Frugal Babe

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The Frugal Way To Avoid Flame Retardants In Pajamas

September 8, 2009 By Frugal Babe

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I’m not fond of toxic chemicals in our house or yard.  We grow all of our veggies using organic methods, clean the house with baking soda and vinegar, and avoid food additives like preservatives and food colorings.  So it should come as no surprise that we don’t want our son wearing pajamas treated with flame retardant chemicals.

I know other parents who feel the same way, and their solution has been to go out and buy new cotton pajamas that say “wear snug f’itting – not flame resistant” on the tag.  I have found a few pairs of these at thrift stores, and our son has been wearing them this summer.  But he’s starting to outgrow them now, and winter is coming.  I know that I could go back to the thrift stores and search through the pajamas to find more that aren’t treated with flame retardants.  But I’m trying to avoid shopping in general – we already have too much stuff, and I don’t want to add anything else.  I’ve been sorting through our stuff and weeding out clutter, and it feels great.  We live ten miles from the thrift stores now, as opposed to where we used to live, which was half a mile from two great thrift stores.  This is great for my efforts to save money, get by with less, and avoid consumerism in all its forms – including buying used stuff that we really don’t need.

So our son is now wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts to bed.  We have several that will fit him all winter.  They were hand me downs and items that I purchased at thrift stores before we moved, and they make perfect pajamas.  I pair them with warm socks, and he’s all set for the night.  Thrift stores are frugal, but making do with what we already have is even more frugal, and it serves a secondary purpose of keeping the clutter in our house to a minimum.

Filed Under: baby, Our stuff, the simple life 10 Comments

Comments

  1. Jessie says

    September 8, 2009 at 3:19 pm

    they seriously put that stuff on kids pj’s? I’ve heard of it on pillows – but wow!

    How do you know how to avoid it?

    Reply
  2. Mrs. Money says

    September 8, 2009 at 3:29 pm

    I am bad about going to thrift stores a lot but I rarely buy things I don’t need. I will have to ask though- it is really that cold at night already?! I am scared. :)

    Reply
  3. Shannon says

    September 9, 2009 at 6:02 am

    Great idea for the coming cold weather months. In the summer, we let the boys (ages 2 and 4) either sleep in their underwear or wear a giant oversized t-shirt, a male nightgown, if you will. They look so cute! Like you, if it’s pajamas I’m looking for, I search for all cotton, but they are expensive new, and hard to find used. So, improvise it is!

    Reply
  4. Sandra says

    September 9, 2009 at 11:23 am

    PJs in general are ALWAYS so costly, even on a good deal .. once my kids weren’t little babies and out of ‘sleepers’ … all 3 of them .. just sleep in comfy tees, sweat pants or shorts. They were never comfy in “snug” fitting clothes – really who wants to be bound in their jammies, IMO. So, we’ve not had to worry about the flame retardant stuff for quite some time. :-)

    YES .. using what you’ve already got is always better than any deal! :-)

    Reply
  5. Heidi says

    September 10, 2009 at 2:56 pm

    I have a niece who’s cotton nightgown caught on fire when she was playing by the family fireplace at age 6. Her parents were out of the room when this occured (but in the home). She has subsequently had 10-15 operations to try to repair the damage to her face. She will never be the same. IF you have any source of open flames in your home (candles, fireplace, gas oven, bbq grill, tiki torches) please reconsider your stance. Children routinely play with fire and get to close to things they shouldn’t touch. You would think a six year old would be old enough to be left in a room alone wouldn’t you? Disfigurement for life is a HIGH price to pay.

    I commend you for your desire to keep chemicals out of your home. They began putting flame retardent in children’s night clothes for a very good reason though.

    I remember my twin brother often playing with matches/fire when my parents left us at home. (This was when it wasn’t such a big deal to be left at home for a few hours). I never told my mom.

    Reply
  6. FrugalBabe says

    September 10, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    Heidi, you make a good point. But I’ve always wondered why it’s just pajamas that are treated with fire retardants. Why not all kids’ clothes? (although I’m very glad that isn’t the case – my son would have to go naked!) In our case, there are no open flames in our house. We don’t have candles or a fireplace, and our appliances are electric. We also don’t keep matches in the house.
    My father grew up near a girl who died when her nightgown caught on fire as she was playing by the fireplace. It’s a very real danger if there are any flame sources in the house. I used to love candles, but years ago I decided that I didn’t want whatever made them smell nice to be floating around in our air, and got rid of them all.

    Reply
  7. Bet says

    September 11, 2009 at 7:39 am

    Making do! That’s what it’s all about. If you’re buying what you don’t need, even if it’s cheap, it’s wasted money, time, and energy.

    We used to use long underwear. Warm, snug, and cuddly. So, if you have them too, add to your rotation!

    I’ve got a lot of reading to do, haven’t visited in a while. Glad to see you’re still here!

    Reply
  8. Mrs. Accountability says

    September 11, 2009 at 7:34 pm

    As usual, another brilliant idea. And I’m jealous that your weather allows for wearing sweats to bed since here in Arizona it’s still hot, hot, hot. It’ll be another six weeks minimum before it cools down here. Can’t wait!

    Reply
  9. Sheri says

    September 18, 2009 at 11:03 pm

    Your nights sound crisp and cool already! Fall is coming here too, I can feel it!

    I snap up the chemical-free pajamas at thrift stores whenever I find them. My oldest two kids sleeps in comfy sweats like your son, but my younger 3 kids still like their pj’s.

    Good for you for making do with what you have — I’m very impressed that you’ve been staying out of thrift stores since your move!

    Reply
  10. Shay says

    October 11, 2009 at 9:37 pm

    My 9 year old son has actually done science fair projects for years on this topic and found that the sweatshirt fabric actually reignites even after a flame is put out…so please be careful!

    Reply

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