Issues > May/June 2004 (#102) > Better Basics for Your Baby's Room

Better Basics for Your Baby's Room

Like many women, I discovered unknown maternal instincts when I stared for the first time at the ultrasound screen and the blurry shape of the tiny stowaway I was harboring suddenly swam into view. Those instincts inspired me to eat healthy food, take up yoga, avoid smoky rooms—and shop. Brand-new baby products called to me from catalogues and showrooms: cribs with their colorful ruffled linens, charming tot-size furniture and shelves. What many mothers don't realize, though, is that permanent-press sheets are treated with carcinogenic formaldehyde and that plywood furnishings can release harmful petrochemical volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air the baby breathes.

Because babies are small and their immune, hormonal and nervous systems are still developing, environmental pollutants affect them more than they might an adult. And if you're pregnant, you should not sand, paint or apply finishes, because exposures to chemicals can affect the fetus.

"I look at my children in this world full of environmental contaminants and wish I could make them as safe as they were in utero," says Tisha Paster, a California mother of three.

Following are some gentler products for a baby's or child's room.

Cribs

All new cribs must meet federal Consumer Products Safety Commission guidelines. But these guidelines don't address materials such as composite woods made with formaldehyde, or paints or polyurethanes containing fungicides and other additives that you really don't want a baby chewing on. You might consider a crib such as Pacific Rim Woodworking's, made from solid maple and either left unfinished or finished with pure, raw tung and linseed oils. The crib can be converted to a toddler bed.

Mattresses and Bedding

Most conventional mattresses are made from polyurethane foam, nylon, polyester and vinyl—all derived from petroleum—and are treated with anti-microbial and fire-, wetness- and stain-retarding chemicals, including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PDBEs). These chemicals, which Europe has already banned two varieties of, accumulate in breast milk and in fat, and have been shown to inhibit brain development in animals. As alternatives, there are crib mattresses made with organic cotton, wool padding and natural rubber and without chemical treatments that can irritate skin or offgas into the air.

The most common cause of eczema rashes are food allergies, often to something a breast-feeding mother has eaten, according to Harvey Karp, M.D., author of The Happiest Toddler on the Block ($13.95, Bantam, 2004). But "the number-two cause is irritation" from soaps, laundry detergent or chemical treatments on bedding—especially sheets, which touch the skin directly, Dr. Karp says. Tisha Paster bought an organic, untreated mattress and linens when her newborn daughter developed severe eczema. Although Paster wasn't sure what was causing her daughter's rash, she wanted to eliminate as many potential irritants as she could, and the eczema has improved.

If you do buy a conventional (and less expensive) mattress, let it air out as much as possible before the baby arrives. A mattress cover made of untreated cotton flannel can provide a comfy barrier between baby and any offgassing chemicals, while protecting against minor leaks. A wool pad, naturally water-resistant, beneath the sheet provides an excellent second line of defense. Janine Kourakos, a first-time mother in Brooklyn, bought one of these for her daughter, Sofia. "I couldn't bear to have anything artificial touching her perfect skin," she explains, adding that the wool "feels warm in winter and cool in summer." The American SIDS Institute recommends that parents put nothing (including comforters, blankets and top sheets) in a crib besides the baby and the clothes she's wearing.

Other Furniture

Pacific Rim makes all-wood, child-size tables, chairs and more. If you are tempted to splurge on just one really stunning piece, a hardwood rocking chair—unlike upholstered ones —will still look good when your child is old enough to cuddle her or his own baby. Gary Weeks, a woodworker, makes curvy rockers of cherry, maple and mahogany certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as coming from sustainably managed forests. Another way to preserve forests is to buy secondhand. Small bookshelves, low enough for a child to reach, can often be found at flea markets for very little money. With a fresh coat of no-VOC paint, a yard-sale find will be as good as new.

Carpets

Rugs can pad a crawling infant's knees and provide soft landings for a toddler adjusting to life as a biped. But synthetic-carpeting systems, and even most wool ones, are treated with stainproofing chemicals, mothproofing pesticides and more. A 1994 EPA analysis discovered toluene and xylene, both neurotoxic substances, and benzene, a known carcinogen, in some carpet samples tested.

Wall-to-wall can't be taken up for a good thorough wash, and pollutants can settle deeper than vacuums can reach. Dust mites and their microscopic feces are a common trigger for asthma, rates of which have doubled in children since 1980. (An estimated 6.3 million children now suffer from the disease.) Pesticides and herbicides sprayed on lawns, lead dust from your neighbors' renovation project—anything blown or tracked into your house—can settle into carpet for years. In 1992 and 1993, researchers from the University of Southern California and the Southwest Research Institute found DDT buried in the carpeting of 25 percent of the 550 houses they tested—and this was 20 years after the pesticide had been banned. And since most synthetic carpets last only about ten years, approximately 2.22 million tons of old carpet is sent to landfill annually in the U.S.

