The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - How To Create a Non-Toxic Home, Use Clean Swaps & Protect Your Family From Hidden Chemical Exposure Ft. Branch Basics Co-Founder Allison Evans

Episode Date: July 17, 2025

#867: Join Lauryn Bosstick as she sits down with Allison Evans – Co-founder of Branch Basics, a wellness lifestyle brand that creates non-toxic cleaning products using the highest standards of safety. After overcoming her own personal healing journey, Allison has become a trusted resource for others looking to build a non-toxic lifestyle. In this episode, Allison gets real about newborn care basics, tips for a non-toxic nursery & home, the importance of reducing chemical exposure, & shares safer alternatives for your home!    To Watch the Show click HERE   For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM   To connect with Branch Basics click HERE   To connect with Lauryn Bosstick click HERE   Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE   Shop The Show! Head to our ShopMy page HERE and LTK page HERE to find all of the products mentioned in each episode.   Get your burning questions featured on the show! Leave the Him & Her Show a voicemail at [phone].   Visit https://branchbasics.com/SKINNY15 and use code SKINNY15 for 15% off.    This episode is sponsored by Just Thrive Visit https://justthrivehealth.com/discount/TSC and use code TSC for 20% off.    This episode is sponsored by Taylor Farms  To learn more visit http://taylorfarms.com.   This episode is sponsored by Squarespace Head to https://www.squarespace.com/SKINNY to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code SKINNY.   This episode is sponsored by Cymbiotika Go to http://Cymbiotika.com/TSC today to get 20% off plus free shipping.   This episode is sponsored by Branch Basics Shop Branch Basics in 600+ Target stores nationwide, or Target.com. You can also code SKINNY15 to get 15% off at https://branchbasics.com/SKINNY15.   This episode is sponsored by Levity Get $50 off your first Levity order with code TSC50 at http://joinlevity.com.   This episode is sponsored by The Skinny Confidential For a better choice and peace of mind in your home, shop The Skinny Confidential Non-Toxic Toilet Paper at https://shopskinnyconfidential.com/products/toilet-paper.    Produced by Dear Media

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. You guys know how passionate I am about non-toxic living and cleaning products and even like the paint and toxic chemicals. I've really gotten into that. My thing is like I don't want to be perfect. I just want to have the information so I can make an educated decision. And so on this episode, I decided to invite Allison Evans, she's been on the show before, she co-founded Branch Basics.

It's a wellness lifestyle brand that creates non-toxic cleaning products to the show. And I wanted to pick her brain on all things birth, baby, and beyond. And in this episode, she gives you all the tips, all the tricks to pregnancy, to things that could be toxic in the nursery, to even like strollers and car seats. She tells us all these different tips. I had my notebook out. It's one of

those episodes that like you can take what you like and leave what you don't. You don't have to take every tip and feel overwhelmed. Just take the ones that are meaningful and impactful to you. On that note, let's welcome Alison Evans, the co-founder of Branch Basics to the Him and Her show. This is the skinny confidential Him and Her. The reason that I kicked Michael off this episode is because I want to go so granular. I want people to be able to pull out their notebook and really seriously build a non-toxic life from scratch,

especially if they're in their motherhood era. We would have scared them off anyway. Yeah, I don't think you can handle how intense. Like, we're going to the moon. Oh, for sure. OK? Vaginal juices will be mentioned. Vaginal juices better be on my baby for two weeks.

Or three. Or three. Just leave it on. Just, yeah, no bath. Do they even need a bath? Absolutely, unless they're using Branch Basics week three. Week three. Yeah.

But do they really need a bath? How many baths do we need? Honestly, I never really did it. Yeah. My mother-in-law, I think, was really grossed out. But then, it's funny because the verdicts ends up just absorbing anyway So then you can trick people like the mother-in-law's and the moms into thinking they had a bath But really it all just got absorbed and helped their microbiome

You know if someone's listening and you don't know what the fuck we're talking about. We're talking about delayed bath Bathing delayed bathing. It's where you don't bathe the baby and you just leave all the goodness. I heard, and you could speak on this more eloquently, if you get a C-section, what do you do? You should probably go into the mom's vaginal canal and get all the juice and then rub it over the baby. And this is not like some hippie thing that I learned. Oh, TikTok's going to have a field day.

I can quote studies. No, but really it's amazing. It's called seeding, isn't it? Vaginal seeding. Do you yourself go up your vagina and get the juice? I have home births. And so the juice is just there in the process naturally. Yeah, but if you have a C-section,

would one go up their own vagina? Oh, oh, oh, I thought you were talking about me personally. The doctors, I'm sure do it. But I mean, vaginal seeding really is a thing because they found that the children were born from C-sections, their gut was like decimated, right? Because you get all of that yummy stuff as you're coming out of the vaginal canal. But I think too, the conversation is, because I talked to one of my girlfriends who had a C-section, she said, I felt guilt around it because they didn't get the good bacteria. I don't think you have to feel guilt around it.

I think if there's a will, there's a way. If you can't get through the window and the door, come down the chimney and pull it out. But also if you've had a C-section baby and they're two or three, four months old or even older, you can give them bifidobacteria. I mean, there's probiotics, there's tests, like tiny health is an infant gut test. You can swab their poop and send it in and it will show you exactly what

bacteria they're lacking, especially the bifidobacteria are super important. You want to have a low diversity of bacteria in the first six months. But you can see with specific strains and you just kind of sprinkle the probiotic into a bottle or on your nipple before the baby latches. And so there's things you can do. So C-section people don't be scared. Welcome to the show. Yeah.

Third time you're back. It's a charm. Your first episode I referenced to all the time when I tell brands how to work with creators because you came on and told your story about non-toxic living, the episode crushed it, then you came back with your aunt who is your partner in Branch Basics that crushed it. And this one I'm doing selfishly, sorry guys, because I want all the secrets to a non-toxic

nursery and just baby land. It's hard to navigate. It's overwhelming. It really is. It is very, it's hard. You don't know where to start. And I also don't want to be psychotic. Exactly.

That's exactly right. And it's confusing because you see organic or GreenGuard Gold certified or phthalate free. And it's like, what do I actually need to pay attention to? What can I actually believe? And just because it doesn't have one thing, does that mean that it's safe? And as you know, there's 85,000 chemicals

people can choose from, and less than 1% are tested for safety. And I would say when it comes to those everyday items for your baby, it's so important to try to get it right if you can. I say it's, for me, it's 85, 15-ish. I had flaming hot Cheetos the other day. And I understand that's for me it's 85 15 ish. I had flaming hot Cheetos the other day. I and I understand that but that's also you in a diet.

