Looking to Paint Our House...With a 15 Month Old

There is a special kind of paint you can get that is "eco-friendly." What that really means is that it is less toxic. It is a little more expensive, but it really made a difference in the room I painted. There were almost no fumes at all.
Good Luck!

Hi J.
Home Depot just came out with a paint That Is Green no fumes (my friend was not impressed with how it went O.K. but not great)

Also Sherman Williams has a great line of Low voc paint Little to no fumes also there a little more pricey I would definitely recommend them. There staff is also highly knowledgeable.
D. D
Interior Designer
Dream Catcher Designs

I had never heard of VOC when we painted, but someone suggested to add a tablespoon of vanilla to the j gallon to reduce the smell, It really helped.

C. W.
www.MyHomeCottageBiz.com
Supplemental Income Ideas for Families

I would just keep the windows open for a day and have her sleep in another room for a couple nights.

J. ,hello yes I would put then baby in another because the fumes could make her sick.
I am from Mainw,Where are you from?

Use no VOC paint by Pittsburgh, called Pure Performance

Any latex paint should be fine. The fumes don't last very long. (maybe 1 day). I would stay away from oil based paints because they take forever to dry and the fumes are really strong.

Hi J.-
There are a lot of paints out there now that are considered non-toxic, with low or no odor and that are both safe for the environment and for people. Mythic paint is one brand, and I know Benjamin Moore makes one, too. The pain should be a low VOC (volatile organic compound) paint. This should be totally safe for you and your toddler.

Good luck!
L. Brereton

I have just been using the low VOC Fresh Aire paint and it's been great. Hardly any odor. I definitely thought it was worth the extra $ for the low VOC. It's a big difference from traditional latex paint.

I have only one suggestion (someone else also posted it already).

Mythic Paint, well worth the price. You can have your 15 month old do the painting, that is how safe it is. You can paint even if you are pregnant. Even so called 'low VOC' paints will off gas for years (not days or months, but years).

You can also try www.freshairechoice.com, www.realmilkpaint.com, www.greenplanetpaints.com

Source: I am an interior designer and had my share of education and experience on sustainability and indoor air pollution.

Agree with the low or no VOC paint! SO MUCH better!

www.Mythicpaint.com

You can get it made up the same day in ACTON at ACE HARDWARE. They can copy any color. It is safe.

Also, as for painting with two little kids... I know FLAT is more traditional, but, I would recommend HIGH GLOSS in every room. Soooooo, easy to clean!

Good luck,
D.

Hi...While I understand your concern for your daughter and the paint fumes, my first inclination is to be more concerned about YOU and the paint fumes! You mentioned in your bio that you are expecting your 2nd child in December and it is a big no-no for a mommy-to-be to breathe in any type of paint fumes etc! So, if at all possible, I'd wait on the painting. I understand that it will be so much more difficult once child # 2 gets here but the safety of you and the baby on the way is crucial! If I'm correct, even non-toxic indoor water-based paint isn't a very good thing for you to be breathing in. If your home is set up in a way where you, baby to be and daughter can actually be cut off from certain parts of the house then I'd say go for it and paint one wing of the home 1st. After that, move on to the other half but make sure you do have plenty of ventilation. Do not participate in any sort of painting if you are pregnant so this may be tough on your hubby to take on all of that work alone. If you have the means to hire someone to paint then I'd recommend that...and get it all done quickly. If you could even stay somewhere else while this is going on then even better...but please safety first for you, daughter and baby-on-the-way!

Try Benjamin Moore.....they make a safer, lower order, paint...got this off their website for you: Benjamin Moore’s breakthrough new eco-friendly product, Natura, gives you a virtually odorless, zero VOC option, without sacrificing style or performance.
I'm sure this product is more expensive so maybe think about investing in it JUST for the baby's room.

I painted the inside of my house this summer and I only brought my daughter to daycare because she was crawling and into everything. My best friend brought her baby over while we painted because he was a "sit there" baby.

Latex paint really doesn't have "fumes". I had some windows open but it didn't smell strong at all. My husband came home for lunch and he's sensitive to things like that and he didn't say anything.

Start small and see for yourself. Have an outside person tell you if it's overwhelming or not then you'll know for sure. Maybe it varies paint to paint. We really had no fumes when we painted.

Congrats on your upcoming little one. Now would definitely be a good time to get it done! I had my 3rd in August and it took me 7 years and a week's vacation to get mine done! LOL :-)

Hi, I have seen a brand of paint called FreshAire, and it's sold at Home Depot. You can check out Freshairepaint.com for more info. I sound like an advertiser (I'm not!) but I hope this helps you! There are no VOC's in the paint which is what causes the fumes and all the bad stuff. Hope this helps!!

