Best Treatment for the Cradle Cap - All Natural

I have done some research on the cradle cap when I found some on my baby's head. I didn't actually find it visually - I actually experienced funny odor. This is when I noticed yellow residues attached to my baby's scalp. Since I have been very cautious using excessive soaps and creams on my baby, I was looking for natural way to cure it. I wasn't able to cure the cradle cap immediately, but it did work on the end. I used the virgin olive oil. After every water bath, I would smear my baby's head with the virgin olive oil. In the morning I would gently brush off from the head. I would repeat this for three days in the row. What olive oil does, it loosens the yellowish residue so it can be brushed off. However, I noticed that would go away for a week or two; therefore I would repeat the treatment. I read it somewhere that all it is a baby dandruff, and it will come back, and it can go on until child is a five years old. The nice thing about the olive oil is that it is harmless to your child, and you can use it all the time. Unfortunately, you need to time treatments in the way that your baby or child is home for few days, otherwise, hair may be a bit oily. Since my baby's hair is very fine, it was hardly noticeable. Next day after last day of treatment, I would wash my baby's hair with a gentle shampoo. Just so you know results may vary, and you can come up with your own application of virgin olive oil, some may need more days, and some less.

Reusable Grocery Shopping Bags - The Next Green Trend But May Be Not The Cleanest One

I been using reusable grocery shopping bags for almost a year now, and did some observations. Probably out there someone thought about it too, but I will spill out my opinion here about reusable shopping bags. I personally absolutely love them. Sometimes I forget to bring them to the store, but that's just a bad habit I got to stop. This used to be a good habit when I lived in Europe. There were no such things as shopping plastic bags; as a matter of fact plastic bag was a novelty and been reused many times by many people. However, this may be old news now since it happened over twenty years ago.

Plastic bags have been used here in North America very commonly, but with the recent green trend everywhere, the message is clear - they must go, and stores are going to charge customers for them. Not so good for consumers of course. However, over many years we already knew that the plastic shopping bags were not good for the environment, therefore lot of manufacturers been working on the solution to produce biodegradable plastic shopping bags, bioplastics. We may not notice but some of the supermarkets carry them. However, this is not a point of this post.

The point is that because we reuse these bags, groceries we carry may contaminate them. What is the solution? Easy, wash them. But then this becomes again the green issue, more energy more natural resources consumed. If not cleaned then the potential health issues, and more health care costs associated with it. But there is always a way to do things right.

Firstly let me outline what foods can potentially contaminate the reusable bag, and let me give you simple suggestions to keep those bags clean.

The following are foods that can easily contaminate the reusable bag:

[1] Dairy Products - no matter how much care there is taken, there always will be milk, yogurt or sour cream leak.
[2] Eggs - sometimes they do break, or we do not notice the broken ones until we arrive home.
[3] Vegetables - there are many of us out there just grabbing broccoli or cabbage without bagging them.
[4] Fruit - yes many times I do grab a watermelon without slipping a produce bag on it, but face it some of them just don't fit.
[5] Meat - those packages are not leak proof, a worst contamination you could get, especially from the poultry.
[6] Chemicals - all kinds of cleaning products may cross contaminate with food, as we never really know which bag we use for what.

Here are my suggestions to keep your reusable bag clean.

[1] Get a reusable bag that is more synthetic plastic surface. That way it can be wiped easily with a soap water or vinegar.
[2] Now many stores sell reusable bags, then buy different ones and dedicate them for different food categories. For example, this bag for dairy products, this for cleaning products.
[3] Always bag your fruits and vegetables in thin plastic bags usually located in the produce area. For anything big as watermelon, may be get a carton box to carry it, or just get a grocery bin.
[4] And as stated in three, you can always get the grocery bin which is much easier to clean. Note canvas bags may be worst for contamination.

Lastly I think that charging for plastic bags by stores is a real cash grabs. It would be nice if that money was dedicated to further green developments or given to charitable organizations. After all they used to be free. What do you think?

Safety First for Babies – When Buying Books for Babies, Toddlers and Children in General

As we walk into any bookstore, or any other place that sells books for children, we get overwhelmed with the range of colourful attractive children books. Putting the attractiveness aside, we must also look at safe books for babies. What I mean by safe book is the printing and design of the book. Aside note that many books now don’t even specify the age this book is intended to. I guess the publishers worry that if they will specify the age, then only mothers with child in that age range will buy this book. This is my opinion, and I say that because I have seen book from publishers that specialize in children’s books, and they do tell you the age of the child.

Let’s talk about books for babies. Yes, we do want to read books to our babies. We want them to touch the book and feel it. However, one thing parent must always do is not to leave a child unattended with the book. Babies when they start teething they will grab books and believe or not chew on it. As a parent you tell me if the printing ink is nutritious for your baby – no it is not. Watch out especially for the books made of fabric, or hard books that may be painted.

The next factor that may be unsafe for children are books with those things that have flip flaps. They are cool and very entertaining for you baby or toddler, but all you have to do is always be around your child. Sometimes they may come off very easy and the book becomes a choking hazard if unattended baby will consume it. Lastly the books with round corners are much better than the books with sharp corners. The pictures of the books below are the two examples. The sharp corners become dangerous especially when flipping pages, often may scratch babies face or even poke.

So next time you shop for a book for your baby, you may want to consider the above points.

	Peak-a-Baby is a book where the corners are rounded. Excellent book to be introduced at age of 2 months.
	Ten Little Ladybugs is a book where the corners are sharp. This book can be recommended for older babies, but please do not leave your baby alone with this book.

REFERENCES
[1] Peak-a-Baby by Karen Katz, A Lift-The-Flap Book
[2] The Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth, Illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith

Document Release: 0; Document Last Modified: February 17, 2009