Big Bad Rash

My middle son came down with a strange rash in mid-January and as of a week ago, we were STILL trying to figure it out. It was the kind of thing that started out small, concentrated to one area (on his rear end, unfortunately), and then spread like crazy. It became infected, and then it just spread and spread until he covered his whole body. It was itchy and painful, and I have no idea how he handled it with as much grace as he did. We went to the doctor SEVEN times over the evolution of the rash. SEVEN. The curious thing was that as it ran its course, the most stubborn part was (so embarrassing) in the shape of a toilet seat on his backside. It just wouldn't go away and it was blisters on top of blisters.

Finally, last week, the dermatologist (by the way, did you know it's almost impossible to get a kid in to see a dermatologist???) decided we should do patch testing to see if he had any skin allergies. Over the weekend, he had to wear this series of little patches (all stuck to medical tape) on his back, then after 48 hours, we could remove them and see if he had any reactions. It turned out, he had a pretty big reaction to something called methylisothiazolinone (abbreviated MI). It is an anti-microbial chemical found in SO MANY THINGS. SO MANY THINGS. After three days, he still has a red square on his back where that patch was. (Incidentally, the doctor ruled the Q15 reaction an "irritant" and not an allergy - probably should avoid that too, and it goes by literally 12 different names in products.)

What seems to have happened is that when he got the rash, I was worried it might be contagious, so I started furiously cleaning all bathroom surfaces frequently to keep the other kids from getting it. The Clorox (well, Kirkland) wipes I was using had this allergen in them and it was actually intensifying the problem. I ended up having to replace the kid-toilet-seat-topper (the one we had was kind of a spongey material that was potentially porous -ick) with a hard-plastic one and change my cleaning routine. The rash began to retreat almost immediately. This allergy also explained why he had had such horrible rashes as a baby when we used ordinary diapers and wipes. We had to move him to very organic stuff early on in life. Only a few brands didn't irritate him. Turns out those brands didn't contain MI. Through the years we have inadvertently shielded him from MI in most things just due to thinking he had sensitive skin and the desire to use organic/natural baby skin products on all of our children - mostly to avoid phthalates, actually. And I also went through and eliminated all triclosan-containing products from our house a few years ago too (scary stuff, it's even in toothpaste).
After the test results, and confirmation of the allergy by the doctor, my research and label-reading began. I thought I would post what I learned here in case there are others out there who learn of an MI allergy. Obviously, it is probably healthiest to make as many cleaners at home from known ingredients like vinegar and peroxide, but I just don't have time for a lot of that right now - life is particularly stressful at the moment, so I needed to be able to purchase things quickly to get us by for awhile.
Here are a few quick things to start with:
1) MI is found in all sorts of soaps, detergents, and skin products mostly.
2) MI is found in a lot of "natural" products, and there isn't a certain brand that I could find that is exclusively free of them - you have to pick and choose and read a lot of labels. Honest Co., for example, is currently being sued for being less than honest about what is in some of its products. I did find, though, that a lot of their stuff is MI-free - in fact, the only dish soap I could find at Target that was MI-free (include Seventh Generation, and Method) was Honest Co.
I spent quite awhile reading labels at Target this morning in the "natural" section and most of this stuff contains MI! So sad!

3) As far as detergents go, powders tend to less-frequently contain MI than liquids.
4) "Sensitive skin" and "fragrance free" products are less likely to contain MI, but not always a guarantee.
5) Sprays tend to be MI-free while lotions tend to contain it.
6) I learned that a lot of cleaning products are very vague as to what is actually in them. They are not required to list their ingredients on labels, so a lot of them don't, or they only list "active" ingredients. Greenworks is a particularly bad offender at false-advertisement. They do list ingredients, but in vague ways that don't actually let you know what chemicals their products contain.
7) Just because it says "plant-based" doesn't mean it is totally safe. My beloved Aveda products (I am so addicted to their smell) have MI in them, I sadly discovered.

I also discovered that quite a few - perhaps MOST - Mrs. Meyers products contain MI. I was surprised and disappointed to see that.

I also spent 20 minutes at Whole Foods reading the labels of all their cleaning products and most of them contain MI, sadly. I think this one makes me the most angry. Look at the claims this container of wet wipes makes, but it still contains MI!

Here are a bunch of products I either purchased today, or had hanging around our house that do NOT contain MI. Note that I am not suggesting that all of these are pure and natural (though a lot are), just that these do not contain this one allergen that bothers my son and many other people out there. This is a pretty broad range of products that are not too expensive and get most of the job of cleaning self and house done.

 L to R: Aveeno Baby Lotion (unscented), BabyGanics unscented bubble bath, Trader Joe's handsoap, Honest Co. dishsoap, Seventh Generation disinfecting wipes, Neutrogena Naturals face soaps, Method glass cleaner (in a refreshing mint scent), Method surface cleaner (but note that other Method products like hand soap and dish soap do contain MI), Aquaphor, Trader Joe's plant-based laundry detergent (only has three ingredients!), Dr. Baronne's Castille soap (the lavender stuff smells amazing - I am totally into lavender in the shower right now), Everyone Soap for Every Kid (LOVE the wonderful orangey smell of this stuff), Curel unscented lotion (note that only unscented doesn't contain MI).