MYTHIC paint is your solution. non-toxic, low fumes, safe. I used it in my house and am so happy i did. Look it up online because it is hard to find. i bought mine at a harware store in allston.

Hi. You can purchase no VOC to low VOC paint. You can find this at Lows, the Paint Pot, and pretty much any other store that sells paint. Just ask someone.

Have fun

:)C.

Hi,

In March I was pregnant and my husband and brother in law painted the nursery and guest rooms. We used the low VOC (or was it no VOC?) paint from Sherwin Williams. It was a little more expensive than regular paint, but not nearly as much as the equivalent from Benjamin Moore. I believe that you can get it made in any of their colors. My brother in law has worked as a professional painter and he was very happy with the quality of the paint. I plan to use it or something like it any time we paint now.

There are healthier non-toxic options like milk paints, but from what I could find most of them you had to order online and I wanted to be able to buy it at the store and get more if need be.

We kept the doors to those bedrooms closed and had fans in the windows blowing the air out.

I agree with the person who said that she is more concerned about your unborn baby than your 14 month old. Would it be at all possible for the both of you to stay someplace else for a night or two? I would try to arrange it so the rooms were completely ready to paint (taped, walls washed, furniture in the middle of the room and covered) and then have your husband and a friend or two start painting early in the day so you can get it finished in one day or maybe two. That would mean finding another place for your daughter to sleep while you got it ready.

Doing it now (on a dry day) means that you can have the windows open and you can air out the house.

I would definitely not have you or your daughter sleep in the room the night it was painted.

Good luck and congratulations on your upcoming baby!

D.

They do make paint without any of the fumes. I think you can find it almost anywhere.

my husband is a painter and we have 3 babies so Im kind of a pro on the subject. Use latex and you will be fine. If we are painting kids rooms we usually send them off to Grandmas for the nite while we paint and then they are fine to sleep in their room the following nite. Keep windows open as you paint and you will be fine!

Buy paint with low VOCs (Volatile Organic Compound) and you don't have to worry. (Low Odor or Low VOC Paint, Zero VOC Paint, Non-Toxic or Natural Paint). Sherwin-Williams has a great one called Harmony. If you can find natural paints like Bio Shield (www.bioshieldpaint.com), Livos (www.livos.us), Auro (www.aurousa.com), and Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company (www.milkpaint.com), these are the safest.

Congratulations on your growing family! What wonderful news. Anyway, my husband recently painted our family room and did not tell me about anything different with the paint. After about a day he asked me how bad I thought the smell was. It was then that I realized that I should have been surprised NOT to smell anything. I can't believe it, but I hadn't even noticed that there were no fumes at all. He said that it was a new paint that he had found--don't really know how knew it is--and it was supposed to be odor-free. I can assure you that it is. Unfortunately, I do not remember the name/brand of the paint, but I do know for certain that he purchased it at Home Depot. It is definitely the way to go! (We have a 4 1/2 year old and a 20 month old.)

Hi J.,
I would definately have your daughter sleep in another room for atleast 2 nights after painting her room.
Good luck and have fun...it is sooo much fun to paint and decorate a toddler room.
~T.

hey!!
just a bit of insight from personal expierence..we just painted our entire home INSIDE with a wonderful NO VOC paint. its called MYTHIC..non toxic, no worries for anyone around it and comes in a variety of colors. We have a 10 month old who was either on my hip or next to me the entire time and i didnt have to worry. The website is great, and if you can find a dealer by you they usually sell it at a lower cost. Good luck with the project.
Blessings~

YES, have your daughter sleep in another room while the fumes subside a few days anyway & make sure you leave her windows open the whole time wide. But just make sure the room she will be sleeping in is also not newly painted.
Oh I see you are having another baby in December? You also should not be around the fumes at all! They advise pregnant woman to not even paint at all but if you have to then wear a very protective mask for fumes. If that were me I would wait until after the new baby is born and have both kids sleeping in another room while their rooms air out.

There are paints out there with low or no fumes. I know I saw it out there on one of those home improvement shows. Look for that and you should be fine.

Lowes sells paint that are zero VOC. just ask for it and look at back label for the nbr of voc, make sure it is zero with green seal label on it... the brand is olympic (sp?) and the paint gallon bucket color is yellow. i always buys it and the paint came out great after paint it.

I prefer ZERO VOC not low VOC.

no strong smell when u paint. i painted while my 2 mos daughter and son around.