Safe Cleaning Products for You and Your Baby

As soon as I became pregnant, an entire world of do's and don'ts opened its doors. I was inundated with pregnancy products, lifestyle suggestions, food recommendations -- you name it, there was a pregnancy version available. It was quite overwhelming and confusing at first, but then I asked myself what was right for my pregnancy and my developing baby, and I started doing some research of my own.

One area of concern was cleaning products. When I was pregnant and opened a bottle of cleaning solution, the smell was often overpowering (thank you heightened sense of smell during pregnancy!). I remember reading a statement from one of the pediatric associations recommending that a mask, and gloves be worn, and to well-ventilate the room while cleaning, and I thought, “This is crazy—why am I wearing a hazmat suit to wipe off my kitchen counter?”. I tried to research what chemicals were less toxic than others but eventually decided that was just silly. Why would I expose myself to the best of the worst of something when I didn't have to? So, off I went, into the land of eco-friendly cleaning products—and I haven't returned.

My first stop was switching to more environmentally friendly products -- shampoos, dish soaps, and laundry detergent. The skin is the body's largest organ system and can easily absorb chemicals. By using products that contained more natural ingredients (things I could pronounce, not ones I had to look up online), I was more comfortable with what I was surrounding myself and exposing my baby to.

When it came to cleaning products I wanted to make sure that I was using something that worked, something that would get things clean, and eliminate bacteria. After trying a few different "natural" products and researching the efficiency of the ingredients, I decided that plain old white vinegar was the way to go for my family. Studies have been done and results show that vinegar is 90% effective against mold and 99.9% effective against bacteria. It is cost effective and really easy to make a solution with. I keep a spray bottle with approximately three parts vinegar and one part water that I use for all general cleaning (I eyeball the parts based on the size of the bottle/container).

I soak fruits and veggies in vinegar and water before eating them, too, and I even use the solution to clean the Squooshireusable food pouches I designed.

My very curious four year-old loves to help me clean. I, of course, keep all my cleaning solutions out of his reach, but it does give me a sense of calm knowing that there aren't bottles of chemicals in my home he could get into.

Sources: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/12/26/48hours/main259812.shtml

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