After so many years of caring about our food, what we cook with, the products we use in our home, what we put on our bodies, how we move, and generally trying to reduce unnecessary exposures where it feels reasonable, it was only natural that some of those same priorities would follow me into preparing for a baby.

And there is a lot you can research, it’s quite overwhelming.

Crib mattresses, furniture finishes, flame retardants, car seats, diapers, wipes… The list goes on and on, and if you are someone who likes researching this stuff, you could quite literally make preparing for a baby a full-time job.

I don’t want to do that and I also don’t want this article to leave another expecting mom feeling like everything in her house is poisoning her baby or like she needs a $10,000 registry to be a good parent.

My goal is not to create a perfectly “non-toxic” bubble around our baby, because I don’t think such a thing realistically exists. I’m trying to reduce exposures that are reasonably avoidable, prioritize simpler and more natural materials where they make sense, spend more on the things that matter most to me, and then live our lives :)

This also isn’t intended to be the non-toxic baby registry. It’s my lower-tox registry: the standards I’ve personally decided matter to me, the places I’m willing to compromise, the places I’m willing to spend more, and the products that ultimately made sense for our family and our budget.

And I should probably make one other thing very clear before we go any further: I am a first-time mom. I have done a lot of research, but I have raised exactly zero babies at the time of writing this article. There is a very real possibility that a year from now I look back at this registry and think why on earth did you think you needed that?

There are absolutely more minimalist approaches to preparing for a baby than the one you’re about to see. Some families start with a safe place for baby to sleep, some diapers, a few clothes and feeding essentials and figure out everything else as they go. There is a lot to be said for that approach!

I am just not naturally that person! I like being prepared, researching things ahead of time, having what I think I’ll need before I need it, and if given the opportunity to make a spreadsheet comparing eight versions of the same baby product, I will.

So think of this registry as my version of doing a little extra. Some of these things may become absolute staples and some may turn out to be completely unnecessary so if you’re also a first time mom, don’t automatically think you need everything. Some of my opinions will probably change once there is an actual baby here giving me very immediate feedback about what works and what doesn’t, and I’ll share that too.

For now, what I can tell you is what I’ve researched, what I’m prioritizing, why certain materials and certifications matter to me, and what I’ve ultimately chosen based on the information I have right now. So steal whatever is helpful, ignore whatever isn’t, and please don’t read this as another list of things you now need to worry about as a mom, that’s the opposite of what I want it to be.

How I decided what was actually worth caring about

Once I realized how far down this rabbit hole I could go, I needed some sort of hierarchy. Because technically, I could obsess over the material composition of every sock, stuffed animal and storage basket that enters our home. But not everything will meaningfully change our baby’s overall environment.

Instead, I started thinking about exposure, frequency and function. Here are some questions you can ask yourself when making decisions:

1. How much time will baby spend with this?

   A crib mattress that baby may eventually spend 10+ hours a day sleeping on gets a lot more scrutiny from me than a decorative basket sitting on a shelf. The same goes for pajamas, sheets, diapers, car seats and other things that may be used for hours at a time. The more prolonged and repetitive the contact, the more I care about what the item is made from.

2. Is it directly against baby’s skin?

   Baby skin is going to be in almost constant contact with something: diapers, clothing, pajamas, sleep sacks, sheets, blankets, carriers, towels, so that makes textiles one of my bigger priorities. When I can choose cotton, organic cotton, wool, linen or another natural fiber instead of polyester or another synthetic, that is what I’m choosing.

3. Will baby put it in their mouth, eat from it or drink from it?

   From what I’ve heard and learned, babies explore the world with their mouths, so this category automatically gets more attention from me. Bottles, pacifiers, teethers, food-storage containers, dishes and feeding products are places where I strongly prefer materials such as glass, stainless steel, a good ceramic, natural rubber and high-quality food-contact silicone rather than plastic. And especially when heat is involved, I avoid plastic food-contact products. Certain chemicals used in plastics, including BPA and some phthalates, are endocrine-active, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) specifically notes that heating food or drinks in plastic containers can increase transfer of plastic-associated chemicals.

4. Is there an easy lower-exposure alternative?

   This is one of the biggest filters I use. If I can buy fragrance-free detergent instead of fragranced detergent, why wouldn’t I? If I can buy glass instead of plastic, I will. I’m not interested in making our lives wildly inconvenient for a microscopic theoretical improvement. But when the swap is simple, I make it.

