In our research for The Eco-nomical Baby Guide, our favorite organic choice was Nature’s One Baby’s Only Organic Formula.  And in our recent exploration of hexane, Baby’s Only again stands out as the best choice.

So what is hexane anyway?  It’s a petroleum derivative that’s found in glue and gasoline and has recently been used in infant formula to help obtain the DHA and ARA fatty acids from fermented algae and fungus.  Since breast milk is packed with DHA and ARA, there has been a recent drive to get these components into formula.  (Don’t get us started on the advantages of breastfeeding.  If you possibly can breastfeed, there are a million reasons that it will provide you with better health, your baby with better immunity, and save you heaps of cash.  Since not everyone can, we want to be sure to share organic formula options. If you are breastfeeding, don’t forget to enter our Hygeia EnJoye Breastpump Giveaway!)

Similic Organic Formula and Earth’s Best Organic Formula both state that no trace of hexane is detectable in their formula and that it’s just used to process the DHA and ARA.  But Nature’s One Baby’s Only is the only organic formula to derive their DHA and ARA fatty acids without hexane.  They are also the only organic formula to have 100% BPA free packaging.

There’s just one problem with Baby’s Only Organic formula.  In an effort to encourage breastfeeding, the company recommends their formula as a follow up to a full year of breastfeeding.  However, they offer a nutritional chart comparing their formula to others on the market and recommend that you consult with your health care professional.  It’s clear from viewing the chart that Baby’s Only  meets or exceeds other brands with its nutritional components and would be more than adequate as an infant formula.

Baby’s Only Infant Formula isn’t even the most expensive option!  It comes in at $0.88/oz. while Earth’s Best Organic Formula costs $1.15/oz. and Similac Organic is a bit cheaper at $0.73/oz. (These are my current rough estimates based on buying from Amazon in large quantities)

What’s your favorite organic infant formula?  Any tips on finding the best prices on formula?

The Hygeia Enjoye Professional-Grade Breastpump was invented with working moms and the environment in mind. I have to say that I would have loved to have one of these incredible machines, and one of you will be getting one for free very soon!

So just why is Hygeia EnJoye so unique? It actually has a device that records your child’s cry or cooing so that you can play it back while pumping to help you with let down.  I personally had to sprint into our school’s filing room and try hard to envision my baby’s faces so that I could produce milk in the allotted fifteen minutes I had to pump.  Hearing their voices would have been a huge help!

The Hygeia EnJoye works as a double or single pump, comes with a battery and electrical cord, and is intended for long-term and frequent pumping.  Plus, these pumps are designed not to end up in a landfill anytime soon. They can be reused when each new mom buys new tubing for the pump or sent back to the company to be refitted for another mom.  (And all the components that come in contact with breast milk are BPA/DEHP Free)

At just eight pounds, the Hygeia EnJoye pumps are far smaller and more portable than the giant unit I toted around for a full year. And one of you will win a pump (valued at well over $200!) this week!

Four Ways to Enter the Hygeia EnJoye Professional-Grade Breastpump Giveaway:

1. Simply post a comment

2. Like us on Facebook (then tell us you did it in the comments)

3. Visit Hygeia’s Website and comment on what you learned.

4. Spread the news about the giveaway! Email someone, post it on Facebook, tweet it, blog it, or send someone a message about it via carrier pigeon. (And again, don’t forget to tell us all about it in the comments!)

This contest ends on Friday May 6th and is only open to U.S. Residents.

Great luck!

Books sit on my nightstand for weeks before they are ever cracked open, but I was aching to read 15 Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Outside and Connect With Your Kids.

Why did this little gem get preferential treatment? The title alone tells me what I wish we were doing on a daily basis around here. It’s fine to skip the paper towels and embrace cloth diapers, but what do all those things mean to my kids if they don’t have an intimate relationship with the world outside their door?

The rain has been  relentless lately and we don’t seem to take the time to slip on our boots and brave the weather. We could save a stranded earthworm or find a budding pussy willow or perhaps slosh through a dozen puddles.

This book is simply a list of 365 wonderful ideas, organized by month, to push your reticent crew out the door. When I tell my children we’re going to go outside, my son always replies (rather loudly), “but I’m cozy mama!”. He’s four and loves building blanket forts while clad only in underpants.

But if I told him that we were going to hunt for bugs or plant pansies, maybe I’d have a better chance of moving him beyond these four walls.

If you’d like the chance to win a copy of 15 Minutes Outside, this is your lucky week!

