Alternative Sunscreen and Alternative/Holistic Groups

California Baby is the way to go! They sell it at Whole Foods in the sunblock section. My neighbor is a dermatologist and a father. I mentioned the sunscreen and he looked at the ingredients and said it was awesome. You really want something that has either zinc or titanium as a physical block. Chemical blocks just don't do a good enough job.

Hi G.,
I use Arbonne products and am also a consultant. I can't say enough about the botanically based products. Using the best of science and nature. The baby sunscreen is awesome.
www.arbonne.com If you have any questions, please let me know.
Good luck.
T.
SAHM of 3 girls, too, but no boys

Regarding Alternative Sunscreen:

I found this site (http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/splash.php?URI=%2Findex.php) about a year ago that I highly recommend if you are interested in finding skincare, cosmetic and oral care (e.g., toothpaste) products that are safe to for you and your family to use. It is a database (called Skin Deep) administered by the Environmental Working Group (http://www.ewg.org/), and it provides a toxicity rating for many of the everyday products you and I use. And, if there is a product you know about that is not currently reviewed on the site, you can recommend it be added to the site for review.

I found their sunscreen rating process to be very helpful, as it looks not only at toxicity but effectiveness of the sunscreen in terms of its protection rating. The sunscreen I use, based on EWG's rating, is Solar Rx by Key's Soap (http://www.keys-soap.com/solarrx.html). I honestly don't know how it would be for children, as there may be some products in there that could be irritating to delicate skin, but it is a chemical-free alternative for sun protection.

Even so, I believe you can research sunscreen for babies/children in the Skin Deep Database and see ratings for different products available. How do I know they are reliable? I don't, necessarily, but I read up on the organization and their study methodology, and they sound pretty good; beyond this, there really isn't anything comparable that I have been able to find elsewhere online. I hope you find EWG as helpful as I have in researching natural, less-toxic skincare and cosmetic products.

Dear G.,

There is a Holistic Moms Network group here in San Diego, and they use Meetup.com with the events. I am a member and really like the group. If you cannot find it right away, let me know and I see if I can send you an invitation link from the website. Also, SDNF (San Diego Natural Families) on Yahoo is the group to search archives and post new questions like yours on sunscreen. I also use California Baby products. There is one that combines sunscreen with insect repellant which I found useful, but basically, I stay out of the sun midday.
Naturally,
C. with Alexander, born Sept. 3, 2006

Check out ____@____.com. I think you will find what you are looking for there!

S.
SAHM to 8 y.o. ds and 6 y.o. dd.

Hi G.,
Not sure about the sunscreen issue or your holistic group for kids. My holistic network is primarily for me. However, I have "seen the light" so to speak about Homeopathy as a different approach to traditional western medicine and it has COMPLETELY changed my life for the better. I cannot even begin to tell you about all the positives. I plan on taking my 2 1/2 yr old to see my practioner at the end of the month and would like to have her go that route as often as possible. Obviously with a child you will still need an ER and a pediatrician sometimes. If you are interested, let me know and I can give you some referrals (accupuncturist, chiro, etc. Holistix is a great resource in Pacific Beach-not sure how many of the practicioners treat children tho)here in San Diego (is that where you are located?) that also treat children. Good luck!
U.

You can also check out meetup.com. They have a lot of different mom's groups. :)

Hi there. Check out the products at www.SanDiegoSoap.com (San Diego Natural Soap Company). They make all natural bath, body and skin care products, many of which are organic. Their sunscreen (under the babyface line) is particularly nice. Contact them directly for more information.

Take care,
L. E. Fisher,
author of What Haven't They Told Me: Practical Tips for Surviving and Thriving During Baby's First Year

Hello-
California Baby (Whole Foods for sure). I checked it's ingredients and on the toxicity scale it is the BEST sunscreen out there for kids. There is a website that checks all products for how toxic it is to our bodies and rates them. It is: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008/f...
My son has eczema and I have been using ALL of her products since he was 6 months-he is 5 years old now! She has created even better products. Here is her website: www.californiababy.com

Good Luck! :)

Hi G., I'm not really sure what you are seking. About sunscreen, for my daycare kids I use Banana boat for babies. What is holistic. There are many cook books out there for vegetarian cooking, as far as vaccinating goes, I only got what they needed to enter school, every year they are comong out with nr=ew vaccinations,and they all have side affects, the vaccinations my kids got while growing was low grade fever and of course sorenes, but that was is. As far as western medicine, we use natural cures in our family,I didn't breast feed, nevder used accupunture, we have used accupreasure,we have a book, which works really good. I don't think you are going to find on line group for your needs, but get on the enternet and I am sure you will find all you need, and maybe you can start your own on line group. I wish you well J. I wanted to tell you they have organic formula and baby food now, we only drink organic milk. J.