Like I feel like it's so much easier to choose safer baby products because we're not talking about getting in between us and our flaming hot Cheetos. Right. We're talking about do I use this diaper or that diaper like you don't have strong opinions about that. Like let's go ahead and just do the things that we can do the best the things that stress us out and freak us out.'t start there, you know? Why I'm a bit frustrated is that the fact that there's even toxic products on the market

marketed towards babies is ridiculous. When there doesn't need to be, you know? That's the sad part is that, so just as soon as you find one wipe or car seat or crib mattress that's toxic, you find that you can reach the same safety standards and flammability standards and not add those ingredients. So people need to be educated, which is why I'm so glad you're having me here. And I think the more it's the power of the purse, the more that we can choose the safer products. For instance, when my eight-year-old was born, I was choosing a car seat and I had the greatest gift of my aunt to be able to help me navigate through all of these things. So, I knew these things going into this. My mom didn't. Most women don't have this information, but there were only two car seats on the entire market that did not spray for toxic flame

retardants that are known to lower IQ, they're carcinogenic, they cause endocrine issues. I mean I could go on and on. So there were two, right? Now, I want to say it was up a baby Mesa and Henry or something, but now there's dozens. And so what I want to say is why are the other car seat companies choosing to continue to meet those flammability standards with the use of synthetic flame retardants when they can be using wool? When they can actually achieve the same rating by weaving the polyester in a better way? So my point is we don't have to make these toxic

choices. We just need to be educated. And I'm not talking more expensive either. I'm literally talking choose A and not B, you know. I think they're doing it. This is my own theory. Because I think they place an order in China for 150,000 units. Yep. And they get the units to America and they're 3PL. Yeah. And then they have to sell through the 150,000 units

before they can change anything. Yeah. So my theory is a lot of- There's your business brain. Hello. I can't help it, sorry. I'm like, what is going on? Exactly, but I'll also tell you what it is,

it's convenience culture, okay? So let's take like, people know, my friends, my best friends all know that I have this thing against, I'm not gonna ever name names, but against the car seat that turns into a stroller, okay? And the reason that we have an epidemic of this product is because it is the most convenient thing ever. The baby falls asleep in the back of a car and you don't want to wake the child and so you pop the wheels out and you can stroll them into a restaurant or church or wherever you're going, right?

But anytime you go anywhere you see all these car seat strollers, right? There's not one on the market that actually is meeting the flammability requirement without the use of a toxic flame retardant spray. And so when we've emailed them, which is what we do at Branch Basics, we don't just take the website word for it. We will email the manufacturer. We have a whole sample letter you can send to a manufacturer and ask about the materials used. And they say we use a toxic they say yes we use a synthetic blame retardant and it is proprietary information and I think the reason these are still selling in the truckload is because moms don't have this information

and we want convenience we're overwhelmed we're stressed you know and so I think it's more just about understanding that there are alternatives and I'm hoping one day the car seats turn stroller industry Will step it up. Here's the interesting thing So the car seat turn strollers are actually not allowed across the Canadian border because they don't meet safety ratings So they're the car crash standards alone are not great. So if you have a car seat stroller Yeah, it has toxic chemicals such as what? such as chlorinated,

brominated, fluorinated, phosphorus-based flame retardants. I don't know. They, we've emailed them and they say it's proprietary so I'm not sure but all I know is that you can achieve the flammability fire safety rating without the use of any type of synthetic spray. You can use wool, you can use a certain weave of polyester, you can use bamboo. I mean there's tons of ways to reach it. So there's just no reason why these companies should not step up and do the best for our babies. If you think about these infants, their lungs are not developed yet. And the thing about fire or flame retardants,

I would say that's the number one thing you should avoid when it comes to baby products. They are ingested by, you know, a baby touching and putting their hands in their mouth. They are inhaled and they are absorbed. So there's three avenues of, you know, acquiring and accumulating these toxins, like I said, that are lowering IQ and related to cancer. There was a scientist, Arlene Bloom, in the 1970s, and she was the first one to kind of come out with all of these studies about flame retardants and it was all about having them on children's pajamas, right? And so a lot of the flame retardants had been phased out of pajamas and furniture, however they're still allowed in a lot of the baby products we have today.

What pajamas are they in still today? You know, if you have a hundred percent cotton or linen pajamas, you can pretty much be sure that your pajamas are clean. I mean, ideally you have 100% cotton or linen pajamas, you can pretty much be sure that your pajamas are clean. I mean, ideally you would want organic. They're actually so easy to find these days. I mean, Target and Hurt's Bees. They want the nightgown with the character on it. I know, it's so hard.

That's hard. Well, you're talking about like Zaza's age is tough. Yeah, she wants the, but it's okay. I tell my kids, listen, y'all can wear this kind of stuff sometimes during the day, I understand, but when it comes to sleep, like I'm pretty protective over what they're wearing and those marshmallow, what are they called?

Marshmallow things? People are gonna laugh at me. Smushmallows! Listen to me, I have three girls, I don't even know the name. And I'm like, let's just not breathe deeply into all of these stuffed animals all night long You know, yeah There's the smush melons once you remove the toxins in your house and you have the smush melons or whatever they're called

Yeah, you're like damn those smell like a fucking car freshener in a new world. Oh the fragrance ones. Yeah What's the brand of car seat that you would recommend if you were to pick one? Yeah So I love Nuna because they are the only line that is completely free of flame retardants and PFOS, which are forever chemicals. So I applaud them and all of their colors and those are great.

Chico, as in like the more economical line is actually now coming out with flame retardant free. I mean, there's so many great ones now. Maxi Cozy. I think that's a good place to start. We'll link it in the show notes. Yeah, so, oh, I wanted to say really quick. So we actually developed a registry

that has all of this information and we did a landing page just for your followers. So we did branchbasics.com backslash Skinny20 and it will have all of the different references that we're making here. Amazing. Just to make it easy. Blankets. I mean to me that's so easy because there's so many amazing companies out there now. I mean a hundred percent organic cotton blankets from Koyuchi, Pure Baby and Child. I believe you're

using their mattress. My friend has Pure Baby and Child. It's the best mattress on the market. That's the mattress I got because I ran into your friend in Italy and she told me all about your mattresses. So good. They're the best. The mattress is amazing. I just got it in the mail. Yeah.

It seems really comfortable. It's so, it's the most breathable mattress on the market because it's made from the fibers of coconut husks. And so it's super breathable. Like when you think about babies just breathing deeply into these mattresses. Can I take a moment about baby mattresses? Just for a second? Okay. Let it rip. So the mattresses and the car seats are like my two soapboxes

about baby gear. Because if you think about this, those babies are sleeping up to 20 hours a day. They are processing information. They're growing at this rapid rate and we have them on these mattresses all the time. So CNN just recently reported these two studies where they found in 25 babies' bedrooms between the age of three and four months, the most toxic air in the bedroom came from all around

the mattress. So which is crazy, right? And it turns out these are all conventional mattresses sold in the United States at most large retail stores. And they ended up finding that these flame retardants that they say, like the mattress would say, that they are free of X, Y, and Z, and they would still find these now banned

flame retardants in the mattresses. And so when you have a baby breathing deeply into this mattress, and I know it can be a controversial subject, and there definitely needs to be more research done on this, but SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, And you know, I know it can be a controversial subject and there definitely needs to be more research done on this but SIDS sudden infant death syndrome has been connected to the combination of the flame retardants that are sprayed on these mattresses plus a

common toxic fungus that can grow in bedding and mattresses and it can actually inhibit the central nervous system and Breathing and heart is all undermined. So not making any huge claims here, but it's just something to consider. I would say, you know, people say, oh my gosh, the mattresses are so expensive. I would say put everything second. If you're gonna splurge on anything, like people will come together, family and friends,

get everyone to pitch in to buy a truly clean mattress. Maybe we have a code for Pure mattress. We need to get one. I should ask her. We should get one. Maybe code skating. Yeah, purebabyandchild.com has an incredible mattress. And it's, listen, I have four kids and I've used the same

mattress for all of them for eight years. And that's the mattress that you've used. Yeah. What about sheets and bedding? Again, that's so easy. They're everywhere. I mean, everything from Target, AWEbaby, A-U-B-A-B-Y, Pure Baby and Child also make sheets and bedding.

