In recent years, firesafe baby clothing has become very popular. And for good reason, many children have been seriously injured or died as a result of flammable clothing. Firesafe clothing is created by spraying your baby’s clothes with chemicals, many that can be detrimental to a child’s health. As a new parent, are your choices really the safety of your child in a fire or exposure to toxins? Absolutely not, there are a several things you can do to protect your child from both fire and toxins.
Firesafe clothing is not really firesafe, it is fire retardant. It is meant to protect clothing from catching on fire if exposed to flame for up to three seconds or extinguish quickly after removed from the flame. Polyester fabric is inherently flame retardant. Cotton, however must be treated with chemicals to meet federal regulations on fire retardant. After 50 or so washes, the protection washes off. So while it may be difficult to decide not to buy fire retardant clothing, keep in mind that the chemicals do not protect your child indefinitely. Also, the most common cause of death in a fire is smoke inhalation, not burning. Do not get fooled into thinking the only way to protect your child from fire is by dressing them in clothing covered in chemicals. That is not the case at all.
Beside purchasing clothes soaked in chemicals, there are some common sense steps you can take to keep your child safe and minimize risks. The most obvious step is too keep open flames out of reach. Candles, fireplaces, scented oil burners and incense burners should all be kept away from children. The most common source of house fires are from cooking equipment, so make sure you turn off the all kitchen appliances after use. Lastly, make sure your infant’s clothing is form fitting and does not have dangling frills or lace. These fashions are cute, but can be a fire hazard.
With a few commons sense steps, you can protect your child from both fire and the chemicals in fire retardant clothing.