And it was not good. There is a blank page staring at me where this blog/storefront is supposed to be. I have never been the most tech savvy individual, so I am going to be taking baby steps to set this thing up.
I need a starter post, just so I can see *something* when I'm looking at the page trying to arrange layouts, backgrounds, and fonts. So, here is *something*. It's not much, but it will help me separate the darkness and the light, the first steps to creating my small little world here in the interwebz.
Where did Rude Emissions come from?
They say need in the mother of invention; although in this case, I suppose, it was actually more want than need. My baby doesn't have any known allergies, and so far, he has never shown any sensitivity to anything I've put on him. BUT I have an aversion to putting strange chemicals I can't pronounce on my child. So much so that I avoid using them myself, just so he won't inadvertently come in contact with something "contaminated." My word. I use it all the time. Raw meat touches my kitchen counter? Ack! It's contaminated! A fly gets in my water glass? Ugh! It's contaminated. I'm not really a germaphobe, there are just some things I think are completely icky. One of those things is putting unpronounceable crud all over my baby boy who, from what I understand, still doesn't have a fully functioning dermis to protect himself. They warn you not to put sunscreen on your child, because their skin is still developing and the chemicals can just slide right through into their blood stream. But have you ever read the ingredients list on the back of a bottle of baby lotion? Have you done any research into the use of mineral oil? What about that diaper rash ointment? Can you say cocamidopropyl PG-dimonium chloride phosphate? When I try to say it out loud, it sounds like I'm summoning a demon. What is this stuff? There are "no identified" risks from it, but there is also "limited data." What about Boric Acid?
According to the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet), Boric Acid acts on the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and reproductive system. It can cause eye irritation. It can cause skin irritation (just what you want on your baby's butt, right? I mean.. it's for diaper rash? Right? Really??). "May be absorbed through damaged or abraded skin in harmful amounts." If ingested it can cause "gastrointestinal irritation with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. May cause circulatory system failure. May cause tissue anoxia (removal of all oxygen), characterized by weakness, headache, dizziness, confusion, cyanosis ( defect in the main vessels of the heart), weak and irregular heart beat, collapse, unconsciousness, convulsions, coma, and death. May cause central nervous system effects." Inhalation can cause respiratory tract irritation. And get this! "Chronic: Prolonged or repeated exposure may cause adverse reproductive effects. May cause borism characterised by dry skin, skin eruptions, and gastric disturbances." Boric Acid is one of the specific ingredients the Mayo Clinic warns about in their data sheet on diaper rash.
Want to check for yourself? http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/krubin/MSDS/boricacid.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diaper-rash/DS00069/METHOD=print&DSECTION=all
And the ingredients? http://www.drugstore.com/boudreauxs-butt-paste-orignal-diaper-rash-ointment-jar/qxp13173
The Boudreaux's website http://buttpaste.com/ doesn't list the ingredients for their product. I wonder why?
When I first brought my little guy home from the hospital, I admit to being so tired and out of it that I'd sometimes feed him without changing his diaper. Newborns poop A LOT. Holy CRAP! I mean, his butt exploded every time I fed him, and usually twice per feeding. I nurse him exclusively, and as soon as he'd latch and start nursing good, his butt would explode. I had to change it, because if I didn't, all that poo would start to ooze out of the legs. Then, we'd switch sides, and what do you know? BOOM! Assplosion. That's what I called it. It was ah-may-zing how many diapers we went through! So I'd change that one, then some time after I'd fallen back into an exhausted sleep, he'd explode again. That one would wind up not being discovered until he woke up again. Usually. Breastfed baby poop has very little smell, FYI. It's sort of a sweetish smell, not like poop at all. So sometimes I wouldn't realize he was dirty, and I'd just go ahead and feed him. Anyway... all this pooping caused a significant diaper rash. My little guy's rump looked awful. Everyone I asked said Boudreaux's was the way, the truth, and the light.
I bought some. It worked great! I found out what was in it... not so happy anymore. So, I started messing around with recipes that involved less scary substances like lavender oil, coconut oil, chamomile, and cocoa butter. I use it all over his entire body, not just his booty. My little guy has never had another diaper rash since that first one. I use the natural ointment preventatively, not just reactively. I slather him up every night after his bath, and at random diaper changes. He's got a beautiful booty!
Everything in the salve is edible, even the zinc oxide. Zinc is actually very good for you and promotes skin healing (which is why it's the active ingredient in most diaper ointments), and is present in most multi-vitamins. If you wanted to, you could put this stuff in your skillet and cook with it. I wouldn't recommend it, if you get essential oils in it, just because the flavor would be weird. But the unscented doubles as a vegetable based cooking grease. How about that? Zinc can be toxic in large enough doses. Don't let your baby sit and eat an entire jar of booty butter in one sitting, for example. But experimental taste testing is not going to require a trip to the ER to have your little's stomach pumped.
It is also cloth diaper safe and made completely from plant products. No petroleum or lanolin here.
There's also a body butter that doesn't have the zinc oxide in it, and has more oils, less butter and wax, to make it lighter and more pleasant for total body use.
He also wound up with a little bit of a cold when he was tee-niny. What do you give to an 8 week old with congestion? Answer: not a damned thing. They can't take anything at all. Saline drops up the nose is scary. At least it was for me. He's my first little, and I was in way over my head. Again, I trolled the moms I know for help. Answer? Vick's on his feet and chest. It's amazing they said. I read the ingredients... not so much, I said. Kinda scary, I said. Not even recommended for use in littlest little guys at all. It can cause irritation and respiratory distress, and there is also a potential for camphor overdoes, it said. Great... So what to do?
Again, I concocted a natural salve to use in place of the chemical laden one. What makes Vick's work, really? The menthol effect. Those vapors get up your nose and help break up the clogs, theoretically. Studies have shown that using menthol and camphor can actually cause more mucus production and fluid in the lungs http://www.livestrong.com/article/112054-vicks-vapor-rub-warnings/. Eucalyptus can also be used as an agent to help break up congestion, have a cooling effect when breathed in, and doesn't pose the same risks as menthol and camphor. Combine it with Rosemary, and it is even more effective; however Rosemary isn't recommended for babies, either. It is perfectly safe for toddlers and for moms and dads, though.
I also wound up with severe postpartum depression. I mean, I was out there in left field somewhere. No essential oil can fix that kind of crazy. You just have to ride it out or get professional help, honestly, but for milder baby blues or baby blahs, there are essential oils that can help cheer you up. Citrus scents and certain florals make the brain produce happy chemicals that result in you feeling cheered up. Some of these are safe for use on baby, too, if you like the way they smell. I've never heard of a depressed baby, though. Do they even have emotions aside from content and discontent when they're really little?
I have done research to the very best of my ability. I have used these products on myself and my baby. They may not have quite as immediate an effect as the mass produced, chemical laden products available at the drug and grocery stores, but they do work very well. I have never heard or read about any baby having a reaction to any of the ingredients, barring a specific allergy. If coconut allergies run in your family, you might not want to try my products. It is not 100% guaranteed that just because something is all-natural your baby won't be sensitive to it. Essential oils can still cause an adverse reaction, if the person using them is sensitive to them or has a specific allergy. That being said, the oils I feel confident using on my baby are very mild and readily used in all sorts of other products, and are all considered to be safe when ingested. If I wouldn't put it on my baby, I wouldn't feel confident offering it to yours.