5. What exposures am I most interested in reducing?

   Not every environmental exposure has the same evidence behind it or the same potential consequence, so I’m not treating everything equally. The things I’ve paid the most attention to include:

   1. intentionally added chemical flame retardants

   2. PFAS and unnecessary stain/water-resistant treatments

   3. fragrance

   4. VOC emissions and formaldehyde

   5. plastics, particularly for food and mouth contact

   6. lead and other heavy metals

   7. heavily treated or synthetic textiles

   8. unnecessary ingredients in skincare and household products

6. How much more does my preferred option cost?

   And then reality enters the chat. Sometimes I will absolutely pay more, or I’ll find the expensive option secondhand. And sometimes the “better” material option is surprisingly the same price, or even cheaper. And then sometimes I’ll decide that moving from a very good option to the theoretical best option costs hundreds of extra dollars for a difference that simply isn’t high enough on my priority list. So yeah my goal isn’t perfect everything, it’s being very intentional about the things I care most about and not wasting money where I don’t think the upgrade matters enough.

The materials I gravitate toward

Wool

I love wool for baby products where its natural properties are useful!!! If I could make my entire baby registry wool, I would. But alas, let’s be reasonable. Wool is generally one of the more expensive natural material options.

It’s probably because wool is naturally insulating and moisture-managing and can work beautifully in sleep sacks, mattress components, diaper covers and blankets.

It’s also naturally resistant to ignition compared with many synthetic fibers, which is one reason wool can be useful in products designed without added chemical flame retardants! I did select a few wool items that I hope to purchase, these are certainly on my “wish list” instead of my “essentials list”.

Organic cotton

I especially prioritize it for high-contact products like:

• sheets

• pajamas

• swaddles

• sleep sacks

• blankets

• towels

• everyday clothing

Organic cotton starts with cotton grown under organic agricultural standards, but the processing after harvest matters too, which is why something like GOTS certification means more to me than the words “organic cotton” alone.

Conventional 100% cotton

However… I’m also completely happy buying plenty of regular 100% cotton. This is actually one of the places my budget philosophy comes in.

If a basic cotton bodysuit is $8 and the organic version is $40, there will absolutely be some $8 cotton bodysuits in my baby’s drawer. Sorry I just can’t justify a bunch of $40 pajamas that baby will size out of in a few months.

I’d rather have 100% conventional cotton than spend dramatically more just to make every single garment organic.

Perhaps something useful to help you decide here: what is the lifespan of the product in question? If it’s something like sheets, where it’ll last 9-12 months for baby’s bed size, I’d go with organic. If it’s a footie pajama set in size 3-6 month, I’d likely go for the regular, conventional cotton and just wash it prior to use.

Linen

Natural flax fiber that is durable, breathable and lovely. I’m not hunting down linen baby everything, but if I find it in a product that makes sense, great.

Hemp

Another durable natural plant fiber that you’ll sometimes see alone or blended with cotton. Again: not something baby needs, but absolutely within the material family I like.

Silk

Natural protein fiber and is beautiful. Not necessary for my newborn to survive infancy, but it’s worth mentioning as a “good” option.

Solid wood

My favorite furniture/toy material when practical, but with wood I still look beyond the headline:

1. What species/material is it?

2. Is it actually solid wood?

3. What is it finished with?

4. Is it painted?

5. What adhesives are involved?

6. Has the finished product been emissions tested?

Glass

One of my favorite food-contact materials. It’s inert, doesn’t require plasticizers like phthalates, and works particularly well for bottles and food storage. The obvious downside is breakability and weight, so we’ll see where it makes sense in actual life… but it’s generally 100% worth it to me and an easy plastic swap.

Stainless steel

Durable, long-lived, easy to clean and another material I like for food and feeding applications.

Food-contact silicone

I prefer products from established manufacturers using silicone intended for food-contact or medical-type applications, and I mainly use it where its flexibility actually gives it an advantage. I personally don’t prioritize silicone as a surface for heating food when glass works.

Natural latex

This is particularly relevant in mattresses. For products advertised as organic natural latex, GOLS certification is one thing to look for (more on this later).

