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.
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.
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.
FEEDING
Bottles
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.
If you won’t be exclusively breastfeeding, you can use ourguideto 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.)
Blaynk Organic Burp Cloths
Blaynk Organic Burp Cloths
Bibs
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.)
Stasher Reusable Silicone Bags
Snack-size is the best bet for breastmilk storage.
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.
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 Crib Mattress Guide endeavors to make it simpler. Naturepedic is our top-pick for a comfortable, safe crib mattress.
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.
Stay sane,
Maia James
Note: This article contains affiliate links or sponsored content, which means that if you make a purchase, we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that meet our strict standards for non-toxicity and that we use (or want to use!) ourselves. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that make Good Stuff!
