Chemicals in Pregnancy

[Tarlia]

Hello,

I'm just wondering what everyones thoughts are on chemicals.. did you go completely chemical free? I'm not sure I can do this, as I'm a bit of a clean freak and think that somethings, like antibacterial spray, with cats, I could not live without.

Plus, I think if we did everything as meant to, we'd have to live in a bubble all alone for 9 months...

I would of course love to do the best for my baby, and I considering switching to more natural products and wondered if anyone has any good advice/tips? What should be switched? Cut out totally?

Household cleaning - I guess the ecological products are best?

Make up - are there any totally natural products? Nail varnish...

Purfum... did you stop using it?

Suncream - where do you get natural one's from? I've thought about the organic shops..

Bump cream..

Shampoo's, shower gels etc.. which are the best? Do these really matter?

Any advice on these things, or anything else important, I'd love to hear.

Many thanks, Tarlia

I've just used what I would normally use.

In my first pregnancy I cut out all chemical products - eco-cleaning products, used natural nail varnish (well, without formaldehyde), cosmetics etc. Lovelula.com is a good site.

We were having our bathroom done at the time and I insisted on low VOC paints and even the basic tile grout without any of the anti-microbial properties (majorly regret that now!).

I wanted to do the best for my DS and felt that avoiding as many chemicals as possible was a priority. However he was unwell when he was born and was on massive doses of antibiotics before he was 24 hours old, so there are some things you can't control!

This pregnancy, I'm trying to be a bit more reasonable - using less chemical-y products when practical but not stressing out about it.

I just used normal things, but I don't go mad with chemicals normally anyway. For example, I don't use air fresheners at all, and have one anti bac spray for kitchen and bathroom.

I did buy a couple of paraben free cosmetics - shampoo and body lotion, but only because it was there in Waitrose (oooer!) when I was looking. when it ran out, I used normal stuff.

It's never crossed my mind to change any of my make up, nail varnish, perfume etc. I've just been using my normal stuff. Hope that's ok!
I did wear a dust mask to do some painting (DIY stuff) on the weekend though - cheaper than that special paint.

Had hyperemesis and the smell of most things made me throw up so I ended up doing it by accident. (Apart from make up)
Natural Collections is good for most of the things you have listed as well.

I am using as normal.

I am using everything normal except the face wash. The face wash I used before was for spots and had some kind of acid ingredient that is not recommended during pregnancy, salicylic acid. Now I have regular johnson & johnson face wash that I got at Morrisons and my skin looks much better and with a lot less spots for some reason.

There's a lovely Clarins Oil for Bump. It's called Body Treatment Oil and specifically says you can use it in pregnancy.

I would never use anti-bac stuff anyway as I believe it is really harmful.

I'm pretty lax about cosmetics and toiletries.

I stopped using perfume when baby was born so that she could smell me and will do so again when this one is born.

I'm trying to stay out of the sun. I will certainly be keeping baby in the shade when he/she is born in August.

suncream - we use an organic one from the health food shop called yaoh and it's made with hemp, comes in a factor 15, smells great and has prevented DD from gettng burnt in the Minorcan summer sun

i tried to avoid as many chemicals as possible from before i got pregnant to try and get them out of my system. i would avoid products containing aluminium such as deodorants. Lovelula and lily lolo are good for cosmetics and REN and Neals Yard are ok too. Badger sunscreen is probably the best natural one i managed to find (a little difficult to find though)I also avoided household cleaning products as much as possible and used Eco ones where necessary, didn't get my hair dyed,used natural shampoo as you can absorb chemicals into your bloodstream via your scalp, i didn't use nail varnish and used eco balls for laundry. i would avoid the anti bac hand gel except for whe visiting hospitals because it does sometimes contain formaldehyde, as do some gels they use while doing ultrasound scans. Since having DD 6 months ago i have continued to try to eliminate as many chemicals as possible, i'd advise you to look very carefully into the ingredients in baby wipes and other baby products as they do contain alot of unpleasant things. another difficult decision (if you look into it) is vaccination as the vaccines do contain alot of chemicals you'll have been avoiding throughout your pregnancy such as fomaldhyde and aluminium.
it is impossible to avoid all chemicals as they are everywhere but it can only be a good thing to elimiate as many as possible.
Hope this helps!