Have you ever noticed that baby products all kind of have this powdery, sweet, clean linen smell? That we all probably have nostalgic memories of the smell of Johnson & Johnson’s tear-free baby shampoo? What if I were to tell you that those scents and fragrances were actually neurotoxins causing brain damage and sensory impairment? Doesn’t that sound scary and maybe something you’d like to avoid putting onto your brand new baby?
Yeah. I thought so. We do better when we know better. So I’ve compiled some information as a jumping point for you as cognizant and aware parents to do a little more research on how to offer healthier alternatives to caring for your home and baby. For some of you out there this information might be redundant so just take the gentle reminder that we can’t ever stop being vigilant. I love to encourage parents to aim to do as much scent free babying as possible or find ways to remove synthetic scents in their routines. Here is a little more information on how you might do it (and why it might be a priority for you). If this isn't in alignment with your postpartum parenting plan don't stress! We as parents do the best that we can. And sometimes just getting a baby washed is good enough!
:: Scent Free Babying ::
The FDA approves tons of products that simply cannot be tested for certain things like neurotoxins because of the proprietary and patented scent formulas. For more information and reasons why someone might choose to go scent free you can check out this article.
In order to help avoid the more harmful products with higher levels of neurotoxins and make informed and healthy choices for your family I wanted to share the EWG.org website with you. You can look up products to see what their ratings are to see if they are good options for you and baby. They only do things that go directed onto and into bodies but from their site you can find brands that get more optimal scores and are dedicated to providing low/no additives.
Beyond the neurotoxin piece, our bodies are amazing machines! And the natural smells we make for our baby and our baby makes for us help to regulate hormones. Meaning that when you and baby just smell like yourselves your bodies can truly take in that smell of familiar. Of oxytocin. Of serotonin. It helps with milk production and flow, keeping postpartum mood disorders at bay, and helps to set the new rhythm of your next couple of months. It's amazing how intoxicating a baby head can be!
Things we use at my house and I completely recommend are:
For baby shampoo and body wash: Cerave Baby , Made Of , and Tubby Todd
For Cleaners: Attitude is an amazing brand dish soap, laundry detergent, and household cleaners. Dr Bronner's unscented/baby (though this is sometimes really harsh on soft baby skin so only use for cleaning toys and cleaning) and Sal Suds (only use diluted!), and Ecover Dishwasher Pods
But there are great products out there and it's fun and shocking to see what things on our shelves are rated!
This is always a fun topic to chat about so if you want to send us an email for other recommendations we would love to share them!