Customer Reviews

Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet Guide to Natural Baby Care: Nontoxic and Environmentally Friendly Ways to Take Care of Your New Child

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mothers and Others has 30,000 members, all of whom receive The Green Guide, a monthly newsletter detailing the latest on environmental toxins and information about safer products and practices. The organization was started in 1989 to stop the use of dangerous pesticides and has been actively campaigning ever since with this goal in mind. This must-have book for environmentally and health-conscious families is a collection of information from the newsletters compiled into one incredibly useful volume. This book is not meant to overwhelm you with ideas and tasks to undertake in the name of acquiring a toxin-free household. In fact, you will find so many useful, easy tips that you will wonder why you didn't get started sooner. The information is applicable to the parents of children of all ages, starting with a chapter on pregnancy and preparing your home for the new arrival. In addition to the valuable facts presented in the book, there is an extensive bibliography listing further titles by subject if you are interested in doing even more research. It also lists hundreds of mail order companies and websites. Bonus: readers of the book can call for a free issue of The Green Guide.

While this book does have many resources for parents trying to incorporate non-toxic and environmentally-friendly practices into their parenting, it assumes a very traditional Western approach to parenting, one in which one of the biggest jobs new parents face is acquiring the right STUFF to parent. Although there is a lot of information on cribs, there are few recommendations for parents who might want to co-sleep or have a family bed, such as three-sided cribs that attach to the parent's bed, or equipment to make the family bed safer. The book presents the pros and cons of cloth diapers vs. disposables but does not mention anything about natural infant hygiene or elimination communication. Even the cloth diaper section is pretty skimpy, about a page and a half. Nor is there much information on baby carrying and wearing products, such as the huge variety of fabric slings now available.

It's not that parents who want to protect the enviroment need to adopt all of these practices, but a book that is supposed to offer 'safe, practical and affordable baby care' for 'a livable planet' should at least mention some of these options in some depth and help make parents aware of them. This seems especially important in that these choices will determine what and how much you need to buy for your baby. If you plan to keep your baby in the same room or bed with you, you won't need worry about stripping lead paint in the baby's room. If you plan to use an infant potty after naps, you may not need to invest in a changing table. If you wear your baby in a sling for most of her first 18 months of life, you may not need a stroller, bassinett, playpen, walker or rocker.

Use this book as a helpful guide to finding good, natural baby products once you've researched the most eco-friendly parenting practices (somewhere else).

I am not to good with words but this book is great for anyone that loves their child as well as the environment. It has websites all through the book if you want to buy some eco-friendly products. I really enjoyed this book and have learned alot from it.

Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet, presents Guide to Natural Baby Care by Mindy Pennybacker Aisha Ikramuddin. 4 out of 5 Stars!!

Overall, I found it to be a fantastic read, enjoyed the layout, and the freedom from seeing naked, or semi naked pregnate ladies. The book mentioned alot of things and this is the book that can go with you during your prengancy and after. It goes over designing a baby room, choosing products for your baby, and how to take care of the baby (i.e. bath, change diaper, etc).

I did find it to fall short in the area of "alternative" parenting or "village" parenting wherein the children are encouraged to sleep with the parents, have only breast milk, carrying a baby in a wrap/syrong, raising vegan children, etc etc, but aside from all of this, I'd recommend the book and I would purchase it myself.

We are exposed to thousands of chemicals in furniture, clothes, cleaning products, air, food, water. For babies' sensitive, developing bodies these chemicals can pose life long developmental problems and introduce illness and disease. There are many choices you can make as a parent to reduce and eliminate your child's exposure to harmful chemicals and this book shares those. Most are simple choices like choosing non-toxic paints and using natural household cleaners. Others, like paying a little more to buy an organic mattress to avoid the harmful fire retardant chemicals (recently banned in California) on conventional mattresses, may seem harder. But what wouldn't you do to protect the health and well-being of the most precious person in your life? I'd do anything with in my ability.

This book has been a constant reference for me since having my baby. It's an invaluable resource. If your pregnant or planning a baby, buy it now.

I did not find the information in this book to be accurate or helpful.