I was perusing my instagram account one day when I stumbled upon this adorable little shop, Blue Brontide. Their wooden plate sets and softly coloured baby accessories were of a quality I just had to admire. I have been looking all over for a plate set that fit my standards and unfortunately, there aren’t many out there that don’t include plastic in some way or another. I don’t have a completely plastic free home, but I try as much as I can to replace it when possible and especially for items we eat from.
I suppose I developed my opposition to it when I learned about the effects of extreme temperatures on plastic, causing leakages of dioxins into your food and water. You are basically consuming toxic melt from your dish and glass ware. I’ve personally noticed the taste of plastic when drinking from a water bottle that hasn’t even touched temperature change so I’m sure it can happen anytime. Steve knows how opposed I am to this health hazard, as I will scold at any sight of water bottles left in our cars for the hot or cold weather to get ahold of. Steve really should be awarded a medal for the amount of green rules he’s calmly digested over the years.
Plastic can be a hazard even without the exposure to extreme temperatures, so when I found a company that used only organic natural wood, I was intrigued. Blue Brontide creates all of their products from eco-friendly materials that are organic and safe for little ones. Their wooden sets are hand made so each piece has its own subtle differences and signature from the tree they came from. They carry a range of different dish ware including snack or appetizer plates, dinner sets, and cutlery. They’re all adorned with varying designs of animals and flowers which make them the most darling baby products I have ever seen! As you can tell, I am quite excited about them.
This company goes above and beyond by offering eco-friendly and sustainable ways of packaging and shipping their products. Blue brontide should be awarded for their recycled and earth friendly devotion to this practice. It just goes to show how committed to they are to their word on being mother earth friendly. I especially loved the message displayed on the box I received in the mail that says “we pack green, cause we think everyone deserves a tree to climb”. They achieve this by using the lowest grade of post consumer waste which is fancy wording for the greenest paper you can possibly find! Any bags used are also biodegradable, breaking down into C02 and H2O! Two thumbs up, Blue Brontide!
Now onto the next exciting product made by Blue Brontide, their elegant, unisex, organic, and beautifully patterned pacifier clips. I have had my eye on these for a while as the fabrics they use are just
beautiful… Better yet, they are made of organic flax cotton and of course their organic wood. I was always shocked that my baby never took to a pacifier.. I had purchased the healthiest hevea rubber pacifiers for her before she was born and she had other ideas! …but then I remembered that she has natural teethers that fit perfectly for this product! She also has a serious habit of dropping said teether on every unsanitary space around.. Doctor office floors, grocery store aisles, on the floor of our not so perfectly vacuumed car (mom problems).. So a product like this would be a perfect fit for our little munchkin!
Blue Brontide has a whole range of different patterns to choose from and they sent me their latest styles to show you! My first impression was the impressive quality of the product.. The stitching is secure, the fabric is durable (good for babies of all chewing levels.. even teeth) and the knob that secures the clip is wooden (organic of course) which is always a bonus as I like to limit my use of plastic as much as possible. It’s also nice to see that they’ve used only neutral/unisex colours so that they’re passed on to next babies easily which reduces waste/promotes reuse!
I am so glad I have found these clips and will use them for all of my babies’ pacifiers (unless they’re like their sister and refuse them) and teethers. I am so passionate about this company and hope you love them just as much as I do! To see their entire set of organic and eco-friendly baby products head over to their website at www.bluebrontide.com
*There are no cuter baby accessories!*
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Blue Brontide: the most adorable eco friendly and organic baby dish sets and accessories
3/31/2016 0 Comments
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I was perusing my instagram account one day when I stumbled upon this adorable little shop, Blue Brontide. Their wooden plate sets and softly coloured baby accessories were of a quality I just had to admire. I have been looking all over for a plate set that fit my standards and unfortunately, there aren’t many out there that don’t include plastic in some way or another. I don’t have a completely plastic free home, but I try as much as I can to replace it when possible and especially for items we eat from.
I suppose I developed my opposition to it when I learned about the effects of extreme temperatures on plastic, causing leakages of dioxins into your food and water. You are basically consuming toxic melt from your dish and glass ware. I’ve personally noticed the taste of plastic when drinking from a water bottle that hasn’t even touched temperature change so I’m sure it can happen anytime. Steve knows how opposed I am to this health hazard, as I will scold at any sight of water bottles left in our cars for the hot or cold weather to get ahold of. Steve really should be awarded a medal for the amount of green rules he’s calmly digested over the years.