Bamboo viscose/rayon

This one deserves its own explanation because “bamboo” sounds much more straightforward than it actually is. Most of the incredibly soft bamboo baby clothing you’ll see isn’t simply bamboo fiber woven into fabric. It’s usually viscose or rayon made from bamboo cellulose, which requires significant processing to turn the plant material into the finished fiber. Because of that, I personally don’t put bamboo viscose in the same category as cotton, wool, linen or hemp. I’m not necessarily avoiding it altogether and I’m sure some bamboo pieces will make their way into our house, but when I’m intentionally choosing between a 100% cotton sleeper and a bamboo-viscose sleeper, I generally prefer the cotton. If I do choose bamboo viscose, certifications such as OEKO-TEX can give me additional information about testing of the finished textile.

What I’m specifically avoiding and why

This is where I think it helps to understand what we’re actually talking about rather than simply looking for a “non-toxic” label, because “non-toxic” itself isn’t a standardized certification. Here are the major things I looked for while building our registry.

PFAS and unnecessary stain/water-resistant treatments

PFAS are another category I actively try to avoid. These chemicals have been widely used because they can create useful properties like resistance to water, oil and stains. Unfortunately, certain PFAS are extremely persistent, hence the nickname “forever chemicals”, and research has associated exposure to some PFAS with effects involving development, immune function, reproduction, hormones and certain cancers. There are thousands of PFAS, and the evidence is not identical for every compound, but this is still a category I would rather reduce where possible.

So I look carefully at anything marketed as:

stain resistant
water resistant
waterproof
spill proof
antimicrobial

That doesn’t mean those features automatically equal PFAS. There are other ways to make materials waterproof or stain resistant, but it means I want to know how the manufacturer achieved it.

Fragrance

I avoid added fragrance in the products I’m buying for baby (and myself, generally). This includes things like:

• baby wash

• lotions

• diaper products

• wipes

• laundry detergent

• household cleaning products

“Fragrance” can represent a mixture of scent ingredients rather than one single substance, and phthalates are among the chemical classes that can be used in fragrances and personal-care products. Some fragranced products also emit VOCs, and fragrance exposure can trigger symptoms in sensitive individuals, including some people with asthma.

For me, the calculation here is ridiculously simple: what benefit does adding fragrance to my newborn’s laundry detergent or body wash provide?

Basically none, so it’s gone. I’d rather my baby smell like... my baby :)

And I distinguish fragrance-free from merely unscented when I’m shopping. “Unscented” can sometimes mean scent has been masked rather than that fragrance ingredients are entirely absent, so I look at the actual formulation when it matters.

VOCs and indoor air emissions

VOC stands for volatile organic compound, which describes a broad group of compounds that can evaporate into the air. They can be emitted from things like:

• paints

• varnishes

• furniture

• flooring

• adhesives

• pressed-wood products

• cleaning products

• mattresses

• finishes

EPA notes that many VOC concentrations are higher indoors than outdoors and that some VOCs can cause eye or respiratory irritation, headaches, nausea and other effects; toxicity varies enormously depending on the specific compound and dose.

This is why I care more about emissions from a crib, dresser, mattress or large piece of nursery furniture than from every tiny object entering our house. It’s also why GREENGUARD Gold comes up frequently in my registry.

I’m not using it as shorthand for “perfectly non-toxic.” I’m using it for exactly what it is useful for: additional information about chemical emissions from a finished product.

And one interesting thing I learned is that even a generic “low VOC” claim doesn’t necessarily tell you everything about indoor-air safety. EPA specifically notes that VOC definitions and labeling can be complicated and that low total VOC content does not automatically mean every chemical emitted by a product is harmless.

So once again, the actual certification and what was tested matter more than the buzzword.

Intentionally added chemical flame retardants

Chemical flame retardants have historically been added to polyurethane foam, textiles and other materials used in furniture and children’s products. Different flame retardants have different toxicological profiles, so I don’t think it is accurate to lump every one of them together as though they’re identical. But there is enough concern around several major classes that, where manufacturers can make compliant baby products without intentionally adding them, that is what I choose.

NIEHS notes that research on various flame-retardant chemicals has raised concerns involving endocrine and thyroid disruption, reproductive toxicity, immune effects, cancer, and fetal/child development and neurobehavior. Children can also experience proportionally greater exposure than adults because of their developing bodies, floor-level play and hand-to-mouth behavior.

