Banish stuff you can't pronounce

Back when LP was an infant I bought Dr. Harvey Karp's book Happiest Baby on the Block, and I have a lot to thank him for. His method for dealing with fussy babies did somewhat help in calming down our off-the-charts difficult one, but most of all it also helped me understand him. Armed with this knowledge it was much easier to avoid giving in to panic and fight off all the nosy and/or well-meaning people who thought that 1-babies don't cry for nothing (er, eff yes they do), 2-he surely had colic, 3-there had to be something wrong with him, 4-there had to be something wrong with my milk, etc. LP was both very sensitive and super intense (still is), very conscious extremely early on, and being a baby was not for him. The reason for all his fussiness was his temperament, period. Except for Dr. Sears, there were very few books addressing this, and that was a *helpful* one. Sometimes, when there was nothing we could do to calm him down, I could at least think about the glimpses of hope offered by Dr. Karp, who wrote that these babies usually become really lively, expressive, empathic, and intuitive children; on that he couldn't have been more right on.

Now Dr. Karp is back with a new battle: informing parents and people in general on the devastating, yet little-known, effects of endocrine disruptive chemicals (EDCs) through the organization Healthy Child, Healthy World. EDCs are everywhere, and include BPA (bisphenol-A), DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), phthalates, pesticides, BCB and insulating agents. He estimates that children get 50% of their lifetime chemical exposure in the first five years of their life! Scary! And not nearly enough research has been done to study their harmful effects on little bodies, as well as on the potential worsening effect of combining them. No to get ahead of science here, but there's a definite possibility of EDCs at least partially explaining many of today's health problems affecting kids: autism, obesity, allergies, asthma, etc.

Parents, get informed. Here are basic rules he suggests you should follow:

-Buy organic food whenever possible (trying to, not there yet though)
-Get natural, non-toxic cleaning products (already done!)
-Avoid nail polish as much as possible in the presence of children (oops, repeat offender here!)
-Pay much more attention to cosmetics and buy ones that do not contain phthalates and parabens (again, natural and organic would be the way to go, as nearly all the traditional ones seem to contain it, including most mainsteam baby washes and shampoos!)
-Wash your hands and your kids' often
-Do not microwave plastic (have always been doing it without thinking...)
-BPA-containing products have pretty much vanished from the shelves in recent years, but still be careful when using or buying hard plastic
-Watch out for chemical-emitting carpets, furniture, paints, solvents, etc.


This article offers links and suggestions of safe cosmetic products.

I'm a little scared (and regretful about my previous poor choices such as getting my hair dyed while pregnant and such). But also more determined than ever to take action.