Plastic can be a hazard even without the exposure to extreme temperatures, so when I found a company that used only organic natural wood, I was intrigued. Blue Brontide creates all of their products from eco-friendly materials that are organic and safe for little ones. They ensure that all of their fabrics are gender neutral which makes them perfect to pass down to little brothers and sisters. Their wooden sets are hand made so each piece has its own subtle differences and signature from the tree they came from. They carry a range of different dish ware including snack or appetizer plates, dinner sets, and cutlery. They’re all adorned with varying designs of animals and flowers which make them the most darling baby products I have ever seen! As you can tell, I am quite excited about them.
This company goes above and beyond by offering eco-friendly and sustainable ways of packaging and shipping their products. Blue brontide should be awarded for their recycled and earth friendly devotion to this practice. It just goes to show how committed to they are to their word on being mother earth friendly. I especially loved the message displayed on the box I received in the mail that says “we pack green, cause we think everyone deserves a tree to climb”. They achieve this by using the lowest grade of post consumer waste which is fancy wording for the greenest paper you can possibly find! Any bags used are also biodegradable, breaking down into C02 and H2O! Two thumbs up, Blue Brontide!
When I received my bunny dish set in the mail I realized I was days away from easter and could add this to Delilah’s basket. The difficult part was keeping it a secret. Even though my baby is only 9 months old, she adores bunny rabbits and I couldn’t wait to see the little smile emerge when she saw it! Luckily, I was able to contain my excitement by sharing on Bloom and Clementines instagram just to get it out of my system. On Easter morning as I expected, big baby smiles! Delilah loves her new dish set and I’m sure it will add a little brightness at dinner time.
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Please have a look at all of Blue Brontide’s amazing products for baby at www.bluebrontide.com Blue Brontide offers shipping worldwide on all of their products listed.
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Cloth diapering part 1: Our switch to cloth diapers and my first impression
3/22/2016 1 Comment
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This is something I’ve always wanted to do for my baby and the environment. Unfortunately, at the beginning of motherhood I was so overwhelmed with new gadgets and a new baby that cloth diapering seemed to be something that might put me over the edge. I have recently found out that a complete meltdown likely would not have happened as cloth diapering so far has been a smooth sailing operation. In fact, I’m in love with it! It’s SO much easier than I could have ever anticipated and can you blame me for loving the bright colours and prints I get to put on my baby girl now?
This switch was not something I has planned. Although I always had that uneasy feeling of mom guilt every time I used a disposable diaper as I knew the ingredients sitting in them. I almost felt like a fraud considering every other aspect of my life seems to be based in nature and avoiding toxic materials as much as possible. I suppose the fact that I knew everything else in Delilah’s life was so healthy that this one aspect wouldn’t be an issue. For my baby, I was wrong. Delilah ended up with a diaper rash (after not having ANY up until 8 months of age) and it was red, angry, and ruthless. It covered the entire outline of her diaper and red bumps crawled up her belly and down her legs. I brought her to both her Doctor and Naturopath who each suggested this was an allergic reaction to the diapers she was wearing. Both care providers suggested a switch to different diapers and I knew inside that this was my chance to try cloth. Delilah was older now, I had the hang of this mothering thing, and I felt at this point I could handle an extra task of laundering dirty diapers.
Steve and I went to the health food store to pick up some items to relieve my little ones rash and then headed over to a local baby store that covers all things natural. The lady working at the store gave us a tutorial on cloth diapering and showed us all of the different style and brands. Steve and I quickly realized that cloth diapering had come a long way from what image we had in our minds (cream muslin wrapped cloth secured with large pins circa 1940). In fact, cloth diapers are basically the exact same as disposables in their make and style…. but better! There are a few types of cloth diapering options and the two that I chose to use are called All-in-One and Pocket diapers.
All-in-One diapers are exactly what their name claims. The absorbent cloth is stitched into the diaper so you simply put on baby, take off baby, throw in diaper pail (and into laundry once you’ve gathered a decent pile of dirty diaps). You cant really get more simple than that! The pocket style diapers are similar, although they have a small slit in the back of the diaper to slot in the absorbency pad. When using pocket diapers you “stuff your diapers” once they’ve finished being cleaned and dried just as you would fold any laundry coming out of the dryer. It’s one extra step, but quite honestly I fold enough laundry that I didn’t see or notice this as being an extra task at all. It is super fast and easy. Took me about 5 minutes to stuff the pocket diapers we have.