So when I’m looking at mattresses, car seats, strollers, nursing furniture and other upholstered baby products, I specifically look for companies that disclose whether they use intentionally added chemical flame retardants.

If they’re added, I’m choosing the alternative without it.

And one important distinction: flame resistant does not automatically mean chemical flame retardants were added. Products can meet applicable fire-safety requirements through their materials and construction, which is why I look for disclosure from the manufacturer rather than assuming based on a marketing word.

Formaldehyde, glues and engineered wood

This became especially important while shopping for nursery furniture.

A product can say WOOD in giant letters on the website and still contain MDF, particleboard, fiberboard, veneers, resins, adhesives and coatings. That doesn’t automatically make every piece of engineered wood dangerous, but it does mean I want to know what I’m buying.

Formaldehyde can be emitted from some building materials, furniture and composite-wood products, particularly when items are newer. EPA evaluates formaldehyde in indoor air because of both irritation and longer-term health concerns, and new materials can be meaningful indoor sources.

So when I’m comparing furniture, I pay attention to:

• solid wood vs. MDF/particleboard

• adhesives and resins

• finishes

• formaldehyde-specific claims or testing

• emissions certifications such as GREENGUARD Gold

My ideal is straightforward: less engineered material + fewer adhesives + simpler finish + low emissions.

Whether I actually choose the absolute ideal will depend on the category and price, which you’ll see when we get into the registry.

Plastics

This is another category I’m intentionally reducing. My strongest preference is to avoid plastic where baby will eat from it, drink from it, chew on it or where it will routinely be heated.

That means I gravitate toward:

• glass bottles

• glass food storage

• stainless steel feeding products

• natural-rubber teethers

• silicone where it serves a useful purpose

Plastic isn’t one material. It’s a huge family of materials with different additives and properties, and some chemicals historically or currently associated with plastics, such as BPA and certain phthalates, can interact with the endocrine system. NIEHS specifically recommends reducing avoidable plastic exposures and notes that chemical migration can be greater when food or drinks are heated in plastic.

Synthetic and semi-synthetic textiles

For the clothing, bedding, pajamas, blankets and other textiles I’m purchasing, I will prioritize natural fibers.

My favorites are:

• organic cotton

• cotton

• wool

• linen

• hemp

Polyester, acrylic and nylon are synthetic polymer fibers, which are plastic-based fibers, and synthetic textiles are a documented source of microplastic fibers during wear and laundering. What those exposures mean for human health at ordinary textile levels is still an evolving area of research, so I can’t say that a polyester sleeper is proven to harm your baby.

But I also don’t need that level of proof in order to say: when cotton is available, I’d rather put my baby in cotton.

For semi-synthetic cellulose fabrics such as viscose/rayon, modal and lyocell, my concern is somewhat different. They begin with plant cellulose but undergo substantial chemical processing to become fiber. I don’t personally put them in exactly the same category as petroleum-based polyester, but they still aren’t what I’m prioritizing when a simple natural-fiber option exists.

This is also an area where fiber content and chemical certification are separate questions. A polyester garment can be OEKO-TEX certified. While that tells me something useful about tested substances, it doesn’t suddenly make polyester cotton…

Lead and other heavy metals

Lead is a hard no for children’s products. Children are particularly vulnerable to lead because their brains and nervous systems are developing, and lead exposure can impair cognition, behavior and development. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulates lead content in children’s products for exactly that reason.

This is one reason I’m cautious with:

• old painted furniture

• vintage toys

• antique nursery decor intended for actual child use

• cheap jewelry

• questionable imported products from sellers where I can’t establish the manufacturer or testing standards

I love secondhand shopping, but vintage is not automatically better simply because it’s old and made of wood.

A recent solid-wood dresser secondhand might be a different story, but a peeling painted crib from 1964… We should potentially just admire her from afar.

Skincare and personal-care products

For products going directly onto baby’s skin, the philosophy should be “start with less”. I don’t see a reason to build a giant skincare collection before I’ve even met my baby’s skin!

So I’m focusing on a handful of products with simple formulations for situations where I actually expect to need them, rather than buying a separate cream, balm, oil, powder, spray and wash for every theoretical problem.