Three Ways to Enter the Fifteen Minutes Outside Book Giveaway:

1. Simply post a comment

2. Like us on Facebook (then tell us you did it in the comments)

3. Spread the news about the giveaway! Email someone, post it on Facebook, tweet it, blog it, or send someone a message about it via carrier pigeon. (And again, don’t forget to tell us all about it in the comments!)

This contest ends on April 25th and is only open to U.S. Residents.

Great luck!

For many expectant families the new The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ban on the manufacture of drop side cribs won’t be an issue. It’s easy to pick out a non-drop side crib and there are several eco-friendly option including the DaVinci Kalani Convertible Baby Crib or the DaVinci Richmond 4-in-1 Crib each of which go for just under $250.

Still, what about those of us who bought used cribs, or are still using drop side cribs that we bought for our first child? In The Eco-nomical Baby Guide, we suggest that families consider buying a used crib if it’s in excellent condition. Is that advice suddenly outdated? Should we all turn our cribs into sweet pea trellises and invest in another piece of furniture? What about cribs that we’re done using? Are they safe enough to be passed on to another family?

Happily, families can now get a free crib immobilizer kit that will make any drop side crib into a safe, stationary sleeping space for baby. Most manufacturers offer them at no charge, but if your company is not listed on the previous link you can also buy the crib immobilizer hardware for about ten bucks online and install it in under an hour. Even though we never bought this device, early on I simply stopped using the drop side option for our crib. The intensity of sleep deprivation made my sad memory even worse than ever and I was worried that I’d forget to put the side back up while stumbling out of my baby’s room after a late night feeding.

I will be passing our used Childcraft drop-side model on and sharing the information about a crib immobilizer kit with the next family to use our sturdy baby bed. It hardly seems worthwhile for every family in America to trash their cribs and buy new ones, but I do want parents to feel safe about their baby cribs.

What’s your take on drop side crib recycling or reusing? Do you know of any other resources for green-minded families?

During all nine months of my first pregnancy, our home was littered with books instructing me on how to gracefully cruise into motherhood.  Many of them simply freaked me out while others seemed utterly unrealistic.

None urged me to trust myself, buy less stuff, use cloth diapers and opt for used gear–all of which we emphasize in our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide.  In fact, back in 2006 I could not find a single book on green pregnancy or parenting!  That was part of the reason Rebecca and I were so inspired to write The Eco-nomical Baby Guide.  During the months that we wrote and re-wrote the text, green baby books started to pop onto the market, but none of them had the frugal emphasis that was essential to our eco-friendly message.  We were also surprised to see that none of the green baby guides had an in-depth section about cloth diaper usage and we were careful to dedicate two detailed chapters to cloth diapering, although we could have filled an entire book with our cloth diaper wisdom.  (If you don’t already know, we are rather ardent cloth diaper fans who strike up conversations with total strangers about Fuzzibunz and flushable diaper liners.)

The books I did enjoy were Baby Bargains (which provides a wide range product information and does encourage buying secondhand gear) and Momma Zen, a book which kindly allows you to forgive your imperfection in those first challenging months of new parenting.  I haven’t read Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, but it has gotten rave reviews from friends.

What are the books you would recommend to pregnant women?

What happens to all those plastic tubs and bottles you keep throwing in the recycling bin? If they’re lucky, they get reincarnated as Green Toys. I’ve seen Green Toys for sale in baby boutiques and Whole Foods, and my daughter is the proud owner of the Green Toys Tea Set ($20). They’re thick, brightly colored recycled plastic toys that come in recyclable cardboard packaging.

While you can’t beat secondhand toys for eco-friendliness, Green Toys come in handy when you need a new toy for a gift or special occasion. They also seem more accessible and mainstream than wooden toys, which may not go over so well in some circles. They’re also reasonably priced! Check it out:

Green Toys Dump Truck ($15)

Green Toys Eco-friendly Fire Truck ($15)

Green Toys Recycle Truck ($15)

Green Toys Chef Set ($11)

Green Toys My First Stacker ($12)

Green Toys Sand Play Set ($15)

Green Toys Tool Set ($15)

Green Toys My First Blocks ($15.50)

What if your OB/Gyn was a mother of three who actually invented things to make women’s lives easier as they journeyed through the rough landscape of early motherhood?  The bad news is that most of you won’t be able to become patients of Dr. Somi Javiad–she’s busy enough as it is!  The great news is that  she, along with her business partner, Kim Howell, have founded a website and product line to support new and expectant mothers.  Mamadoc was developed by Howell and Javiad to offer practical, eco-friendly pregnancy products to women that can make pregnancy and new motherhood a bit more comfortable.