That's one of those things. Burt's Bees, you could probably find under $15 on Amazon. You can get some organic sheets from Burt's Bees or, you know, one of those companies. Okay, so what if you want to co-sleep? I feel like you're the co-sleeping queen. Tell us about that. Yeah.

Co-sleeping is one of those things that I stumbled upon. I didn't even know the name for it when I started doing it because I was literally in survival mode. I had my first baby. This was before Instagram and Facebook and all the things. Well, it was, I guess, in the heart of Facebook, but it was before I was seeking out information through Instagram or AI or anything like that. So I'm just doing my thing and I'm using my intuition like my aunt told me to but I am getting up every hour or two and going over to the bassinet across my room because I always knew I was going to have the baby in my room and I was so exhausted Lauren. I mean I one day I had her in the rocker and I was about to fall asleep so the AAP says that they recommend keeping the baby in the room for the first six months. It highly reduces the risk of SIDS right

but they do not recommend co-sleeping. So if you really think about all these parents that are doing the best by their babies and trying to follow the rules and they're so damn tired in this rocker, it's more dangerous than actually co-sleeping in a safe way, right? So co-sleeping for me was not only was it,

did it help me survive and really thrive during those newborn days, but honestly it was the sweetest time like I would wake up at two and three in the morning and just smelling that little newborn head and being so close and skin to skin you know there's a reason why all of our ancestors slept with their babies I mean first of all they didn't have halls and caves right you know it's just so funny we put our babies down the hall but like we this is a pretty new concept, you know? I mean, having our babies snuggle up next to us,

science actually shows that our heart rates will sync with one another. So that's a protective mechanism against breathing issues for the baby. And for a mom like me who had a low milk supply, like it was absolutely necessary for me to keep my supply to have my baby nursing me kind of throughout the night and so if you have A flat surface we of course had an organic mattress to me. That's like key in this

We weren't using any sort of fragrances or toxic laundry detergent, of course No pillows no, you know blankets that could Inhibit the baby or breathing or anything like that. No blanket around you So I had it on the bottom part of my body and then a lot of times I would almost tuck the blanket like, so here's what we did. Let me try to describe this like with words. For me, I found that the side lying nursing position was best.

So baby and I would both be on our sides. And I would almost have my upper arm around the baby's like bottom, if that makes sense. And then my upper, my lower arm would come across the back of their head and back. So I almost kind of created this like cradle fence for my baby. Okay, but here's the problem.

I only will lay on my left side. That's okay. Because you know how your gut drains? Yeah. Do you know what I'm talking about? Or do you think this is crazy? Well, I think- Like your gut drain, you want your-

Oh, so you're doing it for a health purpose. You want to only lay everyone in the world on their left side. Yeah, I think your gut, you want your... Oh, so you're doing it for a health purpose. You want to only lay everyone in the world on their left side. You should never lay on the right. Yeah, but I would... Okay, so I hear that and I agree with that. But I would think in those newborn days, you may have to like side switch just to keep up your supply because you're going to be breastfeeding, correct? I'm going to try. I don't... I'm going to try to breastfeed.

You're going to see. You're going to see. No, I mean, I think I'm going to breastfeed. I've breastfed my last two. my last two I'm gonna read but I'm not like one of those people that's like I'm doing it Yeah, you're dying right now. I'm not like it I'm not gonna kill myself that was that supply or really just for sleep listen Kelly my co-founder She co sleeps and I felt like she did it in a different way a lot of people don't do the sidelything They sleep on their back or they sleep on their belly and their babies just right next to them I just found that letting the baby kind of nurse themselves to sleep in the first few months was the way that I could keep supplying what he or she needed.

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Lately, I have been doing a fiesta bowl. So what I do is I grab Taylor Farms avocado ranch chopped salad kit. It's so good. I use that as a base and then I add my ancestral blend of meat on top of that. I like shredded cheddar cheese. I'll chop up maybe some red onion and then I'll add jalapenos. I'll add

sometimes habaneros because I like it really spicy and then I'll take chips, tortilla chips and crunch it up and put it on the top and then I get this salsa at the farmers market. It's a salsa verde by Moose Farms at our local farmers market. It's so good. I put that on my fiesta bowl and I sit there. I love to sit in silence while I'm eating. And I just like to enjoy the food and it's so delicious. If you have like a sparkling water, you put a little grapefruit juice in it next to,

oh, it's just, it's heaven. I'm telling you, it's such a good lunch. Taylor Farms Chop Salad Kits, they really have you covered. They have sweet kale, Caesar, avocado ranch, Mediterranean crunch, and you can make the best bowl of fresh greens with their yummy dressing and toppings. You can mix it up with a meat bowl or you could just do it plain or even add chicken.

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Again, that's squarespace.com slash skinny to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Again, that's squarespace.com slash skinny. It's funny that you say that. I just finished Hilaria Baldwin's book, who's married to Alec Baldwin. They have seven kids. And she said this thing in the book, and I am no breastfeeding experts, but I have to ask you this she said the way she kept her supply up For seven babies because she was nursing to at once was She would pump every 30 minutes or feed for three minutes and She said the trick to getting all this milk should so much milk She said wow was that instead of like pumping every two hours or like waiting, she would do it every 30 minutes,

which is like so much, but only three minutes. Okay, that is unreal. I'm also so impressed because she has all these other babies running around her house and needing her or needing a ride somewhere and she must be glued to that darn pump. That is commitment, that's amazing. It's only three minutes though.

That's true, but I mean, cleaning the parts and all that, to me that's the hard part. Do you clean the parts? I mean, let's be. But I mean, cleaning the parts and all that, to me that's the hard part. Do you clean the parts? I mean, let's be honest. I mean, I just stick them in the fridge for sometimes up to six or seven days and then I'll like boil them.

Yeah, I mean, how often are we really? This is like when people say they clean their makeup brush. No, no, that is different. But we are talking raw milk here. So we have to handle it a little, with a little more care. Okay, so, but I think she would just like use- No, that's amazing. I may actually try that.