As mentioned, I prioritize:

• fragrance-free

• straightforward ingredient lists

• products from reputable manufacturers

• formulas appropriate for infant skin

• avoiding unnecessary antimicrobial ingredients or treatments

What all these certifications really mean

Once you start shopping for lower-tox baby products, you encounter an alphabet soup of labels, such as GOTS! GOLS! FSC! OEKO-TEX! GREENGUARD! EWG! MADE SAFE!

And it becomes really easy to see a certification logo and mentally translate it into: “this product is non-toxic”, but that’s not actually how certifications work.

Most certifications answer only one specific question. So the question I’ve learned to ask isn’t “is this certified?” It’s: WHAT did this certification actually certify?

You definitely don't need to memorize all of these, but these are the ones I found myself encountering most often while building our baby registry.

1. OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100

This is very different from GOTS. OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 tests finished textile products and their components against limits for a large list of substances. Product Class 1 is intended for babies and young children and has the strictest requirements within the STANDARD 100 system.

A polyester garment can be OEKO-TEX certified, and so can a cotton garment. That is because OEKO-TEX isn’t primarily asking “is this natural?”

It’s asking whether the tested components meet its limits for the substances included in the standard.

What it tells you: useful information about chemical testing of the finished textile/components.

What it does not tell you: that the fiber is organic or natural.

2. GREENGUARD Gold

This one matters particularly for:

• cribs

• dressers

• mattresses

• gliders

• furniture

• other large products living inside our home

GREENGUARD Gold is primarily an emissions certification. Use it to help answer “what is this finished product releasing into the indoor air?”

That is valuable, but a GREENGUARD Gold crib could still contain engineered wood. A certified mattress can still contain synthetic materials. A certified chair can still contain materials I wouldn’t have chosen in my theoretical perfect chair. So keep this in mind, and use it to help sort your priorities.

What it tells you: the finished product met the program’s chemical-emissions requirements.

What it doesn’t tell you: that the product is organic, natural, plastic-free or made exclusively from solid wood.

3. GOTS: Global Organic Textile Standard

This is one of the certifications to care about most when specifically shopping for organic textiles.

GOTS goes beyond verifying that an agricultural fiber originated from organic farming. It also establishes requirements for processing textiles made with certified organic fibers, including restrictions on a range of chemical inputs and environmental and social criteria throughout certified processing.

For things like crib sheets, clothing, swaddles, towels and blankets, that’s much more informative to me than a generic marketing claim that something is “made with organic cotton.”

What it tells you: meaningful information about organically produced and processed textiles.

What it doesn’t tell you: that every GOTS-certified textile is something you need to buy.

4. GOLS: Global Organic Latex Standard

GOLS is relevant when specifically looking at organic natural latex. You’ll see it most commonly in mattresses.

It provides requirements around certified organic natural-rubber material and processing through the supply chain.

What it tells you: useful verification when a manufacturer is claiming organic natural latex.

5. FSC: Forest Stewardship Council

FSC is about forests and wood sourcing. It provides chain-of-custody systems and standards intended to support responsibly managed forestry. That’s valuable to me, but FSC is not an indoor-air or chemical-emissions certification.

An FSC-certified wood component can still be incorporated into furniture using resins, glues, MDF, finishes or other materials.

What it tells you: information about responsible sourcing of forest-based material.

What it doesn’t tell you: whether the finished crib contains adhesives, formaldehyde, VOC-emitting finishes or engineered wood.

6. MADE SAFE

MADE SAFE is more directly focused on ingredient and material screening.

Its program screens products against its restricted/prohibited substance criteria and toxicological framework, which makes it particularly interesting to me for some personal-care and household-product categories.

What it tells you: that the certified product passed MADE SAFE’s ingredient/material screening criteria.

That said, it isn’t available on every type of product, so I would not make it a requirement across the registry.

7. EWG VERIFIED

You’ll see EWG VERIFIED on certain personal-care, cleaning and consumer products. EWG applies ingredient restrictions and transparency criteria to products that earn the mark.

Consider it useful additional information when comparing baby skincare or household products, while still looking at the actual formulation yourself.

There are plenty of other useful certifications, too

These seven are not the only legitimate certifications out there. You might encounter more specific testing or certifications, for example, formaldehyde-related testing/certification on furniture or mattresses. Those can absolutely be useful when that’s the particular concern you’re investigating.

