Baby Bedding Guide

Make do with bamboo? The idea may seem odd to homeowners who think of bamboo as a utensil or furniture product. However, recent innovations have taken a fast growing, hearty, strong, plant and turned it into a great fabric product for baby! Better still, bamboo is highly sustainable, growing rapidly (up to 4’ daily), it requires no pesticide for successful growth, and its use helps support over 2 billion people who rely on bamboo for both a product or a job.

If that weren’t a good enough reason to consider bamboo, from a global standpoint this plant is a natural and highly effective:

• producer of fresh air
• erosion prevention system
• soil improver
• river-bank strengthener

Neat fact: there are over 1200 species of bamboo!

Consumers who try the new bamboo fabric say that it feels softer than organic cotton, and it may well prove to have greater longevity (note: this is a relatively new product so longevity is difficult to test as yet). This is obviously important to both a parent’s budget and to a baby’s comfort. Additionally, bamboo fiber has anti-bacterial qualities without requiring chemical treatments. The Japanese put this concept to the test and planted bacteria on bamboo fibers. Even after being washed 50 times, the bamboo remained 70% free of the expected bacteria.

Bamboo offers us many of the same qualities we have enjoyed from cotton thus far, with a lower price point. For example, you can often find a full set of bamboo baby sheets for $25.00. Similar sets in cotton run about $5.00 more on average (if not higher). If all that weren’t exciting enough, bamboo also breathes like cotton, helping to keep baby’s body temperature more even, and therefore more comfortable. Bamboo is naturally hypoallergenic for babies with sensitive skin. It shows much faster water absorbency in tests, which means less chances of rashes or discomfort in baby’s bed when diapers fail.

The number of bamboo cloth manufacturers is growing, as are companies producing baby products from it. Those in production typically have to maintain a bamboo content report for buyers and consumers, and in some cases a patent for their process.
For those who are wondering, yes bamboo is fully biodegradable and washable. Overall this seems to be a wonderful choice for the “green” family looking for natural, long-lasting products that not only appeal to a baby’s skin, but the pocketbook.

As a parent, there’s no question we want the best for our children’s health. Nonetheless, every day people go to the store and purchase many items that have chemicals that can harm a child. With this in mind, the first step to a healthy baby environment is taking care of the place where they’ll spend a large percentage of the first year of life – the crib! Organic baby furniture and bedding is the ideal solution to that quest. However, this is definitely a “buyer beware” situation. You want to find a company that offers certified organics. Anything else is iffy.

To explain, the United States offers three types of organic labeling.

• An item made with wholly certified organic components may bear the “100 percent organic” label.
• Something with a ninety five percent organic component level can use the label “organic.”
• Lastly, anything made with at lest seventy percent organic components may use the label “made with organic ingredients.”

Beyond this, look to see what organization provided the company’s certification. That company MUST have certification for their approval provided by the US Department of Agriculture. Thanks to the National Organic Program of 2002, any company found falsifying labels is liable to prosecution under those laws, and Truth in Advertising laws. Consumers who would like to insure that a product has a legal certifying agent, or who would like to educate themselves about organic trade can refer to this website.

Having said all that, the parent who chooses organic for their baby is saying “yes” to a child’s welfare, and to that of the planet. Consider that the average baby mattress have polyurethane foam that breaks down releasing chemicals. Additionally if a mattress is flame resistant it contains PBDEs. In Europe such products are being eliminated for their negative health affects. Meanwhile, organic bedding studies show that these products improve the sleep cycle and support the goal of a healthy living space. In terms of our planet, organic farming decreases our dependence on non-renewable resources and decreases toxic chemicals that go into the land, the air, and finally the products that we bring into our homes.

So while you’re going “green” – shop organic!

Most of us try to cut costs any way possible, but is it cutting costs to substitute cheap baby bedding for luxury baby bedding, or is it a big mistake? At first it may seem like a harmless substitution but in reality you could be placing your baby in harms way by doing just that. Some reasons why luxury baby bedding is a better option include: Read the rest of this entry »