Confused about Nursery Risks

rmrm

Hi everyone

This questions is along similar lines of a question i asked recently about organic mattresses. I'm starting to get confused about all this talk about off-gassing. I want my nursery to be safe, but i'm also not extreme about things.

 I found a rug i like for my nursery, it's nylon. It's an indoor outdoor rug. I like the design and it's very cleanable. That's important for me because not only is it going in a child's room, but we have 2 big messy dogs. The rug is not plush but it is not too scratchy either.

 But then i start reading online about chemicals and off gassing. To me, it's a 5x8 rug . .is it really that big of a deal? it seems like these people have issues with everything unless it is 100% natural. 

I plan on taking precautions in moderation. I'm registering for an organic crib pad to go over my  non-organic mattress, and i will look into non/low VOC paint, but I'm not sure I'm willing or able to afford making everyting single thing 100% natural. I'm just curious if you all have been reading all this and what your opinions are?

 It's so hard to tell what is actually a concern and what is a concern to a smaller, more extreme group of people. 

jessiesnwbrd

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much. Some of it is definately overkill. If you can go organic and afford it...great. It seems like everything has off-gassing these days...even countertops (non-stone or non-wood ones...which will off-gas for 7 years).

Like the PP said, just use your best judgement.

four+leighf

I'm with you.  We plan to get a non-organic mattress because of price, and then get organic sheets to go over top.  The thing with something like a rug is that many kinds can be washed (at least the non-stiff kind) and I would think that would help eliminate some of the gases.  Anything you can wash first should help at least a little.  

But the thing to remember is that the nursery is not the only place your baby is going to be.  Everywhere it goes it's going to experience some level of chemicals.  It's just the world we live in now.  Making sure you eat extremely healthy (if you are going to breastfeed) and continuing a healthy diet as the kid grows is probably one of the best ways for their little body to handle the toxins.

goodgalpal

A good rule of thumb to follow (regardless of the item) is that if it is smelly, it is off-gassing. So if it smells plastic-y or chemical-ish then you would probably want to leave it in the garage or something for a while until some of that wears off. It is best if you can let the smell completely go away. There might still be some off-gassing that you can't smell but at that point there isn't much you can do.

If I tried to buy an organic natural fiber rug I would go to the poor house.

We try to make our choices based on health as well as financial. We do plan to get an organic crib mattress because babies spend a lot of time there and I want to minimize the chemicals where they sleep. But if you can not afford an organic mattress you might consider doing a crib wrapping instead. If you can't don't freak out but just do what you are comfortable with.