I’ve had two babies now and if there’s one thing I pride myself on – it’s my research. Trust me moms and future moms, this is the ultimate non-toxic baby registry.
When I was pregnant, I must have searched for a combined 37 hours for non-toxic baby items to register for. I knew nothing. Flame retardants on the crib? Plastic in diapers? Toxins in baby lotion? I was overwhelmed. I wished someone would write every single thing I’d need, not the frivolous, useless, modern-day stuff (helllooo bouncers and insane light up toys!). So I decided to come up with the ultimate non-toxic baby registry – this is the exact article I wish I would’ve found when I was pregnant and trying to figure out what I’d need and the healthiest, safest products to buy for my baby.
There’s a lot of stuff out there and a lot of stuff you simply do not need. I am only including on my list things we actually use or are familiar with, majority of which I regularly use myself. This article does contain affiliate links, but none of these companies have paid me to feature their products. All of these opinions are my own and honest.
Here is my The Ultimate Non-Toxic Baby Registry
DIAPERING
While my son was in the NICU, they used Papmers brand diapers and wipes. These, combined with diarrhea from antibiotics gave him the worst diaper rash. It was bad, so bad that when I wiped his little butt, it bled. As soon as I brought it my own diapers and wipes, it cleared up within days.
My plan, like many moms, is to start out with regular diapers and then switch to cloth. Whether you choose disposable or cloth diapers, I’ve got ya covered.
Disposables
Cloth Diapers
Nora’s Nursery
Alvababy
1000LOVE
Wipes
Seventh Generation (subscribe and save for these, it saves so much money!)
Diaper Bags
I totally splurged on my diaper bag and I’m glad I did. I wanted to buy one amazing diaper bag that I’d use forever, as opposed to several diaper bags. This one is stylish, it’s functional and I love it.
For more moderately priced but still adorable diaper bags, I love these.
From L–>R: Hip Cub Diaper Bag, Danha Diaper Bag, Kidnid Diaper Bag, Skip Hop Diaper Bag
Diaper Pails
This diaper pail contains smells and is convenient.
NURSING + PUMPING + FEEDING
I pumped for seven months, every two to three hours. I also breastfed, but my son needed medicine in bottles so we ended up mostly bottle-feeding him. This gave me a lot of experience with both breastfeeding and pumping. First, get yourself some nursing tanks and bras.
I used this nursing pillow.
Definitely get yourself some organic nipple butter. Your nipples can thank me later.
As for pumping, I rented a hospital grade pump from our hospital for $85 a month. It’s about $2,000 to purchase. I needed this because I was pumping long-term with my son in the NICU and needed every last drop. I’ve been told these pumps are amazing.
I recommend pumps even if you plan to just offer baby the boobs because maybe you’ll want some wine one night, maybe you’ll be away from baby for a few hours, etc. And you should feed or pump every three hours to keep your supply up.
Now, get some storage bags to store that pumped milk. AVOID LANSINOH BAGS. They’re the worst. They leak. I bought quite a bit of donor milk to supplement my stash and I’d say a solid 20% of those bags leaked. I used these bags exclusively and never had a problem.
I registered for nursing pads but I never really needed them. I leaked if I went without pumping for too long and leaked in my sleep overnight, but I never leaked enough to warrant nursing pads – just FYI. I will skip them next time.
Avent bottles are my favorite.
Four ounce bottles to start with. I have twelve of these.
Nine ounce bottles for when the baby is older. I have four of these.
And then I just had bottles everywhere. I now use this bottle organizer neatly store and organize my bottles, pacifiers, etc.
I also have this breastmilk cooler. It’s perfect for storing milk on trips, when we’re out and about and overnight. We just bring it up to our bedroom and when Ev is hungry, we have a bottle or two ready. We warm it by putting it in a bowl of warm water but we pretty quickly realized our kid did not care at all if his milk was warm or cold.
I didn’t register for things like a high chair or baby food storage because I thought I’d have SO much time before we got to that stage. WRONG. It goes by so quickly so I recommend registering for these things.
Non-toxic high chair that is also a simple black and white, which I love.
