When you have a baby, you want your home to be as safe as possible for him or her. It is not enough to make your house spic and span by using regular cleaning products since they usually contain harsh chemicals that could harm your child. You have to use the safest (yet still effective) cleaning products you could find. Or, you could make them yourself and skip the part about worrying whether the cleaning products you chose are safe for your little one.

Here are some baby-friendly, environment friendly cleaners that you might want to try for your home. And you could find most of them in your kitchen.

Floor Cleaners

When your baby is old enough to crawl, you have to make sure your floors are clean and have not been treated with harsh chemicals or polished with floor wax. A safe and effective floor cleaner is castile soap. It is ideal for tile, linoleum and hardwood floors. Simply mix ¼ cup of castile soap with 2 gallons of warm water and use a clean mop to apply it onto your floor. To take out greasy spots, add ½ cup vinegar to the solution. If you do not have Castile soap on hand, you can use just vinegar and water. This solution is just as effective in safely cleaning your floors.

If you want your floors to shine but are against using floor wax, the Children’s Mercy Hospital Environmental Health Program recommends the following all-natural floor sparklers:

For wood floors, use 1-to-1 ratio of vegetable and vinegar and apply the solution onto your floors using a soft rag.

For linoleum floors, add skin milk to water and use a damp rag to apply to your floors.

Tub and Tile Cleaners

Since the bathroom is where we expel our wastes, it makes sense that bathroom cleaners contain very harsh chemicals. But with a baby around, these cleaners won’t do.  To safely clean your toilet bowl, the Georgia Division of Public Health recommends scrubbing it using a toilet scrub brush with plain baking soda or castile soap. For soap scum in the shower or tub, apply a mixture of vinegar and baking soda. This solution will act as a mild abrasive that will cut through the grime and leave your shower tub clean.

All-Purpose Cleaners

With your floors and bathroom taken care of, it’s time to focus on the rest of your house.  Since you take your baby with you anywhere in the house, it is important to use cleaners that are safe for your child.

To safely clean the rest of your house, the Children’s Mercy Hospital Environmental Health Program recommends dissolving plain baking soda in water or sprinkling it directly onto surfaces and wiping it off with a damp cloth. For tough or greasy stains, you can try mixing vinegar and salt to create a scrubbing paste. The vinegar will cut through the grease, while the salt acts as a mild abrasive.

Deborah Williams is  a child care expert consultant on a non-government organization promoting natural household cleaners and eco friendly cleaning products.BabyGanics is the manufacturer of natural baby products made with all-natural ingredients for effective and green cleaning.
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The fact that your little boy or girl is so young doesn’t mean that fashion and style should be ignored. Because fashion didn’t seem to exist for infant wear, top-notch designers have now decided to turn the tide. Thanks to companies like Album di Famiglia and Nolita Pocket, both of which make the most adorable designer baby clothes imaginable, this year your new addition to the family can flaunt more than your average wear. Finally, baby girl clothes can come in more than merely pink footed pajamas, and baby boy clothes can be more than a simple pastel blue snapsuit.

Before you head down to the local department store, where are you going to get your hands on an Italian-designed tunic from designer Album di Famiglia? What about a cute pink ruched jersey cotton dress from Nolita Pocket? Most local stores don’t even come close to mimicking or putting out the quality that your fine tastes demand.

Local stores don’t normally bring world fashion to the babies department. Online shopping, at a designer baby clothes store like Estella of New York City, is your second-best bet to an Italian vacation.

With a few clicks of the mouse, you can have the baby girl clothes that your daughter deserves to sport. But can you actually put your son in these designer baby clothes when he’s simply going to soil them the way babies tend to do? Don’t worry, most designers of baby wear will design the clothes to be machine-washable.

Of course, that may not be true for everyone, but you don’t want to shop for clothes that will put your son or daughter in the harsh chemicals used in most dry cleaners. No worries with Estella, they only sell machine washable designer clothing.

Can you imagine the stares that your little precious will garner when she struts her stuff in the finest of fashion? How sweet she’d look in an angora dress, or cashemere sweater! But you don’t have to merely dream it. You can have the best in baby couture from the top design houses, even without leaving your home. It’s all just a few clicks away.

Beatrix Anne is a fashion-minded aficionado of designer baby clothes from the likes of Album di Famiglia and Nolita Pocket, Italian design at its finest.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/babies-articles/designer-baby-clothes-can-be-yours-in-a-few-clicks-1772992.html

Winter conditions such as dry winds, cold temperatures, snow, and rain can be harmful for your baby. It is common for babies and young children to get sick in the winter because of decreasing temperatures and the flu season. The harsh winter weather alone can cause damage to your baby’s skin. Their skin is so sensitive and can become irritated more so than adults’ skin. Cold winter air and dry, heated indoor air can cause irritation and dryness of the skin making eczema flare ups more frequent. Here are some ways to protect your baby’s skin during the winter.

When bathing your baby, be extra cautious of the water temperature. You should always practice safe bathing techniques, not just in the winter. The temperature should be lukewarm, a mixture of hot and cold water. Cold water will making your baby uncomfortable and water that is too hot can dry the skin out more or burn their sensitive skin. Also, use soap made from natural products that aren’t too heavily scented. Unnatural products can contain harsh chemicals that could make a winter rash worse. Moisturizing after bathing is smart because the skin is clean. It is common for babies to suffer from eczema, so using <a title=”eczema oil” target=”_blank” href=”http://www.homesteadcompany.com/”>eczema oil</a> will help to prevent that.

You may be surprised to know that babies can regulate their body temperature just as well as adults can. Don’t dress your baby in too many layers trying to keep them warm. If your baby becomes overheated they may develop an irritating heat rash. Keep your baby warm with jackets and blankets. Dress your baby in material that can breathe a little such as cotton. Dress your baby as you would dress yourself. It is common to add an extra layer of clothing to your outfit to stay warm, but only layer up once.

Adults and babies are often irritated by chapped lips during the winter. It may not seem like your baby’s lips could get chapped because they appear moist from drooling, teething, or having a pacifier. You can use a lip balm on your baby but make sure it isn’t the kind that has a tint of color. Find an organic brand that won’t cause irritation. Using lip balm will add a protective layer that will heal or prevent chapped lips.

To protect your baby’s hands and feet, which are often exposed to the outside elements, you can use gloves and socks. Wearing gloves will protect your baby’s hands from cold winter winds. When skin is exposed to wind, cold air, and other elements, the skin can become very dry. A lot of heat is also lost through the tops of our heads. Find a cute, little beanie or hat for your baby to wear. Unlike adults, some babies don’t have a lot of hair to keep the tops of their heads warm.

Melanie Nader is the founder of the Homestead Company which makes premium quality natural skin care products including eczema oil and diaper ointment made with the finest 100% natural ingredients. For more information, visit http://www.homesteadcompany.com.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/babies-articles/protecting-your-babys-skin-in-winter-1545550.html