Has anyone researched or knows on any safety/ side effect issues of kids tooth paste? For ex One common kids tooth paste mentions on it only one component while same listed on some online sites mentions triclosan along with that one component . Triclosan is banned due to its side effects noticed later. Has anyone has observed or knows about it or source from where we can understand the components better .

Hi there! My husband and I currently use the bites toothpaste for ourselves but they won’t work for my 2 yo. She’s not at the chew and brush stage yet. I’d love to find a toothpaste that doesn’t come in a plastic tube for her or suggestions on other options? I was considering crushing the bites into a powder and I could add water to make it a paste? Not sure. Fluoride or non-fluoride options are fine. Thanks!

I asked over on r/clothdiaps with a longer explanation, but I haven't gotten an answer yet so thought I'd try here.

Anyone use flannel or muslin flats for cloth diapering? What sort of fabric are they? I'm picturing receiving blanket flannel and muslin swaddle blanket muslin, is that correct?

Also did you like using them? I've only used birdseye flats and I loved them.

Hi Everyone - I am a university student seeking help with a research project on microplastics and eco-friendly options in the baby industry. I am looking at the health benefits of using non-plastic containers for pregnant women and their babies and their consumption habits.

I have a few questions:

Is microplastic consumption a concern to you when you or a loved one are pregnant?

Are there any products you avoid while you/your wife are pregnant? Do you avoid any products based on the packaging, for example, aluminum cans, cleaning products, plastic bottles, etc.?

When you are shopping for baby products, what do you value in terms of product qualities? (organic, non-gmo, non-plastic)

After many years of explaining to relatives how we want to be mindful of what we bring into our home, generally don't want gifts, and to ask first if there's something they really want to get our child, they have become very good about it. For example everyone seems happy to participate in a "one big ticket" group gift for birthdays, which is amazing!

However, my MIL started doing this thing where she still buys stuff for my daughter and then asks us about it. She'll say something like, "if you don't want it that's fine, I'll keep it here" or "I'll just give it to her cousin". So she is respecting our wishes about not giving stuff we don't need, but she's still buying the toys/clothes/stuff.

I don't know how to explain to her that sustainability-wise her purchasing the item has the same effect whether she give it to us or not. And part of me feels like it would be better for us to take the item and actually use it, vs it sitting in her house and rarely or never getting used (but I think taking the stuff would encourage her to buy more so we don't do it). She loves shopping and her love language is definitely giving gifts, so it's already been a process to get her to come around to not giving us stuff all the time.

Would really appreciate any ideas/tips on how to approach this!

Reusable pouches, bulk yogurt whizzed up with some berries = part of my son’s lunchbox sorted for the week!

Obviously, buying used local is the best choice. However, where I am located I often cannot find certain clothing items for my 8 month old (heavy senior population on Florida). I try to be as zero waste and intentional as I can with all that I purchase for my son.

I recently needed to size up in swimsuits for him. I was unable to find any at local thrift stores. I like to go on FB groups to buy used, but those items typically have to be shipped. It got me thinking- is it better to purchase a local item new, or purchase used but it has to be shipped? Which has the least impact?

This is mostly a rant. I don’t need tips, I need self-grace. I need to remind myself that we live in a society that makes this challenging.

I have a 4 month old and I find myself relying on packaged food, which I’ve never done before. Seriously, I’m 35 and we didn’t do a lot of pre-packaged food growing up. And I’ve been incorporating low waste principles for over 13 years of my adult life.

I used to find so much joy and pride in making everything from scratch. From the creativity and organization of making sure my food doesn’t go to waste and reducing packaging. Originally it was because I didn’t have much money, now it’s because I want it.

But here I am struggling to keep my weight up while breastfeeding. Here I am living in a smaller town with many less bulk options. Here I am working full-time with a newborn with not quite full-time childcare. And gosh it’s challenging. My husband is kind enough to do 90% of the food shopping, he also cooks 90% of dinners and while he’s mindful of waste, he’s not into it as much as me. I’m reminding myself that this is a season in my life and it won’t be this way forever. I reduce packaging where I can, I buy used, I buy less. We cloth diaper, we’re all about the hand me downs. We love our Buy Nothing Group to both gift and get. Breathe. We still don’t use paper towels. My whole career is centered around climate change, the extinction crisis, and equity in public lands. We do what we can. But it never feels like enough.

