Pulling together this list of all the non-toxic baby registry items a conscious parent could possible want was fun! Mostly, I’m struck by how much has changed since my last pregnancy–then again, it WAS 8 years ago! It almost makes me want to have another baby–almost.
To make sure I wasn’t missing any great new inventions (turns out, I totally was), I called upon my friend Stefanie Koenig, who is a conscious mom to Marlowe, 5, and Greta, 2.
Stef and I agreed on the following list of essential earth-friendly and toxin-free Good Stuff. We hope this helps you build a baby shower registry or just make sure you have everything you need for the final stage of pregnancy and early days of parenthood.
Stefanie with Marlowe and Greta
Some of the items below are available in our store (and I’m working on getting more there!), and otherwise I will include a link to where you can find them. In a few cases, if you purchase an item from our link we may earn a commission from Amazon or elsewhere.
By the way, if you’re creating a registry, we love MyRegistry.com, which makes it super easy to register from multiple stores rather than just one place.
So, without further ado, here’s what we think you need! I look forward to your comments and suggestions of other amazing Good Stuff for a new baby.
The big rule here is avoiding plastic, which can leach chemicals. Glass and stainless steel are our top choices, but silicone is also okay. We like the following three brands the best.
How many bottles do you need?
I barely used bottles because I exclusively breastfed and worked from home, so I asked Stef to weigh in to answer this. My key takeaways from our conversation are as follows:
- Newborns only drink 1-2 oz of breast milk/formula at a time so you want smaller bottles and the slowest flow nipple so they don’t choke while they eat.
- If you are exclusively formula-feeding, 5 or 6 small bottles would work, as long as you’re okay with washing some bottles throughout the day.
- If you are only supplementing with formula, 3 or 4 small bottles would be fine. (Having backsups is always nice.)
- When the baby starts drinking larger quantities, you need the bigger bottles that hold up to 8 oz and also need to switch your nipple to a higher level one, so they can get more liquid and won’t get frustrated. Again, you need 5 or 6 bottles for an exclusively bottle-fed baby, and 3 or 4 for a baby that’s also on the breast.
If you won’t be exclusively breastfeeding, you can use our guide to figure out which is the best formula for your situation. My top pick is Loulouka for almost everyone. Because you can’t know for sure which formula will best agree with your newborn’s stomach, I recommend starting with no more than 7 or 8 boxes.
Depending on how much your baby spits up (I had one prolific spitter and one who almost never did), you’ll probably go through between one and five burp cloths a day. If you want to do laundry twice a week, I’d have ten on hand to be safe. (You’ll find that you use them for many other messes, too.)
We recommend having 5-10 cloth bibs (sometimes I would put my babies in bibs just because of all the drool!), and two silicone bibs for when they start to eat solid foods.
Back when I was breastfeeding and pumping, the only option for storing pumped breast milk was in plastic bags. Now, you can avoid plastic entirely with these silicone solutions. (Depending on how much milk you want to store in your freezer, you’ll probably want between 6 and 10 bags of either.)
Snack-size is the best bet for breastmilk storage.
My babies never took to the pacifier, but I am not against them. Just make sure to choose paci is made of natural rubber like the one below.
When choosing dishes, plastic should again be avoided, but you clearly won’t be handing a toddler a glass bowl, either. For that reason, stainless steel and non-leaching silicone are two of my favorite materials for plates, bowls, and cutlery.
You won’t believe how quickly your baby switches from bottles to sippy cups (sometimes by 6 months!), and you’ll want to avoid sippies where liquid sits in–or baby sucks from–plastic. One plus to choosing a Pura baby bottle is that when it comes time to transition, you simply swap out the nipple top for the sippy or straw top, rather than buying an entirely new cup and tossing the old bottles. We also like the following sippy cups.
The safest high chairs are made of solid wood, and any plastic components should be free of BPA, phthalates, and polyurethane.
You’ll want to make sure that strollers and car seats contain no flame retardants or other problematic chemicals. (Our Car Seat Guide provides a review of many popular brands, and the following model from Clek is our favorite.)
Choose a crib and nursery furniture made of solid wood if possible, ideally with a no-VOC, nontoxic finish. Any of the dressers or changing tables from the following brands are also toxin-free, with the exception of the Ikea one.