L to R: Coppertone Pure & Simple sunscreen, Aveeno face sunscreen (though I don't like this stuff because of some other chemicals it contains), Target's Up & Up baby wash, Babies R Us vapor bath (great stuff for head colds), Johnson's baby shampoo, Kandoo sensitive skin flushable wipes (only the unscented kind), Biokleen bac-out carpet cleaner (Folex and Resolve do not list ingredients), Fizzy Tub color tabs (hey, what can I say, we went through a phase where that was the only way one of my kids would set foot in a tub without a tantrum), Cetaphil cleanser (awesome stuff anyway, even better that it has no MI).
And here's to many years ahead of obsessive label-reading!

Brushing my Teeth

This seems like a pretty boring subject for a blog post, but I'm writing it anyway.

A few years ago, I bought a 5-pack of Colgate toothpaste at Costco.  We used it for-e-ver.  Then, I was at the doctor's office reading a magazine article that made me rethink a lot of things.  This was actually at least a year ago, but I felt like we had to finish all that toothpaste that we had purchased, so I couldn't take immediate action.
The article was about Triclosan.  It is the ingredient in antibacterial soap that makes it antibacterial.  It is also found in some toothpaste.  This article quoted many medical professionals talking about how harmful this chemical is and how it is found in most Americans' bloodstreams.  I had heard other reasons to discontinue using antibacterial soap and had already happily switched to Method (love both their grapefruit and lavender scents).  I had never thought to look on the toothpaste label.  There it was. 
This sent me on a hunt to find toothpaste I could stand to use that didn't contain Triclosan.  Apparently all my favorite kinds of toothpaste use it.  I went through several kinds of toothpaste trying to find one that would work for me.  I have a very sensitive gag reflex so bland toothpaste, gritty toothpaste and extra-bubbly toothpaste is NOT a good idea for me.

Starting on the left:

• I began with Tom's.  I decided maybe we should go as natural as possible.  I couldn't handle it.  Too much baking soda.
• Then I tried some more Colgate (some Colgate contains triclosan, some doesn't).  I bought this MaxClean stuff out of curiosity since it said it had more foam.  This was before I knew it was a bad idea.  Let me tell you: it's like this stuff GROWS in your mouth.  It is so awful.
• So after the first two disappointments, I hearkened back to my childhood.  I remembered that tri-color stripe in Aquafresh and how much I loved them.  I was so surprised when it had zero flavor.  It sent my gag reflex into over-drive.
• Finally...sigh...I landed on Colgate MaxFresh (only slightly different than MaxClean).  It has just enough bubbles, just enough zing, and I am no longer brushing my teeth in agony.
• Bonus: If you happen to have a sensitive child (like mine - and after reading the above, I know you are shocked), Tom's for Children is fantastic.  My son is pretty much afraid of mint.  This stuff is kind of citrus-mango.  We are happy to have found it.

Oh, and I don't like Crest, so I didn't even try it.  I think the preference of Colgate vs. Crest is sort of like Coke vs. Pepsi.
And that's all I have to say about toothpaste.

Busting Dust

Both of my kids experience varying levels of panic when the vacuum cleaner comes out.  It isn't like we have some creapy-space-age-machine-looking vacuum.  We have an old, mostly shiny-metal Royal - a hand-me-down from my parents who wanted a Dyson but couldn't stand to donate such an awesome vacuum.  It's a classic.  Very non-threatening, but fairly loud.
My oldest no longer cries at its appearance per se, but still prefers to find higher ground and drag as many of his possessions with him as possible.  This is an improvement.  He's gone through many hilarious vacuum-phases.  My favorite was when he was developing great courage, he would ask us to take him to the closet where the vacuum is kept several times per day (this was when he wasn't quite talking yet so this was all through gestures), want us to open it so he could see that it was there, and then quickly close the door and run away.
My younger son is completely and totally terrified of the vacuum.  If it is out of the closet, he won't even walk past it unless somebody picks him up - at which point he grabs ahold of us with claws clenching tightly and leans his body as far away from the dreaded machine as possible.  I don't get to vacuum as often as I'd like because it is just such drama.  It's pretty much only possible if I want to a) let the kid(s) scream or b) make my husband take them away on a Saturday morning.  When I'm left alone to vacuum, I usually spend WAY too much time vacuuming and then feel both lame and triumphant. 
So I bought a Dust Buster the other day.  It was a little bit of an impulse purchase, but I've been wanting one for awhile now, so I just decided to grab one.  I bought the cheapest one at the store: The Dirt Devil Scorpion.  I have to say that I wasn't blown away by its awesomeness.  I think I'd give it about a grade C.  The cool flip-down crevice tool doesn't snap firmly down, so you have to hold it in place while using it.  The suction is okay, but not great.  The front of the vacuum is sort of rounded (as you can see in the picture) which makes it not so great at actually touching the ground.
I'm still pretty sure that it's going to change my life.  The convenience of being able to clean the crumbs off of the carpet after meals without using my fingers is HUGE!  These are the exciting moments in the life of a housewife.  Sigh.
Oh, and if you're wondering what the kids thought of the dust buster: The little one sort walked around the room in circles whining to himself nervously.  The older one ran to the couch so he could watch from a safe distance.  I asked him if he'd like to try it out and he flatly refused.