When I immigrated to Canada a couple of years ago, I was happy to leave the busy world of The Netherlands behind. In that country, everything is arranged for and everything is taxed. Shortly after my arrival in Canada, my wife became pregnant. We were very excited about adding a new member to our family. And with pregnancy comes the joy of buying all kinds of baby furniture, toys, clothing and baby care products.
One of the biggest differences I have seen so far is the way babies get delivered. In Canada, most women give birth in a hospital, whereas in Holland special trained nurses visit your house. After you have given birth, the nurse visits you twice a day and teaches you how to take care of your newborn. In Canada, most women are on their own.
One day my wife came home with a big box of essential baby care products. As always, the first thing we did when a new products enters our home is to look at the list of ingredients. The first products (Penatal Creme, a very common baby skin care cream) had as its first listed ingredient Petroleum. Petroleum based creams are another example of how a commonly used baby product may actually create problems in some case. Petroleum can block pores and that can lead to a build of sebum and oils in a babies skin. This can lead to irritation, inflammation and the possible build up of the bacteria responsible for acne. Normally I am quite willing to negotiate about almost everything, but this time I said: NO, we are not using gasoline related products on our newborn.
A new study suggests that baby lotion, baby powder, and baby shampoo may be exposing babies to potentially harmful chemicals called phthalates. Phthalates are used to make plastics flexible and stabilize fragrances, and are found in a plethora of consumer products including toys, personal care products and medical equipment.
“At this time, we do not know what the potential long-term health effects might be, but there is a large body of animal studies to suggest developmental and reproductive toxicity (from phthalates) and a few human studies with changes in health outcomes as well,” Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana told Reuters Health (February 2008)”.
Why are so many care givers concerned about only using natural baby skin care? There is evidence that suggests some commonly used infant products may actually do more harm than good for baby skin leading or aggravating skin conditions like cradle cap, rashes and infant acne. The differences between adult skin and baby skin can help to illustrate why some baby products can be so damaging. When a new born comes into the world their skin develops a protective barrier. This barrier keeps out many harsh environmental elements like allergens and bacteria. Harsh detergents may strip a babies skin of much of that protection and may increase the likelihood that damage can occur. Very young infants and premature babies may be at a higher risk.
By: Chris De Feijter
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