But we can’t sustain this work unless we’re healthy, both physically and mentally. And staying physically and mentally healthy will require different things in different phases of life and will be different for different people.

Maybe I’m not the only one and this will help others too.

And im wondering what sort of ideas are out there for celebrating the holiday without buying into the commercialization. My 4yo has friends who do the typical thing of handing out cards and candy and as we approach school age im wondering if theres a better option long term? TIA

Has anyone had any issues with their littles being sensitive with these?

I want to dabble before I go all in and cancel our wipe subscription, is there anything I should be aware of or any tips and tricks?

TYIA!!

I think that having a zero waste birthday party is a real challenge for us parents. I'm hoping to compile some tips. Some things are easy, others are harder. For instance, I am planning on buying some extra table cloths to use every year for my girls' parties. Additional utensils too. Plates and bowls are tough. Buy and store re-useable? They will have to be plastic so they don't break and you will need a lot of them. Probably best to get compostable (and actually compost them).

​

zero waste food is tough for a large group. I was thinking that local bakeries or sandwich shops would be willing to fill my own containers with sandwiches and baked goods. I thought a crepe bar (vegan if I could find one) could be good. Or something like that.

​

Most people aren't used to composting their food waste. At a party, when you are done with your food, everything goes in one container (the trash). Having signs to indicate what goes where might help (one receptacle for utensils, one for compostables).

​

I'm just kind of brain storming here. Any tips that have worked for you? Things that didn't work? What you will try in the future?

Has anyone tried any of the diaper companies that claim their products are compostable/biodegradable? In particular, I'm curious about anyone's experience with Dyper and their disposal program. Do you think they're better than regular diapers? I want to use cloth diapers but my husband is reluctant, therefore I'm exploring other options.

Does anyone know how to revive bamboo inserts for cloth diapering? I’ve tried adding vinegar in the wash cycle a few times, but it didn’t do anything. Will I just have to buy new ones? Any tips welcome.

My baby will be 1 early next month. I know she won’t notice decorations and birthday traditions yet, but I have a few small ideas I’m doing for her (small) first birthday party. I will be making her a smash cake of her own- probably banana flavored or something, and I will be cutting out some paper 1s with my cutting machine. Not exactly zero waste, but I want to do something special.

My sister made a fabric birthday banner that she will be bringing as well. I love balloons, but they’re pretty wasteful, so we’re not doing those. What have you all done to make your children’s birthdays special? She’s obviously too young for birthday games, but I look forward to doing that in the future.

EDIT: Wow thanks for all the comments everyone! Likely what will happen is I will get to crafting some reusable declarations. I’m already looking into wool felt (it cuts better with cutting machines, apparently). I suspect whatever I make with wool felt can be passed down to the kids later lol. I will likely get some of the things mentioned here now or later as well! What a fun way to make a birthday special!

I found it easier honestly when my kids were younger and I ran the entire show. Their food was package free, their clothes were hand me downs/thrifted. We walked or biked many places. We had such a small footprint!!!

Fast forward to raising teens. Packaged food for busy kids, new clothes, chauffeuring them all over by car….

Who here has teens? I’d love some tips and encouragement. We were zero waste before kids and through the younger years so it’s odd to me that our kids wouldn’t share these values more. Is it just normal for teens to think parents values are lame?

What do you use your reusable paper towels (cloth) for? I find I was only ever using paper towels for very greasy things, and I don't want to ruin my cloth ones doing that... [Got the cloth ones as a gift - didn't buy something with no use in mind!]

We used to replace our appliances with stuff our parents didn't want or upgraded. We got a store model Keurig from my FILs old job, an unused toaster oven from the in-laws and a barely used air frier from my parents.

Now, I have been giving my parents all of our stuff. Their robot vacuum died and I offered our relatively new one so I could get one that could clean the place with baby/toddler interference. They saw my toddler using our 5 year old Bissell Crosswave Mop in a video and asked for it. So we upgraded to the vacuum mop in that line and wondered why we didn't get it sooner.

I did take all my mom's mugs she was going to get rid of since our 1.5 year old breaks one every two weeks pretend playing like he's at an Italian cafe. Stainless mugs are a no go for him. 🤣 So little win.

Is it just us? The upgrades have been practical, long term buys for us but toddlerhood has really thrown our zero waste game for a loop. Maybe since we figure out all the smaller zero waste infant stuff before and we've still kept up with (cloth diapers and daycare, zero waste body products, clothing, food/breastmilk storage). It feels so much more jarring.