In terms of what brand we used, after my tutorial at the baby store it was quite clear that the easiest (and most adorable) system was Bum Genius. This line of diapers is beyond compare. The absorbency is phenomenal, they have a regular polyester and an organic line to choose from, and they offer both All-in-one and pocket style. The diapers are lined on the outside with bright coloured and patterned water proof material and the inside material is so unbelievably soft! Their design makes for an easy transition from disposable to cloth and they have snaps that adjust to baby’s size all the way from 8 lbs.-35 lbs. I can use these diapers on my girl and all subsequent babies which will save me tons of money in the diapering department!
I purchased four diapers to try them out before committing to a full set of 24. We used them for a few days before we realized that cloth diapering is DEFINITELY our style. Since then we’ve bought another 8 and are slowly growing our stockpile to the standard 24 count diaper stash that is suggested. I have to say that since beginning our cloth diapering journey I have become obsessed with it! I had read of other mothers claiming they fell in love with it too and never quite understood how diapering could be such a “fun process”, but I really do enjoy using them over disposables. My babies stubborn rash went away completely, I haven’t found the laundering process to be hard, and I didn’t have to purchase anything other than the diapers to get started. It’s really a great investment in many ways. It’s an investment in terms of the money you save over the years of diapering, an investment in your baby’s health, and for the environment. Had I known that cloth diapering was this easy, I would have probably done it from day 1! I’m at the very least so glad that I have switched over to this now, while my baby is still young and before I have my next babies.
Follow my cloth diapering blog series for the next few posts on cloth diapering, including a write up of all the ways I’m saving money using this diapering system!
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Baby & Eve for Baby bums! (How to effectively eliminate diaper rash the natural way)
2/20/2016 0 Comments
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Time to talk about one of my favourite go-to’s when my little one has a diaper rash. I was lucky in the sense that my baby didn’t get a diaper rash till she was started on solid food. Now that her own body is trying to process the acidity in some fruits and vegetables, it generally results in a red little bum. I had been using Baby & Eve all along for diaper changes and loved it. It kept her skin moisturized and I never had any issues! But I only realized the amazing benefits of their ingredients when these diaper rashes began. This realization made my mother nature loving heart glow, I love when products exceed my expectations!
When I first saw the redness, I will admit I became nervous that I would have to use a medicated cream off the drug store shelves. I hated that this thought crossed my mind since I know all of the toxins sitting in those tubes of cream. I also wondered why my mind went directly to that thought when I have spent countless hours researching and finding the best products for my little bug. But, I wanted to demonstrate that even a well-read nature enthusiast can sometimes waiver and debate what the best is for their child. It’s hard to switch over to a natural lifestyle in a world filled with commercials and ads filling our heads about the products we want to avoid. Fortunately, I always seem to give the natural world the benefit of the doubt and I always seem to be pleasantly surprised at how well these products work. I can’t tell you why I react with surprise after a decade of using natural products. Maybe we’ll call it astonishment of mother nature! I suppose at the end of the day it came down to my established relationship with natural products but I also didn’t want to use a chemical filled cream on her already irritated skin. To me, that method seemed backwards. So the natural world won again!
I wanted to make sure that what I was using on Delilah was full of ingredients that were natural but effective. Nobody wants to see their baby sore. So I purchase the ‘Special Bum Balm‘ from Baby & Eve. I had been using their ‘Daily Bum Balm‘ all along but due to the rashes I needed something a little stronger. Baby & Eve makes a good point on their website “Why you would use the same cream when your baby’s skin changes?” This is why they developed a cream for regular use and one for healing use. The Special Bum Balm is a similar base to the Daily Bum Balm but it adds some extra healing ingredients that will help sooth and eliminate diaper rashes. It brings in the added benefits of ingredients like Calendula, St. John’s wort and Tea tree oil. It is specially designed to ensure baby’s skin receives a proper barrier from additional diaper wettings, moisturizing to alleviate dryness and chapping, and of course heals the irritation as it sits on baby’s skin. When I used this balm, I was so happy with how quickly and effectively it worked on Delilah’s skin. By the next morning, I usually saw little to no redness. She was happy, Her Dad and I were happy. It was an all around easy and painless (literally) experience. I didn’t have to go out and try countless other products at this point because Baby & Eve’s balm delivered on the very first try!
