Creating the perfect baby nursery is a highlight of many pregnancies. It definitely was for me! I remember being obsessed with designing the Pinterest perfect nursery. And I’m pretty sure this was before Pinterest! I researched everything to make a beautiful and healthy sanctuary for my new daughter.
Prep Your Baby Nursery to be Healthy, Clean, and Toxin Free
What’s in the nursery that might not be good for a new baby?
There are so many products to consider when designing a nursery:
Paint-
First off, paint. You really want to look for low or no-VOC paint and nowadays, it’s easy to find no VOC paint that works really well. VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds. That’s what that really bad paint smell is. It off-gasses into the air, and it can linger for quite awhile. VOCs are found in a lot of building products and furniture, but paint is the easiest product to find VOC free. Also, if you have an older home or are refinishing furniture for your nursery, make sure you are safely removing any lead based paint that may be lingering.
Carpet and flooring-
Carpet and flooring are another major source of VOCs and other toxins. Babies spend A LOT of time on the floor. If there are chemicals or dust from the internal home environment, it’s an opportunity for those chemicals to get onto their little tiny hands and get into their mouth. If you’re installing new carpet or flooring, make sure you research the product for safety. It’s also super important to be using safe products to clean your carpets and floors, for the same reason, little hands are always in the mouth! If you’re using conventional carpet or floor cleaners, those are going to have fragrances and chemicals in them that aren’t great for the baby. There are lots of alternatives, like baking soda. You can sprinkle a little baking soda on your carpet or rugs and vacuum it up and it’s totally safe. You can find tons of great cleaning products in my shop or sign up for my Ultimate Safe Swap List.
Furniture
One thing I didn’t know before my daughter was born was how much babies like to chew! She literally chewed on the side of her crib! Wood furniture can be coated with harsh varnishes and off-gas VOCs, so you definitely want to research what your nursery furniture is made of and stained with.
Mattresses and bedding-
I highly recommend you listen to my podcast episode about mattresses and bedding to help you choose a mattress that doesn’t have formaldehyde or other glues that can off gas. Ideally, you want bedding to be organic. The material, where it comes from, and the manufacturing process can involve a host of chemicals. Even with washing, those chemicals can really linger in the product. I don’t know if you’ve ever bought new bedding and it has that awful petroleum smell that you just can’t wash away. What is that?!.
Toys and Decorations-
Now for all the cute things that make the nursery special! The decorations, the toys, can all be healthy and safe. Think especially about the ones that they’ll be touching. The stuffed animals they’ll be cuddling and toys they’ll play with (and put in their mouth). Minimizing plastic use is a good place to start. You don’t know if it’s BPA or another chemical that can leach out of the plastic over time. If it’s wood, again you want to make sure the paint or varnish doesn’t contain lead. Yes, some toys have lead paint on them! Silicone, natural wood and organic fabrics are all great options for little ones.
Baby Care Products-
Finally, you want to make sure you’re bringing in the safest products to use on that perfect, tiny baby body. We know that depending on the size of the molecules of the ingredients in our products, if you put it on skin it can get into the bloodstream. Baby lotion, soap, diapers and wipes all touch your baby’s skin and can have a huge impact. Children and their endocrine systems grow at an incredible rate and the endocrine system controls all the other organs in the body. We really want to make sure that we’re not using products with ingredients that are known endocrine disruptors and mess with the hormone system. It’s so important to do our due diligence and not fall for the baby marketing terms, like “Dermatologist Approved”, that don’t really mean anything. You can become a label reading expert with my easy, affordable course Detox By Design | The Home Method.
If I could go back and change some of the products that I used when my daughters were babies, I would do it in a heartbeat. I believed Dreft laundry detergent and Johnson and Johson baby lotion were safe. Now I know the truth. This is your time to learn how to read an ingredient label and bring in only safe products for your child. It’s not that hard once you learn a few simple tricks.