Puree your baby food and freeze in this tray.
Pop out your frozen baby food and store in these bags.
Don’t forget those wooden baby spoons!
Get some bibs too. Babies are messy little people.
OUT AND ABOUT
Britax
I agonized about strollers. Which could I travel with? Which could attached to a car seat base and back to the stroller? Which was the safest? Which wasn’t made using chemicals and flame retardants?
It came down to two options.
The first and the one I ended up going with, somewhat regretfully, is the Britax. A few years ago, Britax was voted one of the most toxic baby brands. Since then they’ve undergone a lot of changes to transition to non-toxic. They’re safe, affordable and have great reviews.
So I got the car seat and stroller combo.
It works well, it’s non-toxic, it’s functional. No complaints really.
Uppababy
Uppababy is kind of the ultimate stroller + car seat combo. In retrospect, I wish I’d splurged and gotten it or asked friends to go in on it together for a shower gift. The Britax is just fine, but I’ve just heard so may amazing things about Uppababy. Every mom I’ve talked to who’s used it raves about it, and several moms told me they ended up upgrading to Uppababy. Not to mention that it fits multiple kids, so if you plan on having more children in quick succession, it may end up saving you money in the long run.
Uppababy is non-toxic and incredibly safe. You can get the stroller and bassinet combo, the carseat or the stroller, bassinet and carseat combo in one (I recommend this one).
I LOVE our car seat cover. Great when it’s cold or rainy (though it’s not water proof) and breezy enough for summertime.
The Ergo 360 is the ultimate baby carrier in my opinion. I ordered a Moby as well but I won’t link to it here because I honestly just didn’t love it.
BATH + BODY
We use this bathtub for Ev but there are so many, I’m by no means saying this is the best. Half the time I just wash him with me while I’m in the shower. Actually I do this most of the time.
Body products for babies are SO incredibly important. Many, like Johnson & Johnson’s use toxic, harsh ingredients. They’re garbage. Opt for these instead because whatever is applied to the skin will be absorbed by the body. Best not to load our babies up with toxins.
We use Dr. Bronner’s baby soap.
As well as Earth Mama Angel Baby Shampoo + Body wash.
Followed up by EMAB body lotion.
And for their little butts, especially if they have irritation – bottom balm.
You can buy baby towels, but we found them to be extremely unnecessary. We wrap Bubba up in one of our regular towels.
NURSERY + CO-SLEEPING
I opted for a non-toxic crib, we went with this one, which is GreenGuard Gold certified and turns into a toddler bed. Don’t forget the organic mattress, organic crib sheet and organic mattress pad cover to go with it!
I got this vintage-looking dresser, which I love.
And on that I put the changing pad, which goes with this organic cover.
You will also need a glider. I was gifted one but you can check a bunch of them out here. Additionally, you will need some baby hangers and closet organizers for the multitude of baby clothes you will inevitably purchase and be gifted.
I only recently purchased a baby monitor since Ev napped on the first floor (which isn’t a good place to nap – sunlight) and slept in our bed. I searched high and low for low EMF baby monitors and just opted for one that didn’t connect to Wifi to avoid all that. This is fine and works for us.
As for co-sleeping, we were comfortable with Everett sleeping in bed with us. We purchased this bassinet, which he hated and has slept in maybe twice. It may be great for other babies, but it wasn’t great for us.
Instead he slept in-between us in this co-sleeper bed. Which to this day he LOVES. He’s too big for it and his feet poke over the bottom, but he still loves to sleep in it because he feels so snuggled and cozy. We chose the Snuggle Me Organic over the Dock A Tot and I’m happy with that decision.
CLOTHING
I had no idea what to buy or how much of it. This was one of the hardest parts for me. Here is what I estimate you need (keep in mind the season your baby is born in – you will need a lot more cold weather clothes if bringing baby home in winter).
Overnight onesies, like these, about six newborn and four 0-3 months. Kids grow fast!
About eight newborn onesies and four 0-3 months onesies.
You’ll definitely need pants, more if it’s cold. I’d say start with three or four pairs of 0-3 months, which usually fit newborns just fine.
