Best for Baby, Best for you: Organic Baby Clothing

When it comes to taking care of our babies, most parents want to do the very best they can to keep their child safe and healthy. We spend a lot of time hiding chokeable household items, checking toys for small parts, and generally worrying ourselves silly over what junior might get up to or into next.

But how many of us really concern ourselves over junior’s clothes? Most of us just take clothing safety for granted. As long as no buttons are going to come off and get swallowed and the fabric is sturdy and stain resistant, what could go wrong?

The answer is: plenty. Plenty can go wrong when what we have to worry about is woven into the fabric itself. Even grown into the cotton that made the fabric. Herbicides, fungicides, pesticides; seven of the fifteen chemicals most commonly used on cotton plants are known human carcinogens. In fact, cotton is subjected to more chemicals than almost any other crop grown on the face of the planet. And most of us swaddle our newborns in clothes made from this chemical-laden fabric, with barely a thought for the potential side-effects.

Those side-effects can range from a mild to a severe rash, respiratory ailments, asthma, cancer and death. It’s not healthy for children of any age to breathe those toxins or wear such contaminated fabric next to their skin. But the consequences for babies, whose skin and respiratory systems are considerably more delicate, can be severe.

Thankfully though, there is an alternative. Organic baby clothing made from fabric woven from organically grown cotton. This fabric is grown without chemicals of any kind. Even better, to be certified organic, it must be grown in a field that has not had chemicals used on it for at least three years. This is good news for your baby, for you and for the environment.

The resulting fabric is super-soft to baby’s fragile skin. Organic vegetable dyes are used to create gentle colors and help maintain the fabric’s softness. There is no fear of baby inhaling dangerous chemicals or having her skin exposed to them. The cotton fibers wear longer because they have not been treated with damaging chemicals. Which in turn means that the clothes wear longer. The environment benefits from organically grown cotton too; less chemicals on the plants mean less chemicals damaging our atmosphere and our water supplies.

This is good news on all fronts. In fact, the only downside to organic baby clothing is the expense. Because it is still a small industry, and labor intensive, the cost per bale of cotton is considerably higher that its mass produced and toxin drenched counterpart. Is it worth the added expense? That’s a question each parent must answer for themselves. For many, it is answered simply with another question. Is the added expense worth longer lasting clothes, a cleaner environment for your baby to grow up in and a healthier baby?

What do you think?