Healthy and Green Living » Children

Noise Annoys: Second-Hand Television

Eric Steinman — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:00:10 +0000

As if we really need another reason to shut off, unplug, and bury the television, a University of Massachusetts study has revealed that the din of background noise coming out of a television provides significant disruption to your child�s concentration and play. The study looked at children, from ages ranging from 1 to 3, who [...]

Traveling Light

Eric Steinman — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:00:38 +0000

This summer I have made the choice to keep my radius to a tight 300 miles. I will be limiting car trips, riding my bike, walking and steering clear of airports all together. This is not for lack of desire or opportunity. I have always been an avid traveler and have elected to turn down [...]

Chlorine: What’s Behind Your Kid’s Red Eyes

Heather L. Jones — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:00:18 +0000

Your teenager wants to work as a lifeguard at the fitness center, and you've signed up your youngest for swim lessons there. So you check out the indoor pool and take in the overpowering smell of chlorine. Can that be healthy?

Bad Words

Eric Steinman — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:00:28 +0000

My child has now entered the age of language. He is a sponge, a parrot, an interpreter, a lyrical dabbler, and beginning to understand cognitively that words are simply a collection on sounds. The act of speaking is this big, mysterious, unfolding puzzle that contextualizes the vast bulk of experience and, to a child, fine-tunes [...]

Lines in the Sand

Eric Steinman — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:00:35 +0000

A few weeks back, in preparation for summer�s humid dog days and toddler boredom, I made the wise decision to rejuvenate the weedy, and neglected play structure lumbering in a state of paralysis in my backyard. This is/was a multitiered process that required purchasing a few hundred pounds of sand for the sand box. Simple [...]

No Tears or Fears: Kid Hair Washing

Terri Hall-Jackson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:00:16 +0000

It's hard to resist the promise some baby shampoos offer of "no more tears." I mean who wants their happy, splashing sweetheart to transform into a thrashing, screeching child when it comes time to wash their hair?

Detergent, known as surfactant, is the ingredient used in shampoos to do the dirty work, that is to get rid of the dirt in hair. In no-tears formulations, the nature of surfactants is modified to reduce eye and skin irritation. In my experience, some of these shampoos have eliminated tears, some others resulted in less tears. And, as is the case with most personal care products, these shampoos, whether they're marketed to kids or not, contain several hazardous ingredients that we all would be better off avoiding. Here are a few:

DMDM Hydantoin: A chemical known to be toxic to the immune system, with strong evidence of being a skin toxicant as well.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS): This harsh, degreasing detergent commonly found in shampoos, soaps, and even toothpaste, is a skin and eye irritant.
Fragrance: Personal care products can be found in kid-enticing fragrances such as bubble gum and razzleberry. These synthetic fragrances are petrochemical loaded concoctions, which can wreak havoc with repeated exposure. (For great info on fragrance check out this article.
Ceteareth and PEG compounds: Petrochemicals that may contain cancer-causing impurities.

Green Birthday Party Ideas, Please

Melissa Breyer — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:00:12 +0000

Paper hats, plastic forks, wrapping paper, plastic cups, latex balloons, plastic party favors, paper napkins, vinyl tablecloths, and loads of artificially colored food and high-fructose corn syrup. Ahhh, children’s birthday parties–a few hours of glee and a heaping pile for the landfill. In the past six years I have thrown a total of 10 birthday parties [...]

How to Spend the Summer (Without Spending all your Cash on Gas)

Jana Ballinger — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:04:38 +0000

Summertime, and the living is easy. The weather’s nice and the kids are out of school, so there’s plenty of opportunities to go to the beach or to the park and visit friends and family. One not-so-teeny problem: Gas is so expensive you almost have to get a second mortgage on your house to pay [...]

Safe Bath Time Fun

Terri Hall-Jackson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:00:29 +0000

At my home, bath time is party time. My two daughters bathe together, and the whoops, gut laughter and shrieks of delight make it clear that a good time is going on.

In the past, toys that were part of our bath time routine included a variety of rubber critters and bath crayons. One day as I cleaned the toys, I was mortified to see a blackish goop squirt out of the bottom of a rubber duck. I did my best to get it all out, but every now and then, another helping of goop came out with subsequent squeezes. Other toys still had water in them despite endless squeezing and shaking. I knew this could not be a good thing. My simple solution: The toys disappeared and my girls discovered the joys of wringing their washcloths and pouring water in and out of tin cups.

Baby’s Health: Just a Touch Away

Terri Hall-Jackson — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:00:38 +0000

Few things are as humbling and evoke the Mother Bear instinct as seeing our children get sick. While it's common to immediately run to the medicine cabinet or doctor's office to remedy what ails our kids, there are solutions that support our children's wellness and even heal common maladies right at our fingertips.