Free BPA Teether with your order from The Soft Landing-

Here is a sweet deal just for Non-Toxic Kids readers from the great folks over at The Soft Landing, an online store devoted to BPA free products for your kids. If you order anything, in any amount, during the next week (starting Saturday, April 5th), you will get a free Nuby Bug-a-loop teether with your order. Simply add the BPA free teether to your cart and type "nontoxickids" into the discount window to receive the deal.

There's more! The Soft Landing is running another giveaway on their blog. This one is for two BPA Free feeding kits. Alicia has done lots of research on the safest BPA free gear for kids, and she shares her wisdom, product information, and details for how to enter, here.

And don't forget- only two more days to enter the giveaway of The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide books by Heather Maclean. See the details here.

See the Business of Being Born-

The Green Mountain Film festival comes to Montpelier, Vermont every year. And every year I say I'll go. I want to support this local film festival centered around our independent movie theatre. But, for the last 3 years I have been either taking care of a new baby or eminently going to give birth. Not so good for movie viewing outside of the home.

So I was thrilled when a mama from an online listserv I am part of shared that I could get this movie on Netflix, which I did last night.

The Business of Being Born is an extremely well done documentary about the crisis of maternal care in America (our rates of maternal and infant mortality are among the highest in the developed world), but it is also a beautiful story of many women's journey into motherhood. When I was in childbirth classes, what was the most helpful to me was the movies showing women in labor. While intense and a bit intimidating, it gave me the idea that all women do what they need to do, and that can look very different for each individual. This was equally true of the mothers in this movie, and it was inspiring, quite moving, and a testimony to the benefits for mom and baby to have the most natural, intervention free birth as possible.

I highly recommend this movie for all mothers, soon to be, or with kids in college (and all those inbetween). It is a call to action, a wake up call, a walk down memory lane, and above all, the witnessing of the most beautiful and sacred rite of passage for women.

Picture: The Business of Being Born (click the link to watch the preview)

Parents Opting Out of Vaccines for their Children in the news--

Last week this article came out in the New York times about the growing health concerns of parents not vaccinating their children. I am not a doctor (read the disclaimer at the bottom right of this blog) and I am not here to judge. Which is why this is a topic that is so difficult to write about.

Here is a news clip from the Today show from last week as well. I think it is important for parents to look at the serious risks to our own children from these diseases (which most of us have no real experience with), the potential risk from vaccines themselves, and the risks to other children by choosing to not vaccinate your child. In this clip, I found the the comments of a doctor who works with children who have these preventable diseases to be very compelling.

I was also glad to hear the doctor in this clip say that thimerosal (a preservative that contained small amounts of mercury) is no longer in any vaccines. Previously, this was something that you had to ask for at the doctor's office, which made me wonder about all the people who didn't know about it. It was yet another case of the chemical divide.



This is a complex and difficult issue for parents. I know there are many viewpoints out there, so please Non-Toxic Kids readers, post with your comments, thoughts, or other resources about vaccination.

Green, Chemically Conscious Parenting gaining Momentum-

The good folks over at Kai Kids were interviewed for this story in the Toronto Star about the growing trend of green parenting.

And Non-Toxic Kids was mentioned as a good online resource!

The article touches on a topic I often describe here-- the great economical, chemical and green divide. All parents want to do what is right for their kids, no matter what their economic status, and we all know the increased price of organic food, wood toys, non-toxic water bottles, organic crib mattresses (the list goes on) can make this difficult or impossible for many parents.

Since these articles about green parenting, chemical concerns, and more sustainable choices during parenthood are appearing more and more in the mainstream press, I am hopeful that awareness will keep growing, and finally, prices will level out a bit.