Cause my, listen, my left boob barely produces anything. My babies have all survived off of my right one. So I may, my left one may need this Baldwin trick. She says this is the trick to breastfeeding. She said every 30 minutes, pump for only three minutes. Okay. And it trains your body to make a ton of milk. See, and I went through the...

I'm kind of doing the power pumping thing right now. I actually did it while I was having some water right before the show on my little balcony. But I'll do 10... No, sorry, 20 minutes, stop for 10, on for 10, stop for 10,

on for 10. But that's only if I'm actually in a place for an hour, like before bed or, you know. It's so much work. I know. It's a lot of work. The pumping. Honestly, with my first two, I didn't pump. So my second one never took a bottle. So I never even thought to pump. Didn't own a pump. Does pumping change your boobs? In terms of what? Like the way that they look or the way they produce?

No. No. No. I don't think so. I mean, well, your nipples look absolutely crazy going through that thing. I mean, it feels very unnatural to me. Sometimes I look down and I'm like, this is unreal that this is happening. But maybe instead of pumping every 30 minutes,

you could just nurse for three minutes. Can you do that or? So to me, that's the thing. It is so much easier to grab my baby and to latch them on me because you don't have to clean a darn thing. The milk is already the temperature they need. You don't have to store it or deal with any of that stuff.

You know, I mean, having my baby with me, even traveling sometimes I'm like, honestly, it's easier to just take the baby than to have to pump and store and fly with this milk. Also then I'm like, you're taking your breast milk and you're putting it in those plastic holders. Yeah. Can someone invent something else?

I know. Actually, okay, I heard that someone had, but not, I don't know about when it actually drops down into the plastic, I only have plastic for those, but then they're immediately, you can transfer to these stainless steel called, Sarah, gosh, C-E-R-E-S, Sarah Chill. It's like this brand that's come out with this great way

to manage breast milk as you're traveling. So anyway, I just got it and I'll have to use it for my next trip because I had a little cry over spilt milk in my stasher bag on my last vacation. I would cry if you spilt milk. It was a lot. It's devastating. It was a lot.

What's the brand of diapers and wipes? The Allyson approved. Yeah, so Kudos diapers, which I don't feel like as many people have heard of, they're sold at Target. They are the only diaper where, you know the band that goes around the baby's leg that's kind of the ruffle that you have to bring. Once you put the diaper on, the leg has that little like ruffle part that keeps the poop and stuff in. So they're the only brand that makes a hundred percent cotton ruffle part that keeps the poop and stuff in. So they're the only brand that makes a hundred percent cotton ruffle part,

which is actually important because it's touching the baby's leg and- All day long. All day long. So I, Coterie is also great too, but I will say Kudos is probably the cleanest disposable diaper. Okay, I use Coterie wipes and diapers,

but I just ran into my friend Cora, who's married to Taro who owns Four Sigmatic. Yes. And he started a diaper line that, this is so cool, and I might be flubbing this. The diaper, when the baby pees in it, you throw it away. And then when it goes to like the garbage place, what do you call it, Where the garbage place is dropped.

Yeah, the dump. The dump? It grows into mushrooms. Okay, is it hero diaper? Yeah, I think so. Okay, yeah, I just tried that. You can basically plant the diaper and like build a garden. It's amazing.

You can build the diaper, but here's what he said, which was crazy. He says the blue line is what's the most toxic thing. Interesting. So he has no blue line. Also, we don't really need a blue line. We don't need a blue line. Do we really need a blue line is what's the most toxic thing. So he has no blue line. Also, we don't really need a blue line. Do we really need a blue line? I've never really understood that. I'm honestly like, can't you smell?

And if not, can't you feel? More that, like, I feel like we just, come on. Come on, you know when your baby needs a diaper change. If Towns pees twice in the diaper, he pees twice. I don't need a blue line. More than that, yeah. Yeah, you know what I mean? We're all just hanging on by a thread.

A thousand percent, as long as it doesn't leak out, I'm like, you can do whatever you want in there. Yeah, I don't need a blue line. So I thought that was really genius. Interesting. It grows into mushrooms. And then he harvests them and sells them or? No, the mushrooms just grow, it's like biodegradable.

That is unreal. I mean, it'd be cool if it grew into magic mushrooms, but. Oh, wow, yeah. So that you could be like a more mellow mom as you're changing diapers. Full cycle diapers. So kudos wipes or coterie diapers. Oh wait no the wipes the wipes conversation is very different you were talking diapers right? Uh oh. Great let it rip. You're sitting down. What's wrong with the wipes? Everything. There's honestly here's the deal with wipes. Wipes are a breeding ground for microbes because you're introducing water, high water content, to a highly absorbable surface and so there

will be mold and mildew and all the nasties unless you use a strong preservative. So therefore every single wipe has to have a certain preservation in the formula, and that preservative is too toxic to touch a baby. So I know that so many people listening are like, you've officially lost me, this is so extreme, but guys, I have not used a baby wipe. I mean, I don't use baby wipes. I mean, I will use them on the go.

What are you using? Okay, so I use dry wipes, and right next to my dry wipes, whether it's in my purse or at home, I have a spray bottle with water and I literally wet the wipe and then... Look at that. It sounds like water wipes. It sounds like water wipes, but it's not. But water...

What's so crazy is that those last ingredients, guys, and this is where I'm gonna bring out my nerdy toxic brain, but the science of epigenetics shows that a small amount of a toxic chemical can turn on and off genetic expression. So if you think about daily use items, those darn wipes are touching our baby in the most absorbable area of their body, right?

Highly absorbable multiple times a day, okay? So when we think about diaper rash, we think about eczema, and then we think about future things. We think about organ accumulation. We think about autoimmune, immune. We think about eczema, and then we think about future things. We think about organ accumulation, we think about autoimmune, immune, we think about allergies and autism and all these things can be connected to these small little ingredients that are in micro doses that add up over time. So I would say if you're gonna do just a handful of things, making sure your mattress is

clean and those daily use items like your car seat and your wipes I think are really key. So Honest Company sells 100 car seat and your wipes, I think are really key. So Honest Company sells 100% organic, disposable dry wipes. I buy them on Amazon. It is the easiest thing. It's one of those things, once you get into the habit, you realize you really don't need to have a wet wipe. I mean, yes, you can throw them in your bag,

like on the run, and I will say Healthy Baby, I think makes the best wet wipes because they use sodium benzoate, which is a preservative We don't love it, but it's probably one of the better ones So kudos diapers and then healthy baby wipes, but there's not there really aren't great wipes on the market. I When I got my blood tested and it came back higher than anyone he's ever seen for triclosan And I could not figure out I might have to wipe you it came back higher than anyone he's ever seen for triclosan. And I could not figure out I might have checked the Q.

It was wipes. And you know what's fucked is that ingredient is not on the package. You have to dig deep and something that's a very popular white brand, white brand that's supposed to be one ingredient. It's not one ingredient. Because sometimes it's such a small amount that it doesn't, it's not on there. But they're talking about that one wipe. Think about how many times a day were introduced to that one thing.

