Why and how to create a sleep space that supports your child’s growth, development and health
Getting the nursery ready is exciting and overwhelming — especially for first-time parents. Choking hazards removed, check. Theme, color scheme and registry, check. Nontoxic paints and materials, big check. Safe sleep space with low-electromagnetic fields (EMF) …wait, what?!
Creating a rejuvenating sleep space for your child is by far one of the most important things you can do to support their growth, development and health. Why? Sleep is the time when the body does its purging and repair at the cellular level. If there are high levels of EMFs the body activates the Cell Danger Response (CDR) which instructs our cells to stay “closed” thereby eliminating the ability to take out the cellular “trash”. Normally, this reaction protects us from harmful things in the environment getting deeper into our tissues but when the body is exposed on a chronic basis, oxidative stress builds-up without a chance to recover. This can lead to problems with cellular division, cancer, behavioral disorders, immune system dysfunction and poor sleep! In fact, radio frequencies and AC magnetic fields are both now classified as a Class 2B Carcinogens by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, same as lead, arsenic & asbestos.
Do you remember a time when you were sick, fatigued and needed more sleep? That fatigue can be a symptom of your body engaging to protect you via the CDR. The reason you feel fatigued is often that your body has shut down energy production and switched into defense mode. Removing environmental factors like unhealthy levels of EMFs helps a child’s body focus on rapid growth and cell division that is biologically normal.
Top 5 EMF Culprits:
1. Router/Modem – The wireless Wi-Fi signal is generally the highest radio frequency (RF) radiation source in the home, as much ~5,000X to 15,000X above the safe limit for a sleep space!
Option 1 : Ideally, hardwire your home with shielded Cat7 ethernet. You can eliminate Wi-Fi entirely by replacing wireless connections with wired alternatives for your devices.
Option 2: If you choose to keep Wi-Fi, locate the wireless router away from the sleeping areas, turn the 5GHz setting off so only the 2.4GHz is active, reduce the power of the 2.4GHz network to the lowest setting possible and turn the router off during sleep times using a remote outlet switch or timer. You can also shield the router to reduce the signal power if your router doesn’t have a power level setting.
2. Baby Monitor – After the router, a baby monitor is typically the second highest wireless source of RF radiation affecting a child’s sleep space – typically 2,500X to 5,000X above the safe limit. Partly because the signal is very strong and partly because it’s very close to their bed and body.
Option 1: Consider not using one. You may be surprised at how difficult it is to not hear your baby in the home when she needs something.
Option 2: Get a monitor that you can hardwire like the D-Link or use a wireless one sparingly. If you use a wireless one, place it as far away from the crib as possible and shield with a Signal Tamer or WaveCage Mini. Both the base station and one in the nursery likely need a shield, most now are two-way communication devices.
3. Sound Machine – Depending on the brand, these can produce ~500X more than the safe limit of AC magnetic fields when they are on. I recommend either the HoMedics or PICTEK models and be sure to distance these at least 3’ from the bed.
4. Cell Phones – Cell phones emit strong RF signals, so keep them 10’ or more away from the nursery or put them in airplane mode. This includes rooms that are next to the nursery because Wi-Fi/cell signals travel through most modern building materials such as drywall and windows.
5. Cords Near the Bed – Our bodies are great conductors since we’re ~60% water, so we attract and adsorb voltage from the environment. Stray AC electric voltage comes out of all electrical cords that are plugged in to a power outlet, even when they are off. Place all cords as far away from the crib as possible, ideally 10’ and at least 3’ away. This alone can reduce a child’s body voltage from the surrounding environment by at least half.
To Learn More:
Read the BioInitative’s Report 19 page Summary for the Public. This is the preeminent summary of known health impacts of EMFs, including Radio Frequency (RF) Radiation and AC Magnetic Fields on the human body. The 1,500-page report authored by an international panel of M.D. and Ph. D. scientists and physicians, analyzes +3,800 scientific, peer reviewed studies showing adverse health hazards of electromagnetic radiation, especially with children. Disturbing correlations have been discovered between electro-pollution and a host of diseases and disorders, including cancer, neurological diseases, respiratory diseases, behavioral disorders – ADD and autism, immune dysfunction, Blood-Brain Barrier permeability, reproductive failure & birth defects, chronic fatigue, insomnia, depression, headaches, muscle/joint pain, chronic inflammation and many more.
Check out the Building Biology Evaluation Guidelines for Sleeping Areas