T-shirts! Carter’s has cute t-shirts like these. I have about four for each age.
A couple pairs of shorts, like these.
Baby socks – they might hate socks like mine son. But you still need ’em. Just get a set. You don’t need too many.
And a few hats, especially if it’s cold. I love this hat for a little lady! If it’s sunny, you will need hats like this to keep the sun out of baby’s eyes.
While not technically clothes, I can’t believe how much we used blankets. For swaddling while napping, for covering baby when we were out and about, for burp clothes, etc. I actually use blankets for burp cloths because they’re so much bigger! I’d say get about 4-6 blankets.
Because babies are not supposed to sleep alone and unsupervised with a swaddle, get a few sleep sacks. We had one newborn and two 0-3 months, and not have a couple 6-12 months. This is what baby should actually be sleeping in.
Optional: I have a problem with buying a lot of cute things from Carter’s that my son doesn’t actually need and I didn’t link to here. You will most likely develop this issue as well.
MOM ESSENTIALS
- wine
- date nights
- bubble baths
- massages
Trust me. Wine because you haven’t had it for nine months and it’s delicious. Date nights because it’s easy to get wrapped up in all things baby. Go out on a date with your husband! Bubble baths to relax after baby is asleep or when your husband is watching baby. Massages because your shoulders and neck will get SO tense and knotted from constantly holding baby, looking down at baby, picking baby up and breastfeeding baby.
Also consider doing an organic meal service like Sun Basket to have easy meals delivered right to you. Have husband make them. Or stock up on freezer meals.
TOYS
Because my son was born so early, we saw A LOT of specialists. All of them recommended avoiding things like bouncers, walkers, light up toys, toys that light up and play music, basically anything that needed a battery. I was told to opt for the old school toys, like wooden toys. These are the toys that promote fine motor skills and do not overstimulate baby.
We are pretty minimalist with toys and with baby stuff in general. We have a lot, but we’re not overwhelmed by it and our house hasn’t been taken over.
We have wooden maracas my son adores, similar to these. We just have two.
This rattle and teether in one.
This is definitely one of his favorites.
He loves his molecules! That’s what we call them.
MY FAVORITES
Baby Bjorn bouncy chair. No batteries or lights or sounds. All that sh*t is unnecessary and overstimulating to baby. He loved this when he was six pounds and loves it at sixteen pounds. It’s great to put him in while I do dishes or cook dinner!
Saline. To dislodge boogers, to help flush out snot.
This is the BEST nasal aspirator. I’ve tried to Nose Frida and the bulb syringe. I don’t know how anyone even likes those. This one is so incredibly effective at removing snot AND it comes with the best baby nail clippers! Both of them are my absolute faves.
White noise machine – this plays nature sounds, is cheap and works so well to cover up outside noise that could wake Everett up!
Shusher – basically a portable white noise machine. It literally just makes shushing sounds. It helps keep Ev asleep and block our noise, like when he’s asleep in restaurants. I love bringing it with us for that purpose and it’s small so it takes up hardly any room in my diaper bag.
Pacifiers – for obvious reasons.
Activity mat – my son loves this and it’s perfect for tummy time.
Lastly, the Snuza is my absolute favorite item because it provides me peace of mind. Even though I know my son doesn’t need it, just the fact that he was born so early and had such a rough road in the NICU, it just makes me feel better. It’s basically an apnea monitor. It attaches to the front of the diaper and there’s a censor that lays against baby’s tummy. It alarms if it doesn’t sense the up and down movement of baby breathing. We’ve only ever had a few false alarms when it comes detached or is no longer flush with my son’s stomach.
We also have the Owlet, but I kind of hated it to be honest. It alarmed ALL night, not because it was actually going off but because Everett would either kick it off or even though it was securely on his foot, it would say it couldn’t pick up a heart rate or oxygen saturation. This happened at least 3-5 times a night, just going off because it couldn’t accurately sensor. It was SO annoying – and terrifying. So, the Snuza is my favorite. Everett doesn’t need it, but it makes me feel better.
What else? I’m sure I’m forgetting something. What would you add to this list?