Some of Mamadoc‘s clever inventions include Nox, a compression bra to help nursing mothers with engorgement when weaning, Preghose to help pregnant moms prevent swollen feet,(I could have used a dozen pairs of those!)  and Bellyup to support a pregnant woman’s back and abdomen during the late months of pregnancy.

Mamadoc also carries handmade bamboo cotton diapers that we had the chance to try out with my twenty month daughter. They’re an adorable color combo of grey and pink and the two layers of bamboo fleece are incredibly soft and absorbent.  One drawback is that we did notice that the edging frayed and balled up after a few washings.  While they look a bit worn, they’re still quite comfortable and cute.

One lucky winner will be getting a bamboo soothing cloth from Mamadoc to share with a new baby.  It’s ultra soft small square of fabric with polka dots of texture that baby will enjoy exploring. (Pictured below)

Three Ways to Enter the Mamadoc Bamboo Soothing Cloth Giveaway:

1. Simply post a comment

2. Like us on Facebook (then tell us you did it in the comments)

3. Spread the news about the giveaway! Email someone, post it on Facebook, tweet it, blog it, or send someone a message about it via carrier pigeon. (And again, don’t forget to tell us all about it in the comments!)

This contest ends on March 29th and is only open to U.S. Residents.

Great luck!

There are a lot of eco-friendly dishwashing detergents out there—but how do they work? It can be frustrating experimenting with so-called green products, only to spend extra money on products that don’t function nearly as well as their toxic counterparts. Believe me—I struggled through all of this during my liquid dish soap search.

Luckily I hit the jackpot with the first dishwashing detergent I tried: Biokleen automatic dish powder. I wrote all about it here: Best eco-friendly dishwasher detergent: Biokleen! So should everyone rush out and buy my recommendation? Not so fast. What works for me here in Portland may not work somewhere else with different water. We have very soft water here.

Here are some other eco-friendly products on the market:

• Seventh Generation Automatic Dishwasher Powder
• Citra Dish Automatic Dishwashing Detergent
• Grabgreen Automatic Dishwashing Detergent
• Sun and Earth Automatic Dishwasher Detergent
• Seventh Generation Auto Dish Gel
• Attitude Dishwasher Liquid
• Basil Dishwasher Liquid by Mrs. Meyers
• Planet Automatic Dishwasher Detergent
  

Have you had good luck—or horrible luck—with any of these? Please post your findings. If you want to specify where you live or what type of water you’re dealing with, that will help us refine the results. Thanks for your input!

It’s been a while since we’ve discussed chlorine-free disposable diapers on this site and in our book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide. With my diapering days well behind me, I haven’t been able to try any of these out on a real-life baby. Has anyone had a chance to compare the brands below? Which do you prefer, and why?

Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Baby Diapers

Earth’s Best TenderCare Chlorine Free Diapers

Nature Babycare Eco-friendly Chlorine-free Diapers

Tushies Diapers

gDiapers

Bambo Nature Chlorine-free Eco-friendly Baby Diapers

Am I leaving out a great brand of chlorine free disposables? I know Whole Foods makes a store brand that ends up being more cost effective than Seventh Generation. What else do we need to know in this complicated world of greener sposies?

After I posted Sulfate-free Shampoos: Do They Work?, everything fell apart. My hair, exhausted from moving from one sulfate-free shampoo to another, gave up. It was limper and greasier after washing it than before washing it and felt coated with a sticky film of wax. It was if I’d doused my hair in a mixture of oil and glue. Because it had so much product build-up on it, it took over ten minutes of drying with a hair dryer—and still didn’t feel dry. (In better days, my hair would dry completely after three minutes.)

One of the many “natural” shampoos I tried

This is when green living gets me down. Regular old shampoo always worked just fine for me. It would take over a year to get though one bottle. Once I decided to switch to paraben-free, sulfate-free shampoo, however, I started going through a bottle every six weeks or so. The sulfate-free shampoos all worked for a few weeks, but then my hair started revolting, necessitating a switch.

So what did I do? First I tried to go back to baking soda and vinegar. I had pretty good luck with that combination in the past, but it was no match for the weird build-up of wax and grease. Wearing a wig and large sunglasses to disguise my identity (and my gross hair), I went to the store and bought . . . conventional shampoo. Slowly but surely, my hair has become presentable again.

This is hardly a green victory. Perhaps once my hair is in a good place again, I’ll see if I can get back on the baking soda bandwagon. But I’m going to stop experimenting with different sulfate-free shampoos. It just isn’t worth it.