Healthy
Health Care
Important Information for New Moms (and Dads too!)
Materials for New Parents
Are you a new parent or are you planning to be one soon? See our materials below with tips on food choices and safer pest management, specifically designed for new moms.
- Brochure: Make your home safe for baby: Protect your baby from harmful pesticides. En Español: Dele un hogar seguro a su bebé.
- Video: Protecting Your New Baby from Pesticides. En Español: Proteja a su Bebé de las Plaguicidas.
Pesticides are chemicals that are used to poison and kill insects, rodents, and weeds. Because these chemicals are made to kill living things, they can also be harmful to your baby’s health. The good news is that there are safe ways to keep pests out of your home without the use of these chemicals.
Babies and Pesticides
Babies and young children are at greater risk for health problems caused by contact with household pesticides. Pound for pound, children drink 2.5 times more water, eat 3-4 times more food, and breathe 2 times more air than adults. Because of this, they also take in higher amounts of chemicals and pesticides than do adults.
There are three ways in which babies and children get sick from pesticides used in homes and yards—through their mouth, through contact with their skin, and by breathing them in. Infants and children crawl on the ground and put things in their mouths (including their hands) where pesticides may have been applied. Grass for example, may be treated with pesticides in public areas, including athletic fields and playgrounds.
Copyright Beyond Pesticides, 2012.