I will never switch bum balms after seeing how amazing this product was for my girl’s skin. I still go back to the daily bum balm option for days when her skin isn’t irritated. Too much of a good thing might not be the answer. There are still healing ingredients in their Daily Bum Balm and then I can feel like I’m “bringing out the big guns” when I start to see the first signs of a rash. This combo really works well together! Not to mention:
They do not use water in any of their products! Water can be a breeding ground for bacteria and can also dilute the positive effects of a product. When you’re using Baby & Eve, you’re using a high grade, undiluted, effective product. I love a company that doesn’t “fill” for profit!
The oils in their products are extracted using a cold-pressed method which ensures they don’t “cook” the benefits out of your product using heat. This keeps all of those healing ingredients at their top level of effectiveness!
No chemical preservatives are added, and there are zero toxins in all of their products!
Their packaging is a dark amber colour to keep the product safe from UV exposure. Like a sunscreen for creams!
They’re Cruelty free!
They’re certified Organic!
They’re Canadian!
Oh, and did I mention that this skin care line also develops products for pregnancy and postpartum? Yes, they take care of us Mama’s too! One product for stretch marks and one for dark circles under the eyes from sleepless nights. I am eager to try both and will keep you updated on their success! I have nothing but good expectations for what these products will do and am especially exited to try the ‘Mummy Tummy’ balm when we decide it’s time for baby number 2. One of it’s main ingredients is Immortelle Oil, something I’m just beginning to research since being introduced to it by their brand!
Take a look at their website to read more about these amazing products and shop for them at www.babyandeve.ca.
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Your Baby’s skin: Body wash, moisturizers, and powder to keep baby’s skin happy & healthy
2/10/2016 0 Comments
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There are so many differences between your baby’s skin and your own. This is why companies manufacture separate products for a baby to use when little. Unfortunately, many companies are only using this science as a way to sell an additional product and aren’t really giving you a skin care line that will protect and heal your baby’s skin.
Everyone notices how soft and smooth a baby’s skin is but have you ever wondered why? Yes, of course it has to do with the lack of weathering and exposure to elements that we as adults have inherited, but there is more to the story. The epidermis (outer layer) of baby’s skin is 20-30% thinner than yours. It will take up to one year of age for their skin barrier to properly develop. This results in high absorption and loss of moisture in their skin. This also means that other pollutants and irritants will penetrate baby’s skin more easily and in larger quantities. Babies have not developed the ability to sweat as well as adults and therefor their skin does not always have the ability to release any toxins like ours can. Not to mention, this also makes it difficult for them to regulate their temperature. This can be nerve racking when considering the amount of chemicals some companies will put in their baby products. We know our skin is a vehicle to many more important organs in our body so we don’t want to allow those pesky irritants to pass through and cause havoc.
This is why I wanted to find a product for my baby’s skin that had very few ingredients, but would properly clean and protect the skin from irritants in the environment. Luckily, a local Naturopath has created a baby skin care line that does just that called “Olive Baby”. Olive Baby’s main ingredient is a high quality olive oil. This made sense to me as oils are one of the best things to use on your skin. There are a handful of different skin care products to choose from and I’ve laid them out for you below so you can see just how pure and healthy the ingredients are in each of these products! The best part is they can be used on the entire family as an alternate to drug store bought soaps and moisturizers.
Head to Toe Body Wash: I love this wash! Especially since my little one has skin that doesn’t react well to added fragrances. This body wash is a castile soap made from high grade saponified olive oil and purified water. This is about as pure as you can get for baby body wash and it works amazingly! It has a slight natural scent that I personally love but is free from all added fragrance including essential oils. This is especially helpful for babies who have skin issues.
My favourite part of this product is that after you’ve used up your first bottle, you can save it and purchase their refill concentrate. You simply mix a fraction of the concentrate with purified or distilled water into your bottle and you have more body wash, a recycled bottle, and a jug of concentrate to last you months!
Body Butter: This body butter is great to use all over baby’s skin to help moisturize and can also create a barrier to other environmental irritants. It is made of Olive Oil, Calendula (a floral herb that is great for skin care due to it’s ability to heal a variety of skin issues such as inflammation and dryness), natural beeswax, and vitamin E. This body butter is a great barrier for baby’s skin if you’re planning on going into a chlorinated pool with them.
