Those cute cries, fluffy cheeks, sparkling eyes staring at you, tiny hands with its cute fingers gripping on your hand while smiling widely. Almost nothing on earth could beat the cuteness of a newborn baby, don’t you agree? Despite all of the sleepless night trying to babysit the baby, they still are the greatest gift for the world, especially to their parents, for sure.
The overflowing joy of giving birth to an innocent baby is way more than the joy that we feel when we’re cuddling someone’s baby. Of course, every mom wants the best for their children. They want their children to grow up healthily, happily, and hoping they’ll become a great person in the future.
One of the way on showing and developing that affection is from breastfeeding. Although nowadays there are a lot of infant formula that can be easily bought in the supermarket, breast milk is still the best. Since beside boosting a baby’s immune system, it has tons of benefits whether it’s for the baby or the mother.
Interesting Facts about Breastfeeding
- Reduce baby’s risk of disease in the future.
- It contains substance that help baby sleeps easier also baby’s calmness.
- Good to build a stong bond between mom and baby.
- Lower risk of sudden infant death symdrome (SIDS)
- Reduce risk of baby’s cavities in the future as well as the need to use braces
- Reduce mom’s risks of ovarian and breast cancer and osteoporosis.
That way, a lot of mothers all around the world still choose to breastfeed their babies. But there’s one thing that every mom, or dad too, should take a note about. Breastfeeding an infant properly means saying no to cake, wine, and other delicious food out there even skincare and cosmetics. From breastfeeding, actually everything the mom ate will be passed through the baby.
Not every thing is good for the baby, like consuming too much eggs can cause ulcer in baby. Another example, consuming too much spicy, coconut milk containing foods, vegetables with high gases level, are also not suggested while breastfeeding. While there are lists of safe chemicals to use while pregnant and cleaning chemicals to avoid during pregnancy, here goes few chemicals out there that you should specially avoid for good.
Chemicals to Avoid during Breastfeeding
Here are the list of chemicals to avoid during breastfeeding:
- Phthalates
This chemicals mainly found in nail polish, cosmetic containing fragrance, kids toys, personal care items, and so on. To a baby, it can be transferred though breastfeeding or absorbed through the skin and the bloodstream, soon might be able to disrupt hormones. It’s also associated with allergy that develops in baby’s future life, along with asthma, and neuro development.
You can also read : FDA List of Approved Cosmetic Ingredients
- Oxybenxone (C14H12O3 )
Oxybenzone is used as a sunscreen agent, as it absorbs UVB and UVA II rays. It can also be found on lip balms, lipsticks, moisturizers, and so on. This organic compound is quite an irritant to eye and skin. Especially, we know that baby’s body system is more sensitive than ours. Applying this on your body, breast area, arms, or even face might be dangerous as it might be licked or eaten by the baby unintentionally. It can cause dermatitis, as well as encouraging changes in the skin that might lead to cancer.
- Formaldehyde ( CH2O )
This highly reactive aldehyde gas has a widerange of uses, from in the manufacture, as a disinfectant until preservative, You can find this as the ingredients of agricultural , personal care and, skin care products, as its preservative. If you’re baby’s exposed to this chemical by drinking milk from your contaminated breast, or any other unintentional way, it can cause serious allergic reactions. You can spot it on the ingredients as ; hydroxymethylglycinate, DMDM-hydantoin and methenesmine.
- Parabens
This is widely used as preservatives in personal care, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products and as food additives. Overexposure to this chemical, especially for sensitive baby, can create abnormal amounts of chemical that affect the endocrine system as they’re being accumulated in the body. It might also triggers allergic reactions such as dermatitis. In the ingredients, it’s indicated by these names; isopropylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben, etc.
Read also :Propylparaben in Pharmaceutical Uses
- Mineral oil
Cheap petroleum or mineral oil can be easily found in skin care products such as lotion, baby wipes, cosmetics, and so on. This distillate of petroleum is known as a good lubricant. Yet, they might be not suitable for your baby. It can clog skin pores and disturb natural skin respiration. Names that indicate this chemical are parrafinum, parrafinum liquidium, and of course mineral oil itself.
- Retinoids
This time it’s about skin care products again. It’s mainly used to disminish wrinkles as it has the ability to spur the production of vitamin A. It prevents collagen breakdown, as well as speeding up cell division. However, the high amount of vitamin A that consumed orally might be a damage for fetus. It can leads to birth defects somehow. So both pregnant women and breastfeeding mother should avoid this chemical. Watch-out for these names listed in the ingredients ; retinol, retin-A, retinoic acid, differin, retinyl linoleate, tazorac, retinyl palmitate, and retinyl etinol.
- Phenoxyethanol
This chemical is an alternative to formaldehyde preservatives, also as a perfume fixative, insect repellent, an antiseptic, dyes, inks, cosmetics, etc. It’s easily found in cosmetics, baby skin care, and so on. It’s an irritant, a potential allergen, and ingestion may cause few usual signs of overexposure to hazardous chemical such as respiratory depression, vomiting and diarrhea in infants.
More Hazard Chemicals for Breastfeeding Mother
Here are more chemicals to avoid during breastfeeding:
- Salicyclic acid – High dosage can cause birth defects.
- Sodium lauryl ether sulfate/Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLES/SLS) – Linking to cancer and birth defects.
- Polyethylene glycol – Could turn to irritation and sensitivity.
- Benzoyl proxide – Risk to developing fetuses.
- Octinoxate – the risk of endometriosis and low birth weight
- Avobenzone – may cause free radical damage
- Octisalate – may increase the risk of endometriosis and low birth weight
- Homosalate – the risk of cells damage and disruption of hormones
- Toluene – The risk of mental abilities and growth in children
- Hydroquinone – classified as a category C drug
- Glutathione – any potential side effects, so please call your doctor before you use it
- Nicotine – can damage baby’s brain and development
- Caffeine – You should limit caffeine
- Alcohol – can cause miscarriage and intellectual disabilities
- Monosodium Glutamat – you may call your doctor for recommendation
Basically, these chemicals probably are not a good friend of your baby. Try your best to avoid anything dangerous for your baby, since we know the sayings, ‘ better be safe than sorry’. At least, if you’re forced to use those chemicals, use it as little as possible. In case of skin care products, we know it’s harder to prevent exposure to your lovely babies rather than not using it for good. Endure it for a while, harvest the fruitful results in the future.