Natural Baby, Poisonous World

By Brita Belli, E Magazine. Posted May 17, 2007.

Raising a natural baby in a chemical world is not so easy. Watchdog groups like Children's Health Environment Coalition (CHEC) and Environmental Working Group (EWG) regularly release frightening studies about the levels of toxins in everything from mother's breast milk to jarred baby food, from crib mattresses to pacifiers. It's a boon for the organic baby product machine, but overwhelming for already stressed-out eco-minded parents. While these organizations offer recommendations on how to steer a child's development in a healthier direction, nothing short of a chemical suit seems safe.

And it's not enough to worry how chemicals will affect one's child; how will all those products designed for bringing up baby exact a toll on the environment? The average baby poops and pees through some 8,000 diapers before potty training, a number that's on the rise with the increased social acceptability of pull-up diapers designed for toddlers. Then there are the baby food jars, the formula cans, the plastic containers of wipes, the scented disposable diaper bags, the plastic swings and teething rings and the crib with all its trimmings. And green varieties of every baby product are proliferating online and on supermarket shelves: from nontoxic cleaners to chlorine-free diapers and organic cotton crib mattresses minus the flame-retardant chemicals.

I gave birth to my first baby, a daughter, five months ago. There was no birthing tub or midwife; the labor ended in both an epidural and a Caesarean at a traditional hospital. But even though my vision of a "natural birth" was derailed by medical intervention, I found myself drawn to the idea of raising a natural baby. I carried little Eleanore everywhere. Despite borrowing a co-sleeper that attaches to the bed, Elli inevitably spent the night sleeping between me and my husband. She's used her crib only a handful of times and on those nights I slept terribly, listening to her ragged breathing over the monitor, waiting for the slightest whimper of discomfort. I breastfed Elli on demand, which presented a problem only at certain family gatherings. "One word: formula," said a cousin. I was given an expensive automatic swing, but I've used it reluctantly only on a couple occasions. A playpen, another gift, has been folded away.

Though it's never been a conscious decision, I became a practitioner of Attachment Parenting. Since then, I've met other parents who guiltily admit they sleep with their babies and continue to breastfeed past a child's first birthday. But though I've still yet to see another woman breastfeed in public (ever!) the stigma surrounding instinct-driven parenting is beginning to retreat.

Growing Attached

The plain truth is that parents can't shop their way out of every problem. While having more eco-friendly options on store shelves is helpful in looking for healthier alternatives, science has yet to catch up with the onslaught of marketing that pushes parents to go green. It's even possible that raising a natural baby and minimizing one's impact on the Earth has less to do with buying products than choosing not to engage quite so enthusiastically in the consumer culture.

Attachment Parenting is a much kindler, gentler alternative to the old "let them cry it out" school. It means that newborns don't need strict sleeping and feeding schedules. Instead, adherents support breastfeeding, carrying the baby close to the body in a sling or carrier, co-sleeping with the baby in a "family bed," and responding immediately to cries.

Renowned baby guru Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, founder of the Child Development Unit at Children's Hospital Boston and author of the bestselling book Touchpoints: Birth to Three (revised last year) doesn't use the term "Attachment Parenting." But he says its concepts are nothing new. "Most of the world carries their babies [in wraps or slings]," he says, and most engage in co-sleeping. "Ours is the newest adaptation. It's universal in developed countries. I approve, but it's not realistic to push down people's throats."

Rather than an all-or-nothing approach, Brazelton says "there are many ways to nurture" a child, but paying attention to specific signals is part of that process. Having studied some 25,000 patients in his 50-year medical career, Brazelton discovered a regular pattern of regressions (called "touchpoints") that occur before the next spurt in development. During these stages (say, teething or potty training), "the child falls apart for a period of two to three days, and won't eat, while gathering steam for the next spurt." These touchpoints, he says, mimic similar patterns in primates. "Chimpanzees do the same thing," Brazelton says. "It's not unique to humans."

See more stories tagged with: parenting, baby, organic, diaper free

Brita Belli is managing editor of E Magazine, and mother of five-month-old Elli.

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