And it's by the butthole. It's by the intimate area, then it's on your hands. I even like, I was giving my kids the wipes to wipe their face after they ate. So I did that at the farmer's market a couple of days ago. I felt bad because there was a mom there with me and my three year old obviously had stuff all over her face. And so she was just being a friend and I wasn't going to be like, oh, no, no, no.

But she wiped Eleanor's mouth all over with this wipe. Okay, so we get in the car. I wasn't thinking much of it. And I look in the rear view mirror. She's sitting in her car seat behind me. Her entire mouth is bright red. Her body just was not used to being introduced to those things. And my kids have pretty resilient skin. Like they're olive. Her entire mouth is bright red. Her body just was not used to being introduced to those things.

And my kids have pretty resilient skin, like they're olive. They're not like, they're not sensitive skin kids. I could not believe it. I took pictures because I was like, one day I'm going to have to show my audience that this is what wipes can do. And it was the same wipes you're talking about, by the way, because I know what you're talking about.

It's so intense because you don't, like I said, want to be psychotic. Exactly. But at the same time, if it's a daily habit that they're doing all day long. Yeah, it's the daily things. I just don't get why there's no brand integrity. Is that crazy? No. Honestly, I will say the wipes, the car seat thing is it's a whole soapbox for me, as you can tell, and the mattress. But with the wipes, we have tried to create a wipe, right, with Branch Basics, and we cannot meet the standard

of preservation that is needed to keep the wipes safe more than four or five days without growing mold. So I understand why these manufacturers are having to add these ingredients, I do get it. That's a bummer, I'd love a Branch Basics wipe. Well, I got you a little gift bag of some stuff. I'm gonna try the dry wipes from Honest with the spray bottle wipes from honest with the spray bottle. I've set you up with the whole system so Michael can't bog. Well I'm gonna get the heated wipe warmer

yes and put the dry wipes in there. Yes it's so easy to make that so at home it's super easy because you just put it next to the baby changing area and you get the OXO to the OXO brand and you can put a bunch of dry, 100% organic cotton wipes. Let's see, there's another brand that makes them off of Amazon. Oh, I'm blank. Whoopsie, W-H-O-O-P-S-I-E-S. Whoopsies and Honest Company make dry wipes. You fill the little OXO, you know, wipe dispenser or whatever heated one you want with a little bit of water at the bottom and they'll last for a while without that toxic preservative. A water wipe.

It's just like it. Uh-huh. Genius. I mean, without triclos. Yeah. It's honestly wild. I only use Branch Basics in my house for cleaning supplies. Sometimes I use Molly's suds for certain things. Molly'ss is great. It's it feels like it's very clean like

Branch Basics but Branch Basics is like everywhere and I'm really proud that we just switched the entire office cleaning supplies to Branch Basics. Carson don't know if you knew that I'm looking out for your well-being. For his future babies. Why is it so important for a mother to consider the cleaning supplies and let this one rip? Because people, there's still pushback about switching cleaning supplies and it's such an easy switch.

And my house, it's not more dirty. It's not more dirty. Yeah. Well, I always love to go with this kind of extreme story. So Kelly, my best friend and co-founder, her husband was on the, he's a doctor and he was on the COVID team. And he is in a home where they don't use one sanitizer

or one disinfectant. And never did he come home and say, that's what we should be doing. I mean, he is a doctor and he was exposed in the depths of the COVID situation. Their family never got sick. I mean, that's the thing, my kids are rarely sick. And when they're sick, they're sick for one or two days max. And we have not used bleach.

We have not used a chemical-based, pesticide-based disinfectant ever. I mean, my kids have never been around one really, unless they're at school or something. So the reason that this is so important is because our cleaning products contain carcinogens, asthmagens, obesogens, like actually proven to be connected to causing obesity, childhood obesity because of the way that they're disrupting our hormones, synthetic fragrances.

I mean, the allergens alone and the way that they're connected to eczema, the fact that we use them but yet we don't need them is what boggles my mind. We do not need to have these toxic cleaners in order to effectively clean and remove germs. In fact, what's happening when we bring in these disinfectants is we're actually decimating our gut microbiome. There was a study done on 757 babies between the ages of four and six months. And then they tracked the babies,

it was a long-term study, again at age one and at age three. They found that the babies that were growing up in homes that use disinfectants on a daily basis had the least amount of friendly bacteria in the gut and the highest amount of unfriendly bacteria in their gut, which is directly the same pattern as one with like eczema or obesity. Branch basics works just as good.

And it just, it works. And you don't have to have that fragrance. And if you think about guys, like the way that our babies are breathing deeply into those sheets and clothes. I mean, even when someone comes and visits my baby and they have perfume on, you know, I'm just kind of cringing or I'll really nicely ask

if they'll put a burp cloth on. I'll say, oh, sometimes the baby spits up if you don't mind putting a burp cloth on because I can smell when they hand the baby back and just the perfumes and all the things coming from their dryer sheets and all the things that they're using on their laundry. I even think like if you have a nanny or someone who's helping you or even like your mom, like sometimes I'll just say, hey, here's Molly Suds, do you guys mind washing your clothes?

Yes. Because if the baby's going to be breathing it in. Your baby's caretaker, you should advocate for your baby. They cannot speak up. You know, this is the time, like our babies are born pre-polluted. There was a study done by the EWG 20 years ago. So think about how many more toxins we've introduced since then. Where babies were born and we used to think that these chemicals did not pass the blood-brain barrier, right? We thought that the placenta was this protective barrier around the baby, but they were born with 287 chemicals tested in the

umbilical cord blood. 180 of them are carcinogens, okay? That's just before they were born. So if we as moms, as parents, have information, you know, it's one thing to have the information and to decide, listen, you know, I get it, but I'm choosing this. But what makes me sad is when we don't have the information and all of a sudden our children are having to pay for that. I did, my mom only wishes that she had an Aunt Marylee to tell her the things that I am talking about now because I had cysts, thousands of cysts covering my ovaries

by the time I was a teenager. I had chronic inflammation. I was on hydrocodone and antidepressants and painkillers and muscle relaxers all through college because of crazy inflammation and pain. And when Merrily woke me up to this lifestyle when I was 22 years old, guess how long it took me to reverse pretty much all of those things I listed? Ten months. So like our bodies want to heal. We are so resilient and our babies,

if you're listening right now and you're thinking, oh my gosh, I've screwed up my baby. They're already three or they're already eight. Like I was 22. So there's so many things that we can start doing today. And once we remove these chemicals, our bodies will run in the direction of healing and we will detoxify and overcome symptoms. This is why I'm such a Louise Hay fan because in her meditation,

she always says like, let the past go. Like if you've already, if you've made mistakes, like we all have with whatever it is, and you're hearing this and you're overwhelmed, let it go, just let it go. It's not a big deal. No shame, no guilt. So last thing, when y'all asked me to come on,

I thought this is a really sensitive topic, you know, and the last thing I wanna do is make a mom feel like they have made the wrong decision for her child. And we're all refining. really sensitive topic, you know? And the last thing I want to do is make a mom feel like they have made the wrong decision for her child. We're all refining. My gravestone is going to say edit and refine. I'm editing and refining all the time. You can edit and refine your friend group.

