Gatverdegatver. We can say that we did not have safe rubber ducks in the past. In fact, I didn't have them with my own children either. Too bizarre for words really. Make the bottles for the food sterile, but do not provide safe rubber ducks and other toys. Every mother who has ever thrown such a cheap yellow infusion in the bath with her baby, toddler and preschooler knows exactly what I mean. Rubber ducks that leave a filthy black dung in the bath!
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It's not rocket science and you don't have to be educated to do it. The rancidity that comes from the standard cheap rubber ducks that many mothers recognize with me.
Nevertheless, research has been done on this phenomenon. Because how rancid is that black drap? How many bacteria and fungi are there in those cute yellow ducklings floating around your baby? And how often does it happen?
That last question is easy to answer. Four out of five ducks appear to be 'infected' with the drap virus, as I'll just call it.
The number of bacteria in the water that flows from these not so safe rubber ducks is remarkably high. In some cases numbers were even measured as 75 million per square centimeter (!). Damn! The bacteria that were found include the Legionella bacteria and the hospital bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Of course, this concerns rubber ducks that are not safe to use. Safe rubber ducks that do not have a hole, for example, do not suffer from this, but more about that below.
The bacteria and fungus appear to mainly occur on cheap plastic rubber ducks that contain poor-quality polymers in the plastic. This is a breeding ground for the filthy black drap that you see, along with of course the soap residue and any urine and sweat.
The researchers don't dare to make a real statement about that yet. Apparently, more research is needed for this, because a little bacteria and fungus does not have to be so bad. Does it make them strong, remember?
But - even if it was years ago - I can still picture exactly how that plastic mess on the edge of the bath slowly got blacker and blacker. Until I couldn't stand it anymore and put them in the trash. Then no toys in the bath. And as you know… I am really not overprotective towards my children.
But the moment your child squeezes such a rubber duck and a cloud of gray water is added to the clean bath water, then you are actually too late as far as I'm concerned. Imagine your child sinking his teeth into it. Abominations!
I do say crudely 'then no toys in the bath', but it is of course super fun if your little one has something to splash around with. So I went looking for alternative safe rubber ducks. And guess what? There are plenty of safe rubber ducks available. Admittedly a bit more expensive than that yellow junk, but then you have something.
Hevea natural rubber comes from the tree of the same name Hevea Brasiliensis. Natural rubber from the Hevea tree comes from Malaysia and has the property that it can be easily broken down by micro-organisms. In addition, they ensure the replanting of rubber trees on the relevant plantations of these trees and investments are made in research for even more sustainability.
The rubber ducks made of this natural rubber are safe for children. They are BPA free, contain no dyes, are PVC free and without added additives. You give that to your baby, right? Furthermore, there are of course no holes at the bottom so that no water can be sucked into your rubber duck. This way they are not only safe for possible bacteria, but they can also be put in the mouth without the danger of toxic substances.
And besides, they're fun too!
<3 At Greenjump, for example, they have everything from the Hevea brand, including safe rubber ducks. Already available from € 9.00.