Bottom Spray: This spray is an ideal option for anyone who uses cloth diapers as it helps clean baby during diaper changes. Just spray onto a cloth wipe and use to clean baby. You can also use this spray with face cloths to clean baby on the go or after meals. For potty training toddlers, leave this on the back of your toilet. They can spray this on the toilet paper (or you can do it for them) to help get their bottoms clean. The whole family can use this trick! This ingredients in this product are: Witch hazel, Aloe leaf juice, Chamomile, and Olive Oil.
Healing Balm: The perfect balm for diaper rashes but can also be used for irritated skin and as a barrier in harsh weather. I’ve used this on both myself and my baby with great results. The ingredients in this product are Olive Oil, Calendula, Marshmallow root, Lavender, Natural beeswax and vitamin E.
Baby powder: This powder can be used on baby’s bottom following diaper changes to keep excess moisture away. It’s a great solution for the areas of baby’s skin where friction occurs to keep irritation and redness at bay. Ingredients are Arrow root powder, Kaolin clay and Marshmallow root. It’s important to note that this powder is Talc-free and Cornstarch-free, which is very important when baby has a yeasty diaper rash which can be fed by cornstarch.
Tip: I use this powder as my dry shampoo on the days when I can’t get a shower (which seem to be more often after baby) and it’s free of any chemicals and toxins that other dry shampoos carry.
Lip Saver: A great lip balm with healing ingredients to help soothe chapped or dry lips. I found this helpful directly after having my baby as the beginnings of breastfeeding may leave you dehydrated resulting in dryer lips. Just toss it into your delivery bag! Ingredients are Olive Oil, Camellia Oil, Natural beeswax, and Vitamin E.
To check out and order some of your own Olive Baby products you can visit their website at www.olivebaby.ca
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For the Mama’s out there, the baby wipes I use on my little one:
2/3/2016 0 Comments
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Since having my own little girl I’ve become very conscious of what products I use for her. I want to make sure I start her off with the least harmful products, especially this young. Their little systems are growing at a rapid pace and I want to ensure what I’m using doesn’t disrupt anything!
Baby wipes are something we all use often. Especially the first few months when diaper changes seem endless. Actually, they still seem endless! So why not focus on a product like wipes since they’re used on our babies skin constantly throughout every single day.
There are so many brands of baby wipes out there and as I’ve said in my very first post, many companies just slap the words “natural” or “botanical” on their products to make you think you’re getting a good quality product. There is no exception to this in the world of baby products. I find this very unsettling, we as Mama’s are trying to make the best choices for our tiny little humans and companies are trying to blind side and confuse us with their marketing. So today, I’m going to tell you all about a product that I’ve been using with my baby for diaper changes.
I looked for a while before finding Aleva Naturals, an organic baby wipe product line without all the bad stuff. As I said before, many companies can be misleading, so everytime I purchased a new type of wipe I thoroughly read all of the ingredients on the package to make sure they fit my standards. Many of them did not. Aleva Naturals has an impressive ingredients list on their wipes and they score in the Low hazard range on the EWG Skin Deep product search. Not bad in my books! Since using these wipes my little one has very few diaper rashes. If she does develop a rash when trying different foods, the wipes still don’t bother her during changes.
Once I was hooked on their diaper wipes, I realized they offered more. I have also tried their “Pacifier and toy wipes” and their “Hand ‘n’ Face wipes”. I will admit, I am one of those mamas that has a hard time watching other people hold my baby when they haven’t washed their hands, if they kiss my baby, or if I don’t know them very well. Since becoming a Mom I am convinced I can physically see those microscopic bugs jump off of other people and onto her. This may have resulted from having a baby who got a cold at 3 weeks old in the summer months or simply just being a first time mama. I’ve never really been a germaphobe before baby. Regardless, it was enough to make me hold my breath during some visits. My mind was put to ease when I found this healthier version of hand and face wipes that I could use directly after visits! The packaging is nice and small so they fit in my diaper bag with her regular diaper wipes. For the Moms who aren’t quite as nervous about germs as I am, these wipes are great for dinners and park dates on the go.
The Pacifier and toy wipes are fantastic for going out with baby. My little one has begun playing the classic game of throwing her toys on the ground so you can pick them up for her. While I don’t need to wipe the toys down in our own house, I definitely find these wipes handy when she throws them on the ground outside or in a public space. This product is also in a smaller package and fits in the diaper bag with the other two as well. Both of those products also score in the low hazard range on the EWG Skin deep product search.
I have been really happy with all of these wipes and recommend them to all the Mama’s out there!
If you’re interested in looking into this great wipe line, check out http://www.alevanaturals.com.
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