Carson, can you edit that? Is that going to be your quote on your? You can edit and refine. It's like, no one's perfect. We're all just doing our best. But if it is a daily habit and it's the same price exactly, you know, what's annoying the dry cleaner Because what do you do? You have a nice shirt. You spend a lot of money on it. Yeah, it's a silk moment

My I just got my daughter as a silk nightgown. Yeah, what do you do? Okay, so I will say there are nightgown. Yeah. What do you do? Is there anything to do? Okay, so I will say there are certain types of silk that actually do really well in the laundry. Are you sure you have to dry clean her silk nightgown? It doesn't look the same, Allison. I'm sorry. Okay. I really wish I could say it does. Okay, well so there are dry cleaners that... Where? Where? Well Houston has an EcoClean. So what we do... I feel like that's like look over here. It's like, we're green, but like- So you asked him not to do the final spray, but in the end, I would not let my child sleep

in something that's been dry cleaned. I mean, I just wouldn't. I think there's, my children have a few silk items and we just put them in the wash. And you're right, LUNYA, L-U-N-Y-A, has that beautiful brand, and they actually tell you to wash them, so. No final spray though, if you have to. Yes, no starch or finishes or fragrances.

I always say that when I go and then take them out of the bag immediately. Don't let them suffocate in their own filth, right? And put them in the sun because the sun honestly is the best detoxifier. So I always have Will's like beautiful shirts like out, you know on the balcony. See, I knew you would have a tip for that that's a random one. I want to talk about this is not really to do with baby but it's something that I'm struggling with the hair gel with the guy. Oh the hair gel we still haven't figured this out for him. We got okay we got the volcano. I told you that's what Will uses. The volcanic paste which we'll link in the show notes you guys for towns. So towns my son when he does his hair he uses the volcano paste.

Michael is still so on to this hair gel. Yeah. Can we, we need something. I don't know, I mean I feel like my husband has used a few brands and I feel like the volcano and then there's one more that I felt like I sent you a picture of over text and I'm forgetting what it is right now, but it's in a black container. Is that the volcano one? I think it's a volcano. So maybe I don't know Michael has a lot of hair We got it. We need to formulate just which is why it's a problem though Cuz it's a whole to do it's a whole thing and then he tries to get in the bed

Hmm with us and it is it fragrant I can smell right now I can smell you can smell it in your mind like a blood a blood it fragrant? I can smell, right now I can smell. You can smell it in your mind's eye. I'm like a blood hound. I can smell from a mile away. And he tries to get in the bed on my brand new silk pillowcase that's fresh and lay his head down.

And then like the kid. Well, he at least needs to shower. If it's fragrant, he needs to get that off before he gets in the bed. That's the rule. But then he's just gonna get mad about your spray tan. So you can only go so far. This is all constantly,

it's the hair gel versus the spray tan. The spray tan is really slim pickings. It really is. There's one, oh my gosh, what is the name? Salt air, salt something that's, but it's not like a person that comes to the house. It's like you DIY and it's just not the same. That's your next company, a spray tan.

It's cleaning products and spray tan. Without getting too granular, and someone's giving birth in the hospital, what's the Alice in Birth Plan? Ooh, I mean, back to basics, baby. Okay, so what? I'm literally like, please do as little as possible. I mean, okay, I'm someone who has had all my babies at

home, so like I have embraced the fact that our bodies can do this and I have to tell myself this over and over when I'm facing the pain and there's another baby coming and I'm like, how am I gonna do this? I have to hype myself up. So for me personally, if I'm giving birth in a hospital, I want to be able to move constantly. So if they're gonna do the constant fetal monitoring, monitoring, which to me is excessive because I don't need to know every single detail of what's happening because I feel like that can sometimes over information can be stressful. Right.

And I think that early intervention that's unnecessary sometimes comes in because we're so micromanaging every single piece of our birth. And I hope I'm not stepping on toes or making people upset right now. But for me, I'm like, I want as little monitoring as possible. I want to be able to move. I want to be able to get on my hands and feet. I mean, ideally, I've given birth three times under with maybe coming out underwater. So like I love a good water birth, but at least I would love to be able to labor in the water because it tremendously helps that pain. but how can you do that if you have an epidural? You cannot okay, so if you're having an epidural, it's a whole different subject. I would say

Once I have once that baby comes out give me my baby and we don't need to do anything else and then let me go home Okay, so I'll just keep it at that cuz I'm not gonna get into more details But I'm like very back to basics The one thing I can say here on air is try to delay the umbilical cord clamp as long as possible. Like how long? Okay, so the hospital will say, Oh my gosh, it's fine.

All the blood has been transferred. Well, you don't want to wait till it stops pulsating. You want to wait till that cord is white. Okay, so in the 1960s, they introduced the early cord clamp because pitocin was popular, right? And they didn't know how the drugs and the delayed cord clamping would mix. Well, now we do know that you can delay the cord clamp and still have the epidural, still have the pito, still have all the things,

and you can still delay the cord clamp and everyone is fine. But because the hospitals are just kind of coming into this information, it takes, you know, years for I feel like America to catch up. But when you delay the cord clamp, you can increase the blood supply up to a third. So that's a ton more iron, which is amazing for brain development. There's no reason to clamp that cord in under 10 minutes. So sometimes the hospital will say, okay, we'll give you a few minutes. But I'm like, I don't know, give me an hour if you can.

Like I don't need this to rush. Yes, literally, literally. Until it's completely white. They rush you along. So as long as possible. If it's five minutes, that's better than immediate. Quick break to talk about Symbiotica, one of our favorite supplement companies, one of our favorite wellness companies. We've had the founders of Symbiotica on this podcast so many times. And here's the thing, Symbiotica brings the best products to market. They have so many incredible products that it's actually hard for me to do these spots

because it's hard for me to actually pick my favorites. I have so many favorites. I've talked about the vitamin B, talked about their vitamin D, I've talked about their glutathione, all great products, their magnesium, incredible. They have some new products that I'm super excited about that I don't think we've talked about on this podcast. First they have their Irish sea moss. Sea moss is going to start to get a lot more coverage because of the incredible things

it's going to do with bloat and healthy skin. They also just released their brand new Shilajit that come in these liquid complexes. They used to have this resin complex, but now they actually have them in the packets that they typically deliver on. And here's the thing, the new Shilajit is going to help with sustained energy, muscle recovery, and vitality from the inside out. I also like to mention that both of these products, just like every other Symbiotic product, taste incredible. What I would start with for sure is their Vitamin C.