If you encounter an unfamiliar one, look it up and ask: Who issues it? What exactly are they testing or verifying? Does that actually answer the question I care about for this product?

And marketing claims are NOT certifications

“Dermatologist recommended.”
“Pediatrician approved.”
“Clean.”
“Natural.”
“Non-toxic.”

Those phrases are not automatically interchangeable with independent third-party testing or certification. MANY products that I personally wouldn’t choose could still have something like “pediatrician approved” slapped on the marketing somewhere.

So essentially, read beyond the front of the package.

Don’t collect certifications, understand them.

This is probably the most useful thing I learned while doing all of this. Try to match the certification to the question you’re actually asking. If I’m shopping for organic sheets, GOTS gives me useful information. If I want finished-textile chemical testing, OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 answers a different question. If I’m evaluating a crib, mattress or glider and care about indoor-air emissions, GREENGUARD Gold becomes useful.

No single certification translates to “perfectly non-toxic.”

The point is simply to understand what information a certification gives you, decide whether that information actually matters for the product you’re buying, and then look at the whole product (materials, construction, ingredients, testing and intended use) rather than relying on one little logo to make the decision for you.

How I kept this from becoming a $10,000 baby registry (maybe?)

Now for the other half of this conversation: money.

My strategy has essentially been: spend where exposure + use + longevity make the upgrade meaningful to me. Save where it doesn’t.

A mattress could potentially be slept on every night and eventually be used for multiple children, so I’m willing to spend more. But a cute 100% organic cotton decorative basket may not be worth the extra $$$.

You can also be open to buying things secondhand to help with budget. Baby items are often used for such short windows that Marketplace, resale stores and secondhand sites are full of barely used products. Babylist even has a secondhand section. GoodBuy Gear is another option, as is the Swoondle Society for clothes. (Note: when looking into this, I read that it is not recommended to buy car seats, cribs, and mattresses used, apparently).

I’m also planning to experiment with cloth diapering alongside disposables because I have heard that cloth diapering can lead to meaningful savings overtime. I am not committing to never using disposables (and I found a disposable I’m okay with). But I do list both on my registry since I plan to try the 50/50 hybrid method and want to be prepared.

I’m also trying to remind myself that sometimes the cheapest and simplest lower-tox option is: don’t buy the thing. Baby registry checklists are absolutely enormous!

Questions to ask yourself:

1. Do I (baby) actually need it?

2. Does it solve a real problem?

3. Can something else that I already have do the same job?

4. Can I borrow it?

5. Can I find it secondhand?

6. Could I simply wait until baby arrives and buy it if I discover I need it?

Those questions will probably save you more money than finding a cheaper version of anything.

Oh, and one other thought that I had. If you’re a FTM and planning to have more babies (and do not know the genders yet), perhaps avoid buying all of your items in a very gender specific color. For example, I got a little carried away with pinks since I’m having a girl, but as I work back through my registry, especially for the bigger items (like sheets, wool jackets, etc.) I will be going with neutrals, so we can easily reuse most of the items. For some pajamas and outfits though, we’ll be more cutesie and go with pink :)

Now onto the registry

I’m going category by category exactly as I organized my own registry: diapering, feeding, sleeping, nursery + decor, on the go, baby gear, health + safety, bathing, clothing, and playing.

For each category, I’ll show you what I actually chose, why I chose it, where it fits into all of the material and certification standards we just talked about, and, when relevant, where I knowingly compromised. I’ll also include some of the other products I seriously considered, because my choice isn’t necessarily the single “best” option. Sometimes it was simply the option that made the most sense for me.

And reminding you once again before we begin: I have not actually cared for a baby yet. These are registry choices, not reviews. I can tell you what I found while researching materials, ingredients, certifications, price and function. I cannot yet tell you whether my baby will pee through something at 2 a.m. or whether I will decide three weeks into motherhood that something I thought was essential was completely unnecessary. I’ll absolutely report back when I know.

A quick note: Some of the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you. As always, everything included here is something I genuinely researched and chose for our own registry, and I have no actual affiliation to any of these brands at this time, other than Nourish Food Club (goat milk soap mention).

