Potentially dangerous chemicals are used in the manufacturing of most modern textile (fabric) products. Although the levels of these products that are allowed to remain in the item when it is sold are regulated, different people have different reactions to them. Infants are especially vulnerable to negative effects, as their systems are not as strong as an adult’s.

It is possible to produce fabrics using ‘green’ or ‘natural’ methods that do not employ harsh chemicals. However, unless the materials that go into these green processes are also free of chemical intervention, there’s still a chance that harmful level of chemicals remain in them. A product that has the organic seal means that no chemicals were used at any point in the growing or processing of the item.

It’s no long hard to find these types of materials, thanks to the growing interest in human health and eco-friendliness that they offer. Major department stores now offer these products in many cases, and if not, there are hundreds of online retailers. And there are many interesting, mineral or plant-based colors to choose from, too.

While it can be impractical, either financially or logistically, to provision your family with organically-grown everything, a set of sheets and a blanket for each person should not overly burden most households. These products do not cost much more than their traditionally-produced counterparts, and they last a long time.

While blankets, sheets, and other materials that are right against your infant’s skin are what most people think of, there are also organic crib mattresses and other equipment. These are made from untreated fibers such as cotton, and food-grade plastics such as polyethylene for the waterproof types. They are made flame-retardant with a mixture of baking soda, cellulose and silica, all naturally-occurring plant-based substances and minerals.

The long-term effects of low-level toxin exposure in humans is unknown in most cases. Although the government regulates the use of these toxins based on animal studies and some acute human studies, little or no research has been done with most chemicals regarding long-term exposure of humans to ‘safe’ levels. Avoiding these toxins altogether is the only other option, and is often the preferred choice for young children, who are the most vulnerable.

Aside from the personal health benefits that can be obtained for you and your children, organic baby bedding offers a chance to be good to the earth. Modern farming methods put chemicals into the soil and water, destroy natural ecosystems containing both beneficial and harmful bacteria, and produce damaging products that enter the atmosphere. Farming organically means working with the land and the natural ecosystems, and is what people had been doing for thousands of years before modern chemicals were invented.

Potentially dangerous chemicals are used in the manufacturing of most modern textile (fabric) products. Although the levels of these products that are allowed to remain in the item when it is sold are regulated, different people have different reactions to them. Infants are especially vulnerable to negative effects, as their systems are not as strong as an adult’s.

It is possible to produce fabrics using ‘green’ or ‘natural’ methods that do not employ harsh chemicals. However, unless the materials that go into these green processes are also free of chemical intervention, there’s still a chance that harmful level of chemicals remain in them. A product that has the organic seal means that no chemicals were used at any point in the growing or processing of the item.

It isn’t hard to find these products anymore, as they are more and more widely available from even large department stores. And if you can’t find them locally, there are hundreds of retailers on the internet. They come in many interesting colors, ranging from the natural off-white of pure wool to the vibrant colors made with mineral and plant-based dyes.

There’s no reason that your older child, or yourself, shouldn’t benefit from organically-grown materials, as well. Even if you can’t afford to purchase solely organically-grown food, there’s no reason it can’t make up a portion of your diet. And long-lasting materials like organic baby blankets, sheets, and mattresses, might well be worth the splurge.

While blankets, sheets, and other materials that are right against your infant’s skin are what most people think of, there are also organic crib mattresses and other equipment. These are made from untreated fibers such as cotton, and food-grade plastics such as polyethylene for the waterproof types. They are made flame-retardant with a mixture of baking soda, cellulose and silica, all naturally-occurring plant-based substances and minerals.

Removing as many chemicals as possible from your child’s environment during the early part of their life can be critical to preventing long-term damage. Exposure to many of these so called ‘safe’ chemicals has caused serious problems in animal studies, and may be doing the same to humans – it is just more difficult to test. And although you can’t control the world, removing these products from the places where your child spends the most time might be incredibly important.

Choosing to support the industry that makes organic baby bedding possible also means leaving a healthier earth for your children to grow up in. These types of production allow ecosystems to remain intact, rather than destroying large parts of them in order to increase crop yield, like modern traditional farming does. It also keeps toxins out of the water, soil, and atmosphere, where they can affect far more area than just the crop fields where they are used.

To choose appropriate organic baby bedding, focus on a mattress protector, crib sheet and breathable bumper, if necessary. Blankets are also a great option for swaddling baby, although they should not be placed with baby to sleep. As safety is the main concern, opting for organics is one of the best ways to create a safe and secure environment for baby to sleep each night. Organic materials have not been treated with harmful pesticides or chemicals, which means you don’t have to worry about toxins leeching into the air.