I think it's one of the best on the market. Their glutathione with the PQQ. I think that's one of the best antioxidants out there. Symbiotica has the highest quality and then I would definitely check out their new Irish sea moss and their Sheila Jeet if you have not checked that out yet. I've been experimenting with these and I feel great. Taking symbiotic supplements is one of the easiest ways I found to stay consistent with my health goals even during a busy summer. All you have to do is go to symbiotica.com slash TSC today to get 20% off plus free shipping. That's C-Y-M-B-I-O-T-I-K-A dot com slash TSC to get 20% off plus free shipping. Quick break to share some big news. Branch Basics, one of our all-time

favorite cleaning brands, is now available at over 600 Target stores nationwide and at Target.com. That's right, you can now pick them up during your regular Target run. Branch Basics has become an absolute staple in our house. We use their hand soap, we use their cleaning supplies, we got rid of all of the harmful chemical hormone disrupting ingredients that so many other household cleaning supplies come with. And here's the thing, our house is still squeaky clean without all of those terrible scents and smells. One thing I've noticed ever since we got rid of those hormone disrupting chemical products, the house is calm, the children are calm, the dogs are happy.

And like I said, Branch Basics can get the same job done just without all those harmful ingredients. From countertops to bathrooms, even tough stains, Branch Basics all-purpose cleaner, bathroom cleaner, and their new stain removal tackle it all, plus their gentle, unsensitive skin and safe for babies and pets. Who doesn't want to use a product that's safe for their babies and pets? So if you're tired of toxic chemicals lingering in your home, who isn't? It's time to make the switch. You can grab Branch Basics products now at Target. Find their concentrate, all-purpose cleaner, bathroom cleaner, and stain remover right

on the shelves. Trust me, your home and your health will thank you. We haven't looked back ever since we made the switch. So check them out. Shop Branch Basics in 600 plus Target stores nationwide or target.com. You can also use our code SKINNY15 to get 15% off at branchbasics.com slash SKINNY15. Again, SKINNY15 for 15% off at branchbasics.com slash SKINNY15. Levity. Levity is a personalized weight loss program that combines clinically guided support with GLP-1 treatment. Every plan includes medical consultations, prescription-only medication,

if eligible, and ongoing medical and lifestyle support from licensed healthcare providers to promote long-term effective weight loss. So all treatments here are prescribed by licensed professionals and delivered discreetly to your door. If you're unfamiliar with a GLP-1, it's designed to help reduce food noise and support portion control by mimicking hormones that regulate hunger. And what's cool about this is this isn't a quick fix, it's actually a long-term approach to health with real ongoing support. So you have support the entire time. They're accessible online with no appointments necessary and I think the licensed professionals part is really important. Everything is safe and

clinically guided and they also have a range of cost which is nice. So if you're looking for different options. It's designed for people who have tried diet and exercise but need a sustainable expert-led solution. Get $50 off your first levity order with code TSC50 at joinlevity.com. That's J-O-I-N-L-E-V-I-T-Y.com. Joinlevity.com code TSC50. Did you know that most tola paper has formaldehyde and chlorine in it? It also has dyes. I was shocked to know, I found out this probably a year ago,

that there's all of these crazy things in toilet paper. We're wiping our most intimate areas with this all day long. My daughter is using the toilet paper, my husband's using it. I went on this like wild goose chase to find the best toilet paper on the market. And while I found some brands that were great, I also wanted to create something better. And so that's what we've done at the Skinny Confidential. We have created a better choice. I was involved in every single detail of this toilet paper. We took out formaldehyde, we took out chlorine, we took out the dyes, we took out all the things that I didn't want my family exposed to. And then of course in our very skinny confidential way, we

wrapped it in pink as you can see. I wanted the experience of the delivery when you got it to be very romantic and pretty. Never are you excited about getting your monthly delivery of toilet paper and I wanted to make you excited. So it comes in the most luxurious box. You open it, it's packaged cute and it also has our little stamp on it. And you can put this on all of the rolls in your house and know that it's a better choice for you and your family. I am so passionate about this launch. We have been working on this launch for a long time. My team is so excited about it.

It's shaking up the market and it's disruptive and it's everything that we want to bring to the table. So if you're looking for a better choice when it comes to your toilet paper, go to shopskinnyconfidential.com, grab it now. We will sell out, but we're doing subscription. So I would definitely say to subscribe so you can make sure that you get it monthly. That's shopskinnyconfidential.com. You know what else I'm not a fan of? The blankets and the beanies. Blankets and the beanies. Definitely B, Y, O, B, and B. Bring your own.

Yeah, for sure. I would definitely bring my own all the things because think about not only the blanket and the polyester and the microplastics in it and that fresh baby skin that's covered in that beautiful vernix that you're not gonna wash off, but then what are they washing those things in? Clorox.

Oh! But these are easy wins, Lauren. These are easy wins. You have your own little basket with your 100% organic blanket. You have their first outfit. You have their first beanie. I mean, it's easy.

Those are easy. It's easy win, but I will say there is a pushback energy that I cannot explain. It's an undertone. Call it what you want to call it. I feel it every time I've given birth of like, what do you know? Girl, if there is one person in this world that can command her birth story, I'm looking at her right now. It's but I feel I feel yeah, I you need also you're fucked up from the drugs. Yeah.

When you do an epidural. Yeah. Yeah. I love an epidural. I walk in and I'm like, I'm in pain. So in my mind, I'm thinking she's missing this part and you're thinking, no, she's missing out on the epidural. You are missing out on the epidural. It's really fun. But the epidural, you're like- The post-epidural I'm not missing out on because I have her during her phase.

So wait, I'm not like this boss bitch after the epidural. I'm like, how? But that's why you lay all this out in the beginning. And Michael is advocating for you, just like he does. We'll talk off air. Michael is advocating for me. He is, for sure. Michael's amazing.

Amazing. And Michael's a guy that when you give him the information and the facts, he pivots, which is great. Yes, absolutely. I've seen that. Or else we would be living in chlorine and windex. Except the hair gel. Except the hair gel. Except the hair gel.

That's the one thing that he won't give up. So it's just, it's hard a little bit to advocate when you're kind of high. No, I completely understand that. I honestly, I'm all about a birth plan. And we, with my first, you know, you just never know what's gonna happen with your first. And so I was very diligent

about making my hospital birth plan. Since then, I've been like, these babies are coming out at home and I just have, I'm set on that story and I've just, that's happened in my life. But I was very much ready with my bag by the door when I was giving birth to my first thinking, I don't know if we're gonna transfer, I don't know what this is gonna look like.

And I had laid out what she, I mean, in a sheet, like typed out what she was gonna be wearing. Send it to me? Absolutely, yeah. You're gonna send that to me? Yes. I think a lot of people do this. I mean what I... Oh I had it with the first two. Yeah. I'm just saying I had it and there's still an undertone. Yeah. And it's not with everyone. It's just with certain situations. The reason that I do not want a home birth, because you would think I would want a home birth, is because I've realized that I would have to manage Michael. And when he gets really nervous or stressed, he gets into this state and it throws me off.

