This Mama Entrepreneur Explains The Truth Behind Baby Products And The Best Swaps To Make

The WHY for me is everything. My WHY is my children and the reason I have chosen to embark on this not very easy, not convenient (at all) journey of non-toxic living.

It all started when I become pregnant with my first baby. I felt a huge responsibility for the new life I was bringing into this world and I realized that I knew nothing about becoming a new parent. I struggled and felt very overwhelmed, especially when it came to purchasing anything for my newborn.

I spent months researching, speaking to friends, and trying to build a registry. The market was saturated with baby products made from materials that were not safe and had some form of toxic element involved in the curating and manufacturing. I tirelessly researched the market for non-toxic baby skincare.

This was actually the reason I ended up starting my company The Tot. I wanted to offer an easier experience for parents and help alleviate that overwhelming aspect of motherhood for new, expectant mothers. And I wanted to offer the right kind of advice (which I couldn’t find when I was pregnant) through articles written by true experts that were more holistic and had a gentler approach – and didn’t use scare tactics for already emotional new mommies. Today I’m so proud that The Tot has become a platform for non-toxic products because we do The Tot Test on each product for safety before we would ever sell it.

That was what started me on this non-toxic journey, and I have to say, I have evolved a lot from being focused on everything baby at first. Then throughout the years, I started questioning products I was using on myself and later, in my home. Today I truly live a non-toxic lifestyle and it’s the only way I would live now that I have the knowledge that I do today.

When my friends ask me why I make things so complicated, why can’t I just “relax” or “chill out”, and of course, it would make my life so much easier, so much more convenient, and so much less alienating – but how can I ever UNKNOW what I already know? I can’t unlearn the truth behind the fact that our world is becoming progressively more toxic and the number of untested chemicals used in the US is astounding.

Today, the rapid growth of industrial chemical manufacturing has resulted in a wealth of new consumer products and technological advances, many of which have improved our lives and made us safer. But unfortunately, in the haste of production, new, untested, and potentially dangerous chemicals have been incorporated into thousands of household items.

Older toxins, like asbestos and lead that were placed in consumer products many years ago, continue to be responsible for hazardous exposures in homes and communities. The result has been the increase of environmentally-caused diseases, including lead poisoning and chemically induced cancer. Over the past 50 years, these types of diseases have become an epidemic and replaced infectious diseases as major causes of disability and death, specifically in children – and are on the rise.

Toxic chemicals found in our make-up, our homes (furniture, carpets, cabinetry, candles), our cleaning products, our personal care products, as well as our water, pose tremendous health threats. Today more than 85,000 synthetic chemicals have been invented and are being widely used in over a million consumer products. CDC reports measurable quantities of over 200 chemicals in a body of an average American, including pregnant women and even breast milk of breastfeeding mothers.

Improved measures and stringent regulations are not far out of reach as we see in the example of the EU. They have implemented extended safety testing on all new chemicals (not old ones, however) before they are allowed to enter the market. However, hazardous chemicals that are banned in the EU are still being sold in consumer goods products in the US.

• Start by switching to non-toxic cleaning products.
• Next step, clean up your make-up and personal care + baby products, buy tested and safe products.
• If you want tested and non-toxic children’s products shop on The Tot as we test every single product before we sell it.
• Then get rid of everything that lists fragrance or perfume in the ingredient list.
• And lastly don’t trust labels – just because something says Organic or 100% Natural, does not mean it is clean. I urge you to turn your bottles over and check every ingredient. Go on to EWG and input any ingredient to see how cancer causing or harmful that product is.

Big Tip: If you have anything in your personal care items or children’s skincare that has perfume or fragrance in the ingredients list, get rid of it.

In this last year, my WHY and my purpose have really started to become clear to me, just like it has for people around the world. It has been a very challenging year, and also so eye-opening. Where I want to go in life and how I want to live it has become clearer, and today I know with more certainty than ever, that I want the best possible life for my children and my family. This is not just the products we are using but also the information I’m investing in, the people I’m surrounding myself with, my mental health, and a lot of self-work on becoming a better version of myself.

Our bodies are the greatest healers, why not give them the best chance we can to do what they were born to do – HEAL.

Learn more about non-toxic living and follow along with Nasiba and her family’s wellness journey here!