Creating a Green Nursery

As you prepare for the arrival of your little peanut, one of the most fun and exciting tasks you will undertake is setting up the nursery. Deciding on patterns, colors, furniture and décor is really a blast, at least for the mom anyway. But perhaps you would like your nursery to be green, and not just in color. Here are some ways to incorporate eco-friendly options into new baby’s room.

Paint. When picking out that perfect shade of lavender or blue, choose a No VOC paint. Traditional paints are loaded with about 300 toxic chemicals many which have been linked to cancer. Included in these chemicals are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) which are emitted as gasses not just when you first paint, but for many years to follow. Both Home Depot’s Freshaire Choice and Benjamin Moore’s Natura paints are 100% VOC free.

Crib Mattress. Your conventional mattresses are usually made with polyurethane foam, vinyl, and other petroleum based products and then treated with a multitude of chemicals (fire retardants, etc.). Look for mattresses made with organic cotton, wool or natural rubber. Make sure you do your research as there are plenty of companies who claim to be natural or organic when they are not. Sure they may throw a layer of organic cotton in there, but the rest is still loaded with chemicals. Check out companies like Natural Mat who offer several truly natural choices.

Bedding. If you have already begun your search for the perfect bedding set you already know that there seems to be thousands of choices out there. This is probably the most time consuming choice as it essentially determines the décor for the rest of the room. Consider an organic crib bedding set, like this one by Migi, over a traditional one. Conventional cotton is grown with a large amount of insecticides and pesticides and synthetic fabrics like polyester are made from oil.

Toys. Skip the plastic toys made with PVC, phthalates and other nasty chemicals and choose fabric or wooden toys. If you can find organic fabric toys or wooden toys that use vegetable-based dyes instead of possibly toxic paints, well that is even better!

Furniture. Do you want your baby sleeping in a crib that has been painted with paint containing VOCs or stained with polyurethane? That peanut will be breathing in any toxins released not to mention that one day he or she may decide to chew on the crib railing. Instead, find a crib that is made with water-based, non-toxic finishes. And you get extra points if it is made from FSC certified wood like this Graco Eco-Friendly Dakota Classic 4 in 1 Convertible Crib.





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*CLOSED* Due Maternity Giveaway

This is my third pregnancy and I am ashamed to admit that I am mostly wearing the same tired old maternity clothes as the first. What is so bad about that you ask? Well, it wouldn't be bad except for the fact that the vast majority of said maternity clothes are hand me downs from my sister in law and are literally over 10 years old. Yeah, a pregnant fashionista I am not! So I was really happy when I discovered Due Maternity. They have a great selection of cute and fashionable maternity and nursing clothes. They even have some organic clothes which I think is pretty cool. I didn't even know there was organic maternity clothing out there!

The fun shopping goes way beyond clothes though. At Due Maternity you will also find quite a selection of diaper bags, gifts, baby clothes and baby gear. There is even skin care for moms to be and new moms, including natural lines like Mambino Organics and Nine Naturals. You could spend a lot of time just looking at all of this great stuff and there is something for everyone. If you are in the market for something for yourself or maybe a gift for a mom-to-be, definitely hop on over there and take a look around. And don't forget to check out the Due Maternity Blog where you will find great posts written by expectant moms, including me!

Shop
Due Maternity is currently having a sale promotion where you can receive 10% off any new items. Just use coupon code NEW10 at checkout.

Giveaway
Due Maternity is giving one lucky reader a $25.00 gift certificate to spend however they wish on www.duematernity.com.

For more chances to win, you can head on over to The Morris Bunch and enter the Due Maternity Giveaway there as well!

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This giveaway is open to US Residents 18+ only and will end on Thursday, October 29th at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org. Winner has 24 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked. You must leave your e-mail address in all of your comment(s) so I can contact you. I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, it will strictly be used to notify you if you win. Good luck!

Please note that the opinions and views expressed here are my own. Due Maternity is providing the $25.00 gift certificate for this giveaway.

Come Visit Me at Due Maternity!

Due Maternity is a great store for fashionable maternity clothes, nursing tops and so much more. They also have a blog there which I am now occasionally writing for! I will be writing "green living" articles for them and we may even be hosting some giveaways down the road - so keep an eye out! My first post Eating "Green" While Expecting went up last week and I would love it if you would all go check it out.

Ingrid & Isabel Maternity Musts

I think with every pregnancy you will find one maternity item that you absolutely cannot live without. I cannot remember what that was for my first two pregnancies, but for this one it is without a doubt my Organic Bella Band from Ingrid & Isabel.

“The Bella Band is a seamless knit band you wear at your waistline, over your unbuttoned pre-pregnancy pants, over slightly big maternity pants, or around the waistband of any maternity style that falls down around your hips.

The Bella Band holds your pants up, disguising bulky unfastened closures or excessive fabric creating a smooth belly surface. Now, no one has to know your pants are undone or loose.”

I received one of these a few months ago and I love it. The Bella Band will help you get more use out of your clothes. When I was too big for my regular pants and also too small for my maternity pants, my Bella Band was a life saver. I was able to wear it over my too big maternity pants to hold them in place and keep them from falling down. Now that I am bigger (much bigger) I am still using it almost every day. A lot of my maternity pants are the ones where the waist band sits below your belly. Well those just don’t work well for me and I am constantly pulling my pants up. So again I can use the Bella Band to hold them up and it also gives a little extra support to my belly.

Recently Due Maternity sent me Ingrid & Isabel’s Everyday Cami to try out. I have some maternity tops and dresses that have a v-neck that can be a tad bit low for my taste. So I wanted a good cami to wear under those for a little more coverage up top. This is definitely perfect for that. Down at the other end if you want to keep your growing belly covered at all times (I don’t like for my belly to show at the bottom of shirts) this cami snugly covers your belly. I think it can also be used in a similar way to the Bella Band in certain instances. Mine has enough excess at the bottom that I can pull it down over the waist of pants to help hold them in place. And because it is nice and snug, it gives you some belly support which I like. I am thinking that I may also be using this for sleeping and now that’s its cold here in New England, to layer up and keep warm.

Both the Bella Band and Everyday Cami are available at Due Maternity and I think are must haves for your maternity wardrobe.