Cleaning and Health Part 3: Protecting Your Baby's Health

Blog 3. Cleaning and Your Baby’s Health

 If you have a baby you know that he or she is the most important person in the household.  It seems like everything we do as parents is focused on protecting and nurturing our baby.

 But, sometimes we don’t know enough about or fully appreciate a potential danger to our child, and we inadvertently expose our child to an unanticipated risk. This is often the case with cleaning aids.  We are used to cleaning the house using them, and we may continue to use cleaning chemicals as we did before getting pregnant. Using these chemical cleaners may be putting our child’s health at risk even before they are born:

 “In a series of studies on parents and children, scientists at three British universities determined that children born to women who frequently used cleaning supplies in their homes while pregnant had a higher risk of persistent wheezing and reduced lung function” (Environmental Working Group*)

The cause of this danger is due to the immaturity of the baby’s bodily defense mechanisms:

“The immature brain is far more vulnerable to toxic exposures than that of an adult. Mature brains have a barrier of cells that restrict the entry of chemicals from the bloodstream into brain tissue, but that protective barrier is absent in the fetus and only reaches maturity in the first year after birth” (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Harvard University*)

So, how can you protect your baby’s long-term health and still keep your home reasonably clean without the use of dangerous chemicals? I would suggest you start with a modest selection of e-cloth cleaning cloths from their extensive line of products. Start with a Bathroom Cloth, a Kitchen Cloth, a General Purpose Cloth, and a Glass & Polishing Cloth. These four cloths cost around $32 and are guaranteed for 300 washes, so if you put them in the washing machine every week, they will last for about six years.

After you discover the incredible cleaning power of these cloths, you will probably want to consider purchasing an e-cloth mop ($40) for chemical-free cleaning of your hard floors (like kitchen and bathroom floors) and a Floor and Wall Duster ($25) for general purpose dusting. You may also decide to purchase some of e-cloth’s products specifically engineered for cleaning up around baby: the e-cloth toy and nursery cloth, the table and high chair cloth, and the stroller and car seat cloth.

You will more than make up for the cost of these e-cloths through your savings on chemical cleaning supplies, Swiffer refills, and other cleaning aids.

“By reducing [a child’s] exposure to harmful chemicals, you help prevent illnesses and conditions like asthma, developmental disorders, and even some forms of cancer.” (Children’s Environmental Health Network*)

Just recently, Baby Care by e-cloth was awarded The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval. This distinguished recognition is not given lightly; it is given only to products that meet the highest of standards.

Over an eight-week period, Baby Care by e-cloth products were put through rigorous, true-to-life testing with industry experts, some of the world’s most respected authorities in the field of child rearing and development and the toughest critics of all, real families. The testers are encouraged to play with, read about, and judge by the reactions of the children, each product’s quality.

“Give any parent the chance to spend less time cleaning and more time knowing that their child is not being exposed to harmful chemicals and they will beat a path to your door,” said David Katzner, President of The National Parenting Center. “Our product testing division, run by independent testers including parents, educators and panelists of The National Parenting Center, has determined that [Baby Care by e-cloth is] worthy of this special recognition.”

But what does this mean for you as a consumer?

Being a parent is stressful. With the endless aisles and websites of baby products, deciding on what is best to use on and around your child is not always straightforward. Knowing what products are tried-and-true and recommended by the experts alleviates a lot of the worry that goes into the decision making process.

Products that have earned this Seal from such a trusted source have earned the respect and loyalty of real-life users. You can trust that e-cloth products live up to their lofty claims of high-performance and safety.

“A preservative used in disposable baby wipes and other products is causing an increasing number of cases of allergic contact dermatitis. Methylisothiazolinone (MI) has been used in a range of cosmetic and personal products, including disposable wet wipes, shampoos, conditioners, body washes, moisturizers, sunscreens and deodorants, as well as in paints, cooling tower water and cutting oils since the early 2000s. Dr Jennifer Cahill, a dermatologist with the Skin and Cancer Foundation Inc, and her team, have included MI in their baseline patch test series for allergies since 2011, after European reports of increased numbers of cases of MI contact allergy.” (Excerpt from Skin & Cancer Foundation, March 3, 2014*)

And MI is not the only chemical putting babies at risk.

“Hundreds of toxins, including industrial chemicals, pesticides, and other pollutants may be contaminating some U.S. newborns, according to a small study. In a study of newborn blood released by the Environmental Working Group, an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants were found in umbilical cord blood from 10 babies. The babies were born in August and September of 2004 in U.S. hospitals. The newborns’ blood was collected after the umbilical cord was cut, according to the EWG, which may indicate that the infants were exposed to the compounds while still in the womb.” (Excerpt from WebMD, July 14, 2005.)

So, what is the Bottom Line for parents?

• e-cloth is scientifically better.
• e-cloth cleans better.
• e-cloth is better for your family’s health.
• e-cloth is better for the environment.
• e-cloth is much less expensive than disposable products in the long run

Just try them for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

*Knowing how important your child’s health is to you, I want you to know that you can read the article or study being cited in full by going to www.ecloth.com/babycarequotes.