There are a variety of materials that are used for organic baby bedding such as organic cotton, wool or bamboo. All types of baby bedding can be purchased in an organic form, including the crib mattress, blankets, crib sheet and bumper. The fact that these materials have not been treated also reduces the risk that the bedding will cause irritation or allergic reactions in baby. And without harmful chemicals, baby won’t be breathing in the fumes from plastics that are commonly found in mattresses.

When choosing a type of organic baby bedding, you’ll find that there are differences among each one. Organic cotton is very soft and easy to care for. Since more manufacturers are offering organic cotton products, they have come down in price a bit, making them an economical choice for organic products. Organic cotton is often available in neutral, earthy tones such as green and beige, as the brighter colors have more dyes and therefore, more chemicals.

Wool is also an excellent choice for organic baby bedding, as it’s naturally resistant to mold and mildew and it has moisture wicking properties, keeping baby cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Wool is long-lasting and durable as well. Finally, bamboo is an excellent choice for the environmentally-conscious, as it comes from a renewable source and is easy to obtain. Bamboo is resistant to mold, mildew and bacteria, and is exceptionally soft.

A newborn baby spends most of its day in bed. Aside from eating and a brief time playing, he is usually napping (or supposed to be napping!). This is why it is imperative that a baby’s mattress be the best it can be—which means buying an organic crib mattress.

Organic crib mattresses are usually more expensive, it’s true, but with good reason. The natural fibers they are made of and the reduced treatments in chemicals they undergo result in softer material for your baby and stronger fibers that mean the mattress lasts longer, making it a good deal.

Organic crib mattresses also have proven to reduce dust and allergens, protecting your baby’s new airways and reducing the chance of respiratory problems, including asthma. Regular mattresses are treated with numerous harmful substances including dyes, chemicals, and flame retardants. In fact, some flame retardant chemicals used in baby mattresses in the United States have been outlawed in Europe because of studies showing links to SIDS and even cancer. A mattress made with polyurethane, which is a mix of organic compounds used today, is believed to cause breathing and skin problems.

The only way to avoid these in today’s mass-produced crib mattress market is to buy an organic crib mattress for your child. Although the initial cost may be more compared to other mattresses, organic crib mattresses offer a much better deal, as they are safer, softer, stronger, and more durable than other mattresses. Make the right choice for your family and buy organic.

In the past humans have practiced some extremely horrible customs such as, taking arsenic in small doses in the 16-19 centuries to make our skin pale, bleeding or leaching the sick to get rid of the infected blood, and burying meat in salt to preserve it for later consumption. All of these are easily identifiable as unhealthy and impractical ways of treating our bodies now, but at the time seemed not only sound but innovative.

Future generations, I’m sure, will look back and things like steroids in livestock, harsh chemical dyes used on fabrics, hormones in milk and even the harmful fillings used in adult and baby crib mattresses, and wonder how we could ever have thought such things were OK for us. They will read stories of wide spread obesity, growing numbers in types of cancer and cancer patients as well as other disease related deaths and think “Why didn’t they see that what they were doing was killing them?”.

If you take only one of these items listed, let’s say steroids in milk, and amplify it to list the possible health links you would find:

• Little girls bodies maturing to menstruate as early as age 7 and 8
• Early Sexual Maturity
• Early breast growth

These are but a few of the phenomenon that could very likely be linked to the hormones in milk and milk products. Are we robbing our little girls of being little girls?

So how to we proceed? Now that we are clued in as to the consequences our everyday choices have on our bodies, we can begin to change and see a decline in the what has been a rapid incline of unhealthy living. One way to go about that is to live organically.

Organic living is more than simply buying organic foods at the supermarket. Growing and eating only foods without chemical fertilizer’s and pesticides is the beginning of healthy living, but we need to realize the many areas where we can choose organic. Ways likes purchasing:

1. Organic kids clothing
2. Dye free toys
3. Non lead based paints
4. and even local organic fruits and vegetables.

Making those choices even when they are more expensive shows a great shift in our thinking. This thinking is moving us toward being a healthier country. Of course there are several more changes that need to be made (two words fast food) but if we start in the grocery store, move on to clothing and bedding and then shift into the other details of our lives, we can see a brighter future for generations to come.

