What to avoid in your baby’s products?
Our immune system gets developed over time. Exposure is key to defying most common bacterial and viral sickness like cough, colds, and flu. Depending on the strain that your white blood cells had sensed and recorded, our capacity to fight depends greatly on the antibodies it had produced, which is the very backbone of your immune system.
Let this be the basis on how to treat your baby’s immune system. It is just appropriate to say that theirs are not that strong like the adults’ just yet. Because as far as investment is concerned, they are still starting. From their very first resource, the breastmilk, it came complete with the nutrients the baby needs at the most hypoallergenic formulation packed with the immunoglobulins that will help them until they reach their 6th month. Somehow it depletes at this point that’s why they should be introduced to solid foods right about this time.
Vaccinations are also introduced in doses to ignite formation of antibodies. This prepares babies to counter any attack later on. What it does is, it recognizes the bacteria or virus’ full form. While these measures work for long term prevention, it’s undeniable that a lot of synthetic baby products had been introduced in the market. Some truly are very helpful but it’s important to be cautious about those who just aim to earn a profit from you. These are the products you should protect your babies from even further. This is because prolonged use or even the way it was manufactured could pose serious threats to their overall health.
Here are the harmful materials you should particularly consider off-limits:
- Parabens
These preserve personal care products to stop them from fungus formation, bacterial growth, and other microbe formation. These are the most commonly used preservatives globally that almost all of these products, including that for the babies, contain it. Parabens, together with benzoic acid and propyl ester, are associated with skin irritation known to be triggering allergic reactions. Dermatitis, rashes, susceptibility to blisters and burning skin, reproductive toxicity, and hormonal interference were also reported to have been caused by it. Double-check labels when they say they are gentle cleansers. Methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben are all under the same family of parabens. Remember that babies cannot speak up for themselves when there’s something wrong happening to them. They are not able to report about discomforts, dermatitis, or throat constriction. So, it’s better to avoid parabens as much as you can. These are also the ingredients you need to watch out for when friends or family get gifts for your baby from a shop or online.
- Triclosan
Most of the products that were labelled ‘antibacterial’ have triclosan which is not only a carcinogenic but is also an endocrine disruptor. So all that it does is to challenge the normal by creating an imbalance. As mentioned earlier, babies develop their immune system depending on the exposure they get to stimulants and different kinds of agents. If you will choose to raise your kid in a sterile environment, you are inhibiting their immune system from maturity. So, there’s no reason to opt for antibacterial cleaning agents. While minimal allergies may be beneficial to create natural resistance to diseases, it’s still better to avoid the use of antimicrobial or antibacterial agents because it’s another layer of chemicals applied to your baby’s skin.
- Fragrance
Many perceive good smelling products as something clean and worth buying. But this, usually, is added to mask the awful odour of the nasty chemicals used to manufacture a product. When shopping from cute baby boutiques, this needs to be attended to in particular. You shouldn’t just purchase it because the fragrance is good. Sometimes the harmful chemicals are masks by this fragrance. Always best to check with the boutique owner about the ingredients used to confirm what’s best for your child. Also, it is the term to cover the plethora of chemicals used to include a fragrant smell into it and labelled it so. In this way, they don’t have to explain how it became fragrant. The thing is, whichever chemical is used here, it is supposed to be long-lasting. Imagine that being in disposable diapers which are directly in contact with a child’s skin. On other accounts, it may also cause respiratory irritation, neurological affectation, and skin and eye damage.
