For years doctors have debated over the peanut issue: should pregnant and breastfeeding women avoid them or not?  This July, a new study has determined  that nut consumption during pregnancy increases children’s risk of developing asthma by 50%.  (Read more about it here.)   While many doctors are saying there’s not enough evidence in favor of eliminating nuts from your diet, others are taking a more conservative approach–the British government has advised pregnant and breastfeeding women to avoid nuts since 1998.

When I was pregnant three years ago, I ate peanut butter every day.  Honestly, as a vegetarian, I am not sure I could have survived without it!  With so much fat, vitamins, and calories packed into a spoonful, there was no more efficient way to stave off the hunger pains than to treat myself to a delicious helping of peanut butter straight from the jar.  If I wasn’t eating peanut butter, I was snacking on spicy cashews or sprinkling walnuts on my salads.  At the time I thought I was doing the best for myself and my unborn child.

If your doctor is telling you to lay off the nuts, what can you eat instead?  Sunflower or sesame butter might be good alternatives, though they cost more and are harder to find than peanut butter.   Because sunflower and sesame butters come from seeds, not nuts, they can be devoured with abandon.  You could also try snacking on spreads made from beans.  Hummus with pita makes a delicious Middle Eastern snack, white bean dip with crusty bread turns into a Provencal repast, and good old black or pinto bean dip with tortilla chips fulfill your south-of-the-border cravings.

If you prefer to eat nuts by the handful, you could try substituting dried wasabi peas, baked chickpeas, soy nuts, and sunflower seeds for the can of mixed nuts.

What do you think about this issue?  Are you avoiding nuts–or surviving on a peanut butter diet, as I did?  If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, have you been advised to avoid nuts?  If you have any great snack ideas for hungry pregnant or breastfeeding women, please post a comment.

Sheryl Crow had one. Parents magazine raved about them in last March’s issue.  An eco-conscious expecting mother in your life may be hinting for one.  But what is a green baby shower?  It may seem like a ploy to get you to “buy” your way into the green movement.  Are we just trading piles of Pampers and mounds of plastic toys for $50 organic onesies and free-trade rattles?  Maybe.  But it’s also possible to throw an old-fashioned, down-to-earth baby shower that’s simple and eco-friendly.  Here are just a few ideas to celebrate the arrival of a new baby.

Throw a book baby shower.  Don’t forget the Green Baby Guide’s article touting the merits of giving the gift of imagination.  Attendants bring a book or two the child can treasure well after she’s outgrown her bouncy seat.

Try a secondhand fete.  If most of the attendants have had babies in the last few years, a secondhand shower can be an entertaining way to pass treasured belongings from one family to another.  Of course, this idea might not fly with many expecting parents or hosts-but it may be right up a green family’s alley. 

Give the gift of food.  Attendants can bring casseroles, desserts, or snacks that can be frozen until the bundle of joy arrives.  Exhausted new parents don’t have to spend time cooking during the first couple weeks or months with a newborn. 

Leave the shower out of baby shower.  It’s possible to have a party with friends, family, and games without involving gifts.  Participants can even write out wishes or blessings for the new addition that the host can make into a keepsake book.  Or circumvent the baby shower ritual altogether and involve friends and family in a picnic, hike, or other decidedly non-showery celebration.

It’s possible to throw a baby shower for expecting parents without busting your budget on so-called eco-friendly food, decorations, and presents.  A simple gathering of friends and family can accomplish the most important part of a shower’s purpose: welcoming a new baby into the world.

Any green baby shower ideas we forgot?  Post a comment!

Green Babies, Sage Moms will appeal to eco-curious types living on the Upper East Side in their Jimmy Choos rather than the canning-mung beans-in-their-Birks set.  Author Lynda Fassa takes readers through pregnancy, the baby’s arrival, and the subsequent years with baby, identifying harmful toxins and replacing them with organic products.  So while there isn’t much on reducing your baby’s carbon footprint, there are many great product recommendations for getting started on your household detox mission.

Fassa looks at pregnancy and early motherhood as times when we have a heightened awareness about our bodies and the world around us.  We all know we should watch what we eat when pregnant.  But what about the toxins lurking everywhere, ready to taint the very world we live in?  Page after page we learn about the toxins in everything around us.  Toxins in cigarettes, soft cheeses, sushi.  Nail polish, nail polish remover, hair products, pesticides, milk, fruit, vegetables, grains, wine, blush, mascara, foundation, lipstick, hair dye, perfume, drain cleaners, air fresheners, antibacterial soap, oven cleaners, furniture polish, rubber duckies, plastic toys, teethers, baby wipes, lotions, creams, crib mattresses, disposable diapers, conventional cotton, fertilizers, ground water, fish, deodorant, vaccines, drawer pulls, paint, floors, school buses, park benches, and playground equipment.

