows
• 1/2 teaspoon unflavored high-vitamin or high-vitamin fermented cod liver oil or 1 teaspoon regular cod liver oil
• 1/4 teaspoon high-vitamin butter oil (optional)¹
• 1 teaspoon expeller-expressed sunflower oil¹
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil¹
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil¹
• 2 teaspoons Frontier brand nutritional yeast flakes¹
• 2 teaspoons gelatin¹
• 1-7/8 cups filtered water
• 1/4 teaspoon acerola powder^1,

1. Available from Radiant Life 888-593-8333, www.radiantlifecatalog.com.

Instructions

• Put 2 cups filtered water into a pyrex measuring pitcher and remove 2 tablespoons (that will give you 1-7/8 cups water).
• Pour about half of the water into a pan and place on a medium flame.
• Add the gelatin and lactose to the pan and let dissolve, stirring occasionally.
• When the gelatin and lactose are dissolved, remove from heat and add the remaining water to cool the mixture.
• Stir in the coconut oil and optional high-vitamin butter oil and stir until melted.
• Meanwhile, place remaining ingredients into a blender.
• Add the water mixture and blend about three seconds.
• Place in glass bottles or a glass jar and refrigerate.
• Before giving to baby, warm bottles by placing in hot water or a bottle warmer. NEVER warm bottles in a microwave oven.

Variation: Goat Milk Formula

Although goat milk is rich in fat, it must be used with caution in infant feeding as it lacks folic acid and is low in vitamin B₁₂, both of which are essential to the growth and development of the infant. Inclusion of nutritional yeast to provide folic acid is essential. To compensate for low levels of vitamin B₁₂, if preparing the Milk-Based Formula (above) with goat's milk, add 2 teaspoons organic raw chicken liver, frozen for 14 days, finely grated to the batch of formula.

If the only choice available to you is commercial milk, choose whole milk, preferably organic and unhomogenized, and culture it with a piima or kefir culture to restore enzymes (available from G.E.M. Cultures 253-588-2922 or http://www.gemcultures.com).

You can support your local health food store and get many of these ingredients there or online at radiant life.

Radiant Life also sells formula kits.

To find out where to get milk go to Real Milk Finder.

Remember you know your baby best and if you feel like what you are doing is not working, no matter what the pediatrician says  or what friends or family say. Do what you think is best for you and your baby. For me it was using homemade formula.

Any questions or experiences using this formula please comment below.