Organic baby mattresses are made from all natural, all organic ingredients.  This means there’s nothing there that will cause your baby to have an allergic reaction to the mattress.  Even if it looks like a dye was used, that dye will have been made using organic materials.  Most of these organic baby mattresses are made out of cotton.  This makes the mattress nice and plush in addition to making it hypoallergenic.  Many of these organic baby mattresses are also flame retardant and water proof, making them even more useful and safe for your child.  However, they do not use harmful flame retardants, so there’s no fear of chemicals damaging your baby.

One of the great things about organic baby mattresses is that they aren’t really that much more expensive than standard baby mattresses.  Likewise, since green products are becoming more and more popular, you can now find organic baby mattresses in more furniture and department stores.  In the past, this wasn’t true, but now it is much easier to outfit your baby’s bed with an organic mattress.

1. Buy Extra Sheets

During their first year newborn babies can create many messes and it is always prudent to be prepared to deal with them as they happen.  One of the best ways to be prepared is to have anywhere from 1 to 4 extra sheets ready to go when messes occur, and they well.

2. Make Sure Everything Fits

Although most baby bedding is made to a standardized crib size it is still a good idea to go ahead and make sure that everything fits before the baby is born, this will give you time to make any changes if necessary.  You really want to aim for a snug fit from the crib bedding to the mattress for the most safety conscience setting.  Once you have a good snug fit then go ahead and wash all the bedding both for hygiene and also that washing will help make the materials soft for your child’s comfort.  Remember that baby’s skin is much more sensitive then ours.

3. Planning for the Future

Here are some thoughts on budgeting.  There are many purchases that you can really skimp on when baby planning and others that it is wise to invest a little more.  Baby bedding falls into the later category.  Most standard sized baby bedding will seamlessly transfer from cribs to toddler beds, this means you really can get much more use out of it then just the infant stage.

So you would think that with all of the crazy super important decisions that you are called to make while having a baby that buying baby clothes would be a piece of cake, well guess what, it’s not. Buying the wrong baby clothes can potentially stunt your child’s growth, lead to difficult teenage years, and cause diabetes. Now, while none of those things are true it is still an important part of preparing for your child’s  time in this world. As a father I can honestly say that when Ruby (daughter) came into this world I had no idea how the respective sizes of baby clothes worked. It was a sphere of knowledge somewhat akin to women’s shoe sizes, by that I mean that it is different then my sizes, probably important to someone else, and something I don’t care about at all. That being said, I wanted to take a moment to write some tips on buying baby clothes to save you from some of the bumbling mistakes and eventual research I had to do to figure it out for myself.

1. Function is King

There are some pretty awesome outfits out there for your newborn or toddler and many of them are completely ridiculous when it comes to actual utility. I don’t care how awesome that baby biker or cowboy outfit is, if you cannot get in there quickly to defuse whatever diaper bomb is cooking they are not real baby clothes. Look for clothes with a snap-crotch for easy access; you will be glad you did. As for the top half of things weight your choices towards necks that are stretchy and or have buttons to widen the opening. Your baby will love you more for not trying to forcibly squeeze their head through anything more then is necessary, and you want your baby to love you, don’t you?

2. Think Season Appropriate

When purchasing baby clothes before the child’s birth, spare a moment to figure out what the general temperature will be when that kid meets the world and shop accordingly. How would you feel if you went to visit some family in January and you lost your bags, and as chance would have it  also happened to be naked when you got there. It would be pretty great if your hosts had some nice warm clothes for you to wear.

3. Sizes

For most new parents this is where things get a bit weird. Baby clothes sizes are by age, so for example 0-3 months, 1 year, 2 year, etc. Of course, this system is insane, but it is the best that we have come up with so far. I mean can you imagine if we stuck with the baby clothes model of sizing throughout life? Shopping for a size 34 year could be wacky and potentially embarrassing. Anyway, the rule of thumb with baby clothes is to aim for a little big at the start (babies grow) and then once you get to know the baby, assuming you like him or her, and feel like buying them more things, you will know where they fit in relation to the universal age size scale.

And so to sum things up, the best way to buy baby clothes is to use common sense. Think of the weather, remember that babies grow so aim for bigger rather then smaller, and the most important thing is function.

It amazes me how little testing and thought is put into  products these days, regardless of the potential ramifications. The almighty dollar and penny pinching on every area of manufacturing seems to be the only concern. We need to hold companies like these accountable instead of just slapping their wrists.

When baby clothing, bedding, and other baby products arecreated, serious testing should be done before the products are sold in stores.