Choosing a toxin-free mattress, whether for a crib or a King-sized bed, can be a confusing process, and our Safe Mattress Guide endeavors to make it simpler. Naturepedic is our top-pick for a comfortable, safe crib mattress.
Once again, Naturepedic is our top choice for a flame-retardant free changing pad.
Most mats for babies contain polyurethane foam. We chose CorkiMat as our top pick because it contains no polyurethane or flame retardants and comes encased in organic cotton.
Rugs are another place where you’ll often find flame retardant chemicals. Lorena Canals offers a large selection of machine-washable cotton rugs free of toxins. Below are a few of our favorite. (Make sure that the pad you put under the rug is made of 100% natural rubber rather than vinyl, which contains phthalates.)
Ideally, your baby will be clothed in only organic cotton. If you can’t find certified organic, then look for an Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certifictaion, which prohibits the use of dangerous dyes and other toxins. Castleware is a brand we trust across the board.
You’ll want to have at least three swaddles on hand, because your baby will inevitably pee through at least one each day. And you’ll find that you can never have enough cute organic blankets.
You’ll probably want a to stock a few sleep sacks, since babies will pee (or worse) through these, too!
Any of the laundry soaps in our Detergent Guide are toxin-free and safe for baby clothes. The following two brands are customer favorites.
I was certainly not a full-time cloth-diapering momma, but things have come a long way—if I had to do it again, I would absolutely give it a try!
If you’ll be a full-time, cloth-diapering mom, we recommend 24 inners and 6 outters. If you’ll be a part-time cloth diaperer, go with 12 inners and 4 outters. (Your baby will need to move up to Size 2 when she hits 18 pounds)
Use code GOODSTUFF*10* at checkout for 10% off everything at Esembly.
While this is designed for cloth diapers on the go, the large one could also used to line a diaper pail and reduce waste.
If you decide to use disposable diapers (even part time), our Diaper Guide can help you choose the most eco-friendly brands. Nest is a reader favorite.
We hope you’ll get addicted to the reusable variety, but you can register for several kinds and see which ones you like best.
Our Diaper Cream Guide will help you choose a toxin-free product for diaper rash relief. The following are our favorites.
Less is more when it comes to using skin or hair products on your baby. A simple bar of soap is the most eco-friendly choice, and lotion is really only necessary if your baby has dry skin. Organic coconut oil is multi-purpose essential.
You’ll almost certainly be gifted many books, including multiple copies of Good Night Moon. Here are a few other wonderful first book ideas.
Our Safe Toy Guide offers some guidelines for choosing toxin-free toys for children of all ages. What follows are some of our favorite toys and teethers for the youngest set.
My own breastfeeding experience was really tough, and I hope not one woman reading this goes through the same. If you have even a little discomfort, you’ll want a safe, soothing, toxin-free balm like my favorite from Green Goo.
New Pregnancy Resource
Unique Footprints is an online pregnancy program that teaches you everything you need to know for your entire pregnancy and early days of motherhood. It includes pregnancy meal planning, prenatal yoga, birth and postpartum prep, fetal brain development, breastfeeding, baby care, infant sleep and safety, and much more. Unique Footprints is made up of a team of nurses, dietitians, counselors, infant sleep coaches, lactation consultants, and yoga therapists. Use code GIMME THE GOOD STUFF at checkout for a 10% discount.
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View Comments
Thanks for this. Did you discover any nontoxic bassinets in your research? I’m struggling to find one. Also, thoughts on Holle formula? Interested to hear why you didn’t add it as your pick. Thanks!
Holle formula is definitely Good Stuff! I just think Loulouka is even better:).
You can read our reviews of all of them here: https://gimmethegoodstuff.org/safe-product-guides/safe-infant-formula-guide/
I’m curios about Dyper brand bamboo diapers and wipes. Do you have any info on that brand? Thank you kindly!
DYPER is good stuff! You can read our thoughts here: https://gimmethegoodstuff.org/safe-product-guides/disposable-diapers/
Generic Granite Car
Vermont
Paradigm
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Fantastic
Guam
You recommend Esembly’s cloth diapers. Is their detergent also good stuff?
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