Q: I am going to be a new mother in about two months. I am now the proud owner of a Naturepedic crib mattress, but I'm not sure what my next priority should be to make sure our nursery is free of toxins.
A: Congratulations on the soon-to-be new arrival! And on your new Naturepedic organic crib mattress. Your next step to creating a toxin-free nursery really depends on your current environment. If you have just installed new carpeting or just painted the nursery, your first priority right now would be opening windows and/or installing a heavy duty air purifier.
To hasten the off-gassing process, you can also 'cure' your nursery - to see exact steps, read the Curing a Sick House section in our recent blog.
You also want to make sure the baby’s bedding and clothes are free of toxic dyes and other chemicals. Organic cotton is your best bet. Fortunately, more and more stores are selling organic cotton clothing for babies so they shouldn’t be too hard to find. By the way, if you’re looking for info on natural products, check out Debra’s List. She’s the Queen of Green – knows just about everything.
I seem to be referencing materials from Debra Lynn Dadd quite frequently of late. No, she's not paying me. But she does excellent research and has volumes of helpful info on living without harmful chemicals.
Also, it’s very important to make sure your cleaning products aren’t toxic. See our blog on non-toxic cleaning products for more info.