In the past seven years, here are just a few things I have thoroughly researched...keep in mind this is years of research, not something I just started obsessing about.
1. Carseats
We always buckle up our children. Sydney outgrew her infant car seat (Graco SnugRide) by height (26 inches) at 5 months! Her weight was probably only around 17 lbs. or so. So, we had to move her to a convertible seat. I found the best one on the market that could stay rear-facing the longest...33 lbs.! That was the Britax Marathon. Sydney stayed rear-facing until she was about 2 years old, once she reached the 33 lbs., and no sooner. She is now in the Britax Regent, at the age of 6 years old (on June 8th). This seat will work for her until she is 80 lbs. or 53 inches!!! Currently, Sydney weighs 50 lbs. and 49 inches. Gianna is small for her age. At her last checkup, she weighed 18 lbs. and measured 27 inches. Even though she doesn't weigh a lot, she has passed up the maximum height for the infant car seat, so it's time to move her to Sydney's Marathon.
Why is facing rearward so important?
"Babies have heavy heads and fragile necks. The neck bones are soft, and the ligaments are stretchy. If the baby is facing forward in a frontal crash (the most common and most severe type of crash), the body is held back by the straps, but the head is not. The head is thrust forward, stretching the neck. Older children and adults wearing safety belts may end up with temporary neck injuries. But a baby's neck bones are soft and actually separate during a crash, and the spinal cord can tear. It's like yanking an electrical plug out of a socket by the cord and breaking the wires.
In contrast, when a baby rides facing rearward, the whole body--head, neck, and torso--is cradled by the back of the safety seat in a frontal crash. Facing rearward also protects the baby better in other types of crashes, particularly side impacts. For more information, go to "Rear-facing vs. forward-facing.""
And, did you know that carseats expire?
Here are a few links about car seat expiration:
Carseat.org - Age of Safety Seats
An Expiration Date on a Child Seat? Huh?
Interesting, but not sure how accurate...
2. Bottles
Even though I breastfeed exclusively for the first 6 months, I have occasionally used a breastpump and given the expressed breastmilk to my babies in a bottle. This is usually reserved for someone else to do. I mean, that's one of the many benefits of breastfeeding - convenience of having milk on demand and not having to use bottles. Anyway, just last year, I came across this information on BPA in baby bottles and formula containers. It didn't affect me at the time, as I did not have a baby and therefore, was not using bottles; however, I knew some people who were. It was too late for me to do anything about the bottles I used for Sydney, but I knew I would need this information soon, with Gianna due to be born in just a few months. I ended up tossing all of my old Avent bottles (from Sydney), returned a few unopened boxes to Target and purchased one 9 oz. Born Free glass bottle. I'm not saying this is the best bottle on the market, just the #1 BPA-free bottle at the time I was shopping. Besides, I rarely use bottles now anyway.
Here is the full report on BPA and baby bottles.
Baby’s Toxic Bott le, Bisphenol A Leaching from Popular Baby Bottles
There are reports out now saying that BPA in baby bottles is nothing to be worried about. See also U.S. FDA. Whatever. I do my best with the information I have at the time. And while I try my best to make informed decisions, as well as pass along any information I find to those closest to me, I try really hard not to push my belief system off on others. Please forgive me if I have...
3. SIDS Prevention
When I was pregnant with Sydney, I came across the Halo Sleepsack Wearable Blankets. We purchased two right away. A yellow one (0-6 months) and a blue one (6-12 months), since we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl. Once Sydney arrived, we purchased one more. This time a pink one (12-18 months). Not a SIDS cure, but one step in the right direction. We always placed Sydney on her back, even though A) it woke her up from having been asleep in our arms B) she never slept like that for more than 2 hours at a time C) she just didn't like sleeping on her back. We know this, because once she could roll over from her back to her stomach, sometime between 5 and 6 months, she all of a sudden started sleeping through the night. On her stomach. With her sleepsack on.
Last year, shortly after Gianna was born, someone from our community lost their baby to SIDS. He was a healthy 4-month old precious little boy, that died suddenly in his sleep. Having had to see and hold my own dead baby, Isaac, I just couldn't imagine the thought of having to go through that all over again, but this time with a baby that we had several weeks to get to know even better. My heart broke for this family. I cried for them. Once again, I couldn't sleep. I was up at night, holding my own baby, and praying for this family. Even though I didn't know what they were going through or exactly how they felt, I knew it was devastating to them. And now, once again, I had fear that the same thing could happen to my baby. She was already sleeping in her crib at this point, for 4-6 hours at a time. Now, all I wanted to do was hold her all night or at least stay awake and watch her sleep. And when I could, I did. There were times I even noticed her breathing pattern slow to a complete halt and she would lay there, still and breathless, and I would shake her until she moved or grunted and started breathing again. It wasn't until my niece and Goddaughter was experiencing sleep apnea and had to be placed on a monitor to alert her parents if she stopped breathing for 20 seconds, that I found out this is a rather common occurrence in newborns. Their breathing patterns sometimes cause them to stop breathing for 5, 10, even 15 seconds at a time! Scary!! It only poses a problem and becomes severe when they stop for longer than that. SIDS research became my next quest. And it was then that I came across a theory of what might cause SIDS.
Here are some links regarding this theory. You can decide for yourself.
Prevent SIDS website
Prevent SIDS blog
Together, Mark & I decided to go ahead and purchase a Babesafe Mattress Cover. A scam? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, it wasn't a huge amount of money to debate over. Whether or not this will prevent SIDS, it only cost us $35 for peace of mind. And, believe, me, it was worth every penny. I was able to sleep again, which lowered my anxiety and helped me be a better Mommy!
Now, on to the 4th and most recent research topic.
4. Baby bath products. Yes, that's right, soap, lotion, powder, toothpaste, etc.
For a while, you couldn't even turn on the news or read the paper (neither of which I do) without hearing about all the toxins and cancer-causing agents found in baby soap products. Read the full article here. So, I came across this Safety Guide to Children's Personal Care Products. I need to warn you, though, the Cosmetics Database website can become daunting. There seem to be some discrepancies and contradictions. But I was able to narrow it down to 2 organic baby soaps (shampoo/wash), 1 lotion (not listed on that site) and an herbal insect repellant.
Now, all the research in the world won't prevent bad things from happening. I get that. I also know that we ingest toxins in our food and water, daily. The very water we bathe in is probably loaded with chlorine. I know the air we breathe is polluted. But most of those things are out of my control. I can't worry about them. But, like I keep saying, when information presents itself to me, I have to do what I can do with it. And, if it helps me sleep better at night, then it's worth it to me and to our family.
Just in case you are one of "those moms" who likes to stay on top of baby products on the market, or even if you just want to get honest reviews on a product you are considering buying, you might be interested in this website. It is the ultimate baby products message board where people share ideas, comment on products and get help from other parents. It is actually a forum developed as a supplement to the book, Baby Bargains, by Alan and Denise Fields, which is primarily about how to save $$$ on all the baby products you need for a new baby. It also narrows down the needs from the wants, which we all need to be reminded of from time to time.
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If you have actually read this entire post, you must think I just have way too much time on my hands. Simply not true! The truth is, I have already done the work, bookmarked the sites and tested the products. I am just trying to save someone else the trouble of having to spend the time looking into this. Maybe you think I'm crazy at this point. Obsessive, even. But keep in mind that my goal is to make the best decisions for my children that I can. And I haven't even discussed the most important decisions we make on a daily basis to protect the salvation of their souls...i.e. praying, taking them to Church and receiving the Sacraments. That I will save for another post. Have a great day!
