When babies are born they are unable to make decisions for themselves and the young lives in our care deserve the best that we can provide and it is our responsibility to ensure that we give them a natural and healthy environment to grow in. The author looks at things that can make all the difference to an eco baby and eco family.

Organic and Fairtrade Baby Food

Organic baby food has been around for decades and fairtrade baby food has only recently been launched. Why feed your baby with chemicals, additives and possibly genetically modified ingredients when you can feed them fresh, organic and healthier food? By buying fairtrade it also enables you to put something back into local communities where the ingredients originated from, so that they can look after their families better due to being paid a fair price for their food and hence they are able to reinvest the funds into their community and families.

Organic and Eco Friendly Baby Care

Babies have extremely sensitive skin that requires a mild and gentle touch - which is why it makes sense to treat them with products made from the purest ingredients. The skin is the largest part of the babies body and is often prone to sores and nappy rash in the early days. Minimise the amount of chemicals coming into contact with the babies skin by buying organic or natural baby care products.

Organic and Fairtrade Baby Clothing

A babys skin is thinner than that of an adult, so make sure the clothes against their bodies are free from harmful pesticides and chemicals by buying clothing which are made from organic or hemp fibres which are made with the minimum or no chemicals in the production and processing. By buying Fairtrade or ethical baby clothes from companies such as HUG ensures that other babies in developing countries may benefit as well from the clothes that you buy. Cheap, brand new clothes from supermarkets etc. are often made in China in low cost production facilities where workers are paid the minimum wage and where the term sweatshops originated from. Buying second hand or using donated clothes is the ultimate form of recycling and is cheaper too at this expensive time of life.

Environmentally Friendly Cloth Nappies

Cloth nappies can be washed and reused hundreds of times. Millions of disposable nappies are used throughout your country and you can imagine what size of landfill is needed to bury them all! Cloth nappies can reduce nappy rash and have no suspect chemicals. By washing them with your normal clothes, you again minimise your babies impact on the environment.

Breast feeding

Breast milk is very economical, constantly available at the right temperature and if your diet is organic then so is your milk which is therefore better for your baby. If you have to buy formula be wary of buying Nestle as an International Nestle Boycott is in effect in 20 countries. The boycott will continue until Nestle ends its irresponsible marketing of breast milk substitutes world-wide and abides by the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent Resolutions in policy and practice.