Since babies spend a good deal of time on the floor, these are best left mostly bare and thus easy to clean, with washable natural-fiber rugs on a non-slip pad here and there. Susan Snover weaves colorful area rugs from recycled fabrics—old clothing and bits of leftover wool and upholstery from manufacturers. You can also buy untreated wool broadloom, finished with an edge.

Another option: Buying vintage, a form of recycling. When our nearly new and expensive wall-to-wall became impossibly stained with spilled juice and other toddler accidents (I won't elaborate), we replaced it with an old, all-wool Tunisian kilim in a bright palette that, unlike our late wall-to-wall, can be rolled up and sent out to be cleaned.

Flooring

If you have wood floors in good repair, they can be refinished with a low-VOC product such as Polyureseal BP made by AFM Safecoat. For new flooring, Christina Erickson of Green By Design, a design firm in Santa Monica, California, suggests true linoleum, made of all-natural materials: sawdust, linseed oils, pigments and a jute backing. It's soft underfoot, and easy to clean. A linoleum floor for a child's room, Erickson says, "can be made colorful and fun with a contrasting border, a collage or any sort of pattern."

In much the same vein is cork, a natural insulator of both heat and sound that's also soft enough to absorb the inevitable bumps of childhood. Cork is harvested just once in a decade from the outer bark of oaks that grow in arid regions of Portugal, Spain, Algeria and Morocco. Flooring is made from the scraps remaining after bottle corks are punched out.

"Cork flooring has some really attractive environmental qualities," says Alex Wilson, editor of Environmental Building News, but he warns against tiles composed from just a thin cork veneer stuck to a vinyl backing, and that some cork flooring may include binders containing formaldehyde. But Jeremy Kanyo of the Environmental Home Center, a distributor of green building materials in Seattle, assures that most cork products "meet or exceed Europe's stringent guidelines for the amount of allowable toxic emissions."

Taking the time to create a green nursery does add another layer to your prenatal preoccupations. But then, knowing that your baby is getting a healthy start will give you one less thing to worry about.

Baby-Room Products

Pacific Rim Woodworking crib is $639.95 at www.abundantearth.com (888-513-2784); or the www.ecochoices.com conversion kit costs $120. For other furniture and retailers, see pacificrimwoodworking.com. For used baby furniture, see www.urbanbaby.com and www.craigslist.com.

Natural mattresses cost between $200 and $600, from www.nontoxic.com (800-968-9355), www.abundantearth.com (888-513-2784) and www.ecochoices.com (702-543-7003).

Organic mattress pads and sheets are sold by Lifekind Products (lifekind.com, 800-284-4983). Also see the The Green Guide's blankets and comforters and mattresses and box springs product reports.

Big-splurge rockers are $1,600-$1,700 at www.garyweeks. com, 888-334-0307.

Susan Snover rugs are $17- $19 per square foot at www.customhandweaving.com. To recycle carpets, see www.carpetrecovery.org (800-882-8846 x2110).

Other sources for natural fiber area rugs are Natural Home (www.naturalhomeproducts.com, 707-824-0914); EarthWeave Carpet Mills (www.earthweave.com, 706-278-8200) and Jeanne Heifetz Rugs (www.toastartwalk.com/ jeanne_heifetz.html).

True linoleum: At Planetary Solutions, Boulder, CO ($4.25/sq. ft.), www.planetearth.com, 303-442-6228; Eco House, Portland, OR ($2.95/ sq. ft. to $4.25/ sq. ft.), www.ecohaus.com, 503-222-3881 and Environ-mental Home Center, www.environmentalhomecenter.com, 800-281-9785, which also sells cork floor tiles, as do www.ecochoices.com and ECO of NY, 718-292-0626.

Paints

For least-toxic paints, see paint product report at thegreenguide.com. If old paint is peeling, and your home was built before 1978, you'll want to test paint chips for lead. Contact an EPA-certified lab near you through the National Lead Information Center at 800-424-LEAD or visit www.epa.gov/opptintr/ lead/nlic.htm. If lead is found, hire a certified lead-removal specialist. Never attempt to remove it yourself.

For more information:

Green By Design: www.green-by-design.com, 310-442-2186

Environmental Building News: www.buildinggreen.com