He would need his own doula maybe. Yeah, like when Towns cut his head open, like he got stitches in his head, I was like trying to focus on Towns because Towns is crying and screaming. But Michael's energy was like up here and he wants me to take emotional residency, which is like matching his energy, but I have to stay calm and stoic for towns. So I just feel if I gave birth at home, please not listening to this,

he would be like a maniac. And it would like ruin the security. Actually what you're saying, actually what you're saying, I mean, I'm serious when I say this, everyone has to give birth in the place that they feel the safest, cause that's how they're gonna open up

and have a baby in the least intervened manner. And I'm serious when I say that. So for me, I don't feel very safe in a hospital. I don't like the hustle, the bustle, the fluorescent lights, trying to advocate for things that the hospital may not want, right? So I would probably have what they call failure to progress and they'd probably wheel me in and cut me open, right?

But at home, I'm like, I own this space, I'm relaxed. But then I talked to so many people who were like, I would be so freaked out at home. I'm like, home is not where you should give birth. You need to go to that hospital where you can relax, you feel safest in the hospital, you will, wherever you are going to open up the quickest, that's where you go. I think too, now that you're saying this, I'm not, I don't like my house out of order.

Yes. That gives me anxiety to have people walking in and out. So that was actually my only negative thing and I was cleaning as I was in the first and second stages of labor. That's how I would be. I was making sure that my bathroom was perfectly clean and that my astringent was picked up and my cotton balls and my like face tape was in the trash.

Like I didn't want, cause I knew people would all be in there. So yeah, I get that. And all, I just, people in and out of my house and like managing that, I would feel a little bit like I have to host, but I really think the root of it is I love the epidural. Yeah, those epidurals, they need to find, they gotta find a home based epidural.

They really do. Well, it's like after 10 months, you haven't had any vice and then it's like, give me that fucking epidural right now. Yeah, yeah. Does anyone else feel like that? Okay. I'm sure most of your listeners do. Most of them are relating to you right now and not me.

Air filters in the baby's room. I'm doing Jasper. What's your favorite? Austin Air. I mean, find one without a smart meter with low EMFs that is obviously HEPA, H-E-P-A. Make sure the filters are clean, right? That's huge.

Make sure it's not right there next to the baby. I love using our Austin Air as a sound machine. I feel like that's a huge win for that white noise in the background. Ooh, can I talk about baby monitors for a second? Yeah, I was just gonna ask you about that. Hold on everybody. We've just gotten rid of our wet wipes,

our car seat turned stroller, and now we're taking it away. Burn the nursery down. Burn down the nursery. Use an organic match. Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. So baby monitors, okay, first of all, EMFs are a real thing. We don't taste them,

we don't see them, we don't smell them, we don't touch them, and so we want to forget about them. But we have to remember babies' brains are highly absorbable. There's so much more water content, and so they actually absorb EMFs twice as much as the adult brain. So babies are not just little humans. Like they breathe twice as much air. I mean, pound for pound, they're eating more, they're drinking more, they're absorbing more, absorbing more. So studies have found that the term between birth and six months in terms of exposure to EMFs is highly correlated to autism spectrum disorders. So when you think about that, that baby brain is just on overdrive,

growing like crazy and having a baby monitor, which is super high in radio frequency fields, constantly on your baby as they're sleeping. When their brain is processing and storing all this information, it's just not good. And, you know, it's hard to say, okay, well, so what do I do? Do I just listen to my baby to scream? I have somehow gone for babies and never used a baby monitor.

I would rather not hear my baby for the first few minutes instead of feeling like I can watch their every single move. I feel very safe that my baby is, you know, sleeping on an organic mattress and not smelling a bunch of toxins. And I feel like monitoring the every move of a child and having to watch them as they sleep can cause a lot of toxins and I feel like monitoring the every move of a child and having to watch them as they sleep can cause a lot of maternal anxiety. And so that is one option is to not have one. There's another option of Tech Wellness has one that you can actually hardwire so you can be

constantly watching the baby but you are there are cables okay so it's not as you know chic. And then the second best or third best option besides not having one having the hardwired one is la rev le re ve and There is not one baby monitor that is gonna have no EMFs Okay, they're all gonna have some sort of EMS unless they're hardwired But la rev has been tested as the only one that claims to be low EMF to actually have a low EMF setting. So I would highly consider that. Also, if anyone is taking care of your baby at any time, whether it's a minute or an hour, my rule is no cell phone by that baby's head. No cell phone by that baby's head. I mean, get the cell phone. It is a radio satellite right next to that baby's

brain. Okay, I have the best hack for that Lauren because sometimes you have to have your cell phone while you're nursing. Okay, so we had an electrician come out and he dropped a line in the wall and put a jack next to my bed. Okay, because I wanted to be able to nurse and scroll Instagram and check DMs and do the things that sometimes you need to do as a business owner. And I actually hardwire my phone. So my phone actually becomes like a mini laptop. Okay, so I cannot make calls, but I can scroll the internet. I can scroll social because I am actually hardwired with Ethernet into a Jack next to my bed.

It will take a few hundred dollars for an electrician to come do that to your home. Why can't you just nurse and put your phone way away from you on airplane mode? You can, that's ideal, but sometimes when you're nursing hours and hours a day and you're trying to you know answer somebody or you want to scroll Instagram, I mean this my option right here is better than just having your phone by the baby's head which is what most moms do for hours a day. But I'm with you. Listen, that's the ideal. I have to get a hard wire in my house? Well, you know.

Can you teach me how to do that? I'll send you an electrician. Okay. Well, you know who I love? The Test My Home guy. Yeah, Ryan's so good. He always recommends Branch Basics too. Oh, we love him.

He's great. I have notes all over this. It's overwhelming because, not because this is overwhelming, it's overwhelming to me because there's so many brands that just don't care. Yeah. That's what's overwhelming. Yeah. Yeah. Branch Basics does care. And do you guys have a code for us? We do. Okay. Skinny20. Okay. 20% off all starter kits and laundry powder. If you do one thing guys, laundry powder,

I'm telling you just make sure that that baby's clothes, everything that is touching their skin that's highly absorbable. If there's any sort of rash or eczema or anything, I recently had a mom call me and she said, I've exhausted every single route. I've been to all these doctors. Her baby is covered in eczema

and she was using a less toxic laundry detergent. I'm obviously not gonna name names. Switch to Branch Basics and within a week that baby took a picture of the baby on the beach. It's the sweetest thing. So it does make a huge difference. Okay and you guys are also available at Target now. We are. Target.com, Amazon, Branch Basics. We are, yes. Branchbasics.com slash Skinny20, you get 20% off if you use code SKINNY20. Yes, and your landing page is branchbasics.com backslash SKINNY20, and the discount code is already taken.

And then we have all of the registry recommendations. And I wanna end by saying, there are so many brands doing amazing things. So let the takeaway from this not be brand bashing or, oh my gosh, this is so overwhelming. But this is honestly an opportunity to make changes and to support the companies that are doing better because there are so many great ones.