Despite this rather daunting and exhaustive list of no-nos, Fassa maintains a cheerful tone, somehow avoiding fear-mongering or paranoia.  Perhaps it’s the liberal use of exclamation marks or the disclaimers she adds before some of the more terrifying discussions: “Warning! Scary Information to Follow.”

At times I longed for less reminiscing on Fassa’s career as a model or her husband’s childhood Alpine ski trips and more advice relevant to my life as a mother trying to make greener choices.  Case in point: She includes just six pages discussing diapers but devotes thirty-six pages to organic beauty treatments we can enjoy during pregnancy without harming ourselves or our “beautiful baby bump.”

Still, Green Babies, Sage Moms is an excellent resource for eco-friendly products.  As the founder of Green Babies, an organic cotton clothing company, Fassa has years of experience with organic baby gear.  The end of each chapter contains “Evergreen,” “Pea Green,” and “Spring Green” options for greening your life in baby steps.  There is a small list of “Green Goods” at the end of the book, but no index, which makes using this book as a resource guide difficult.

One of the downsides—or upsides, depending on your perspective—of pregnancy is that it requires a brand new wardrobe. The average woman spends $1200 on maternity and nursing clothes. This seems like a lot for clothing you’ll wear just a month or two before you have to go up another size. If you hunt around for tips on saving money on maternity clothes, the two big ones you’ll see again and again are 1. Borrow maternity clothes from friends, and 2. Wear your husband’s clothes. The great thing about these tips is that they not only save you a bundle of cash—they’re also eco-friendly alternatives to shelling out over a grand on barely-worn garments.

I suppose it’s possible to follow tips #1 and 2, above, and spend next to nothing on your eco-friendly maternity clothes. Unfortunately, they did not work for me. The problem with tip #1 is that you need to have at least one friend who has been pregnant before who is willing to donate her clothes to you. I did not have such a friend. And even if I did, how could I guarantee that she would be the same size as I am, be pregnant during the same season as I was, and have the same taste in high fashion that I do?

I actually did try tip #2. At about seven months pregnant, I went to the dentist wearing one of my husband’s sweaters. The dental hygienist laughed when she saw me. “When I was pregnant I used to walk around in my husband’s clothes all the time, too!” she said. I decided cross-dressing pregnant woman was not the look I was going for—even at the dentist’s office.

So what are the other options for an eco-friendly maternity wardrobe? A quick Google search revealed an entry on Treehugger discussing just that. They recommended checking out Roundbelly, Blue Canoe, and Under the Nile for eco-friendly fashions. A reader vouched for Jessica Scott Ltd. as well. Of course, I wanted to be eco-friendly without spending a lot of money. In other words, my budget was far lower than the $1200 national average. I ended up finding some great deals on maternity wear at thrift stores and consignment shops. I found this ensemble for just one dollar at my local consignment shop:

The best part about this outfit is that it is all one piece. Normally you have to buy a shirt and pants. I also enjoy the pastel/floral look, which I believe is very slimming and classic. Where did I wear this lovely one-dollar jumpsuit? To a Halloween party, of course! I went as “Pregnant ‘80s Lady,” and it was quite a hit. To get my dollar’s worth, I later used this as a full-body smock while painting the baby’s nursery. It conveniently fit over my real clothes. Seriously, though, I did find some good stuff at resale shops. I bought this chiffon (or something) dress for $5.99 at Goodwill and wore it to my cousin’s black tie wedding in San Francisco:

In this photo I am not showing yet, at 16 weeks. I was five months pregnant at the wedding, and the dress still worked out, even though it wasn’t technically a maternity dress.

If tips #1 and 2 don’t work for you, either, and you don’t want to spring for brand new eco-fashions, and you’re having trouble cobbling a wardrobe together at thrift stores, I have just one more idea: Buy clothes on an as-need basis. This is what I wish I’d known before going crazy ordering maternity clothes in my first trimester. I bought several cute items I never wore because they never fit! You just don’t know how you’re going to expand. I ended up spending most of my pregnancy in a pair of non-maternity jeans I had in my closet, and one of my best maternity shirts wasn’t a maternity top at all, but a terry cloth swimsuit cover-up that I can now use (as an actually swim-suit cover-up) for years to come.

Hmmm. After reviewing my suggestions (wear your husband’s sweater to the dentist, don a floral jumpsuit for a party, spend $5.99 for a black tie wedding, and appear in public wearing terry cloth), I am beginning to think I may not be qualified to dispense sartorial advice.