The Frugal Nontoxic Mama

NOTE: The Alpha Crib about which I write here was just recalled by the CPSC, along with almost every other dropside crib. DO NOT BUY THIS CRIB.

I was Safe Seal-ing my bassinet the other day and thought about a conversation I had with my youngest sister, who is hoping to become a mother soon. I was telling her about the new No Compromise crib mattress I had had to purchase for my baby's room--re-using my son's crib--and told her that Mom and I would chip in to buy her one for her nursery when the time came. She looked at me and said: "Just so you know, I won't be doing all the nontoxic stuff you do." I just stared at her: "What do you mean?" She responded: "I just can't afford it."

At first I bristled--wait, I can "afford it"? No, I'm part of a young family with only one member who is employed full-time. However, as I continued sealing my bassinet, I thought to myself--my sister is not the only one who thinks a nontoxic nursery is out of reach. The truth is, I can't afford "it" either, when "it" is the $2000 totally nontoxic nursing rocker from Q Collection Junior, their companion crib, which runs $1100, the Pacific Rim Crib at $750 plus, and so on. While I think it's very important that people buy these products so that there is demonstrated interest in the marketplace and, ideally, more products produced at affordable prices, I know few (no one, really) who can afford a nontoxic nursery at that price.

But it's actually really easy to provide a safe environment for your baby, and it's actually less expensive than buying new: used furniture. I just bought a different changing table off Craig's List, a Pali natural wood changer which contains particleboard. However, it has been owned by two different families over the course of about four years. It has sufficiently off-gassed. My son's crib was actually nontoxic to begin with, with zero particleboard or formaldehyde glue--but it was new and cost less than just about every other crib I looked at (the Alpha Crib from Dax Stores, manufactured by Million Dollar Baby, which makes lots of formaldehyde-free cribs). My new baby will be using this crib. Baby bottles without BPA are now the norm, and no more expensive than the old BPA-containing bottles. Yes, Burt's Bees baby wash is more expensive than Johnson & Johnson's, but spending eight bucks for a bottle that lasts about two months seems feasible when we are talking about the difference between a load of phthalates and zero phthalates. And of course, the one big "expensive" thing is the crib mattress. It was a big purchase for me with my first, and it was a big one for my second. In my case, I worked extra editing jobs to pay for it. For others, the answer might be setting aside $25-30 a month over the course of your pregnancy--that will bring you to the purchase price of about $259. When looked at from that perspective, it seems completely doable.

What isn't necessary, in my opinion, are organic fabrics. I urge the use of cotton, not polyester, because when it comes to baby items, polyester is often doused in PBDEs or fire retardant. But I just bought a crib set that has polyester bumpers. They "off-gassing" as I type.

I can't emphasize enough how great used furniture is when you're trying to construct a nontoxic nursery. Stores like Once Upon a Child stock used cribs that look like new, are not on the recall list, and are safe for your baby to sleep in. Craig's List is another great resource. Let's keep this stuff out of the landfill and keep the toxic fumes of formaldehyde-containing particleboard out of our nurseries. I can't tell you how many e-mails I get from parents saying--"so THAT is what the smell is."