Diapering

Diapering was actually one of the categories where my material priorities felt especially relevant because whatever I’m using is going to sit directly against baby’s skin for basically the entire day.

At the same time, this was also one of my first opportunities to practice the whole “ideal versus practical” thing.

As mentioned, I’m planning to try a combination of cloth and disposable diapers rather than committing exclusively to either. My current thought is roughly 50/50, but I am making precisely zero promises until I’ve actually lived this life.

Cloth Diapers:

WHAT I CHOSE: Esembly’s Try-It Kit

This is one of my favorite examples of choosing something that isn’t theoretically the most natural option but makes me feel like I have a realistic chance of actually using it.

Esembly’s absorbent Inners are 100% unbleached organic cotton, which is exactly the material I want directly against baby’s skin. Their waterproof Outers, however, are GRS-certified upcycled polyester with TPU (flexible plastic material). All of the diaper materials are OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certified, and Esembly says they’re free from lead, BPA, PVC and phthalates.

So this ties directly back to what we talked about earlier:

Organic cotton: yes, where I care about it most (against baby)

OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100: yes, giving me additional finished-textile chemical testing information.

Synthetic material: also yes. The waterproof Outer isn’t a natural fiber, and that is my compromise here.

If I were trying to take cloth diapering as far toward natural materials as possible, I’d look harder at options incorporating organic cotton/hemp inners with wool diaper covers.

Babee Greens is one brand I found that offers wool snap covers, and I really like the material concept.

Green Mountain Diapers was another company I looked at for more traditional cloth-diapering options.

HealthyBaby also came up repeatedly throughout my diaper research.

Ultimately, though, Esembly looked approachable enough that I could picture myself actually sticking with it, as the most beautiful and expensive organic wool cloth-diapering system in the world isn’t particularly useful to me if I abandon it after six diaper changes.

Disposable Diapers

WHAT I CHOSE: Kudos Diapers

Kudos uses a 100% cotton liner against baby’s skin rather than the plastic-based topsheet you’ll find in many disposable diapers. The current diaper also uses total-chlorine-free wood pulp and is OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certified.

That doesn’t mean the entire disposable diaper is cotton or plastic-free. It isn’t. Disposable diapers require multiple functional layers, including absorbent materials.

But if I’m choosing a disposable diaper, having cotton be the material actually touching baby’s skin is a meaningful distinction to me. This is therefore my current first choice for the disposable half of our diapering plan.

Other disposables I considered

There are several other brands I think are worth looking at, including HealthyBaby, DYPER and Joonya. Likely less expensive options, too.

Another interesting option if you like a disposable diaper for its fit, cost or performance but don’t love the material directly against baby is using a separate disposable diaper liner. That opens up your options considerably.

For me, though, Kudos made the most sense because the cotton contact layer is already built into the diaper.

DO YOU NEED THIS PARTICULAR DIAPER? No, and I haven’t met my baby’s butt yet lol. Kudos could look perfect to me on paper and fit my baby terribly (according to my mom, this can happen). Fit, leakage and skin tolerance are all things I’ll actually have to evaluate once baby is here.

Diaper Bag

WHAT I CHOSE: Pehr Printed Convertible Diaper Bag (in wildflower)

This was partially a material decision and partially me admitting that I wanted a really cute diaper bag. I tend to bring everything with me when I leave the house already, so becoming responsible for another human probably isn’t going to make me pack lighter. I wanted something spacious, organized, able to be worn as a backpack or tote, and something that actually looked like me rather than a giant technical backpack.

Material-wise, I really liked Pehr because the printed version uses a 100% organic cotton shell and cotton interior/exterior, with a water-repellent acrylic coating.

WHERE I COMPROMISED: This is a perfect example of why I keep saying to read beyond the headline material. The bag is not 100% cotton throughout. Pehr uses 100% polyester for the quilted filling, and I’m completely okay with that here. Baby will never come into contact with the inside of the diaper bag filling. I cared more about having cotton as the primary exterior/interior textile while getting the size, organization and functionality I wanted.

I also liked that Pehr explicitly identifies the coating as a non-toxic acrylic coating rather than leaving me wondering how they made the cotton water repellent.

OTHER OPTIONS: You absolutely do not need a purpose-built “non-toxic diaper bag.” If you find a regular 100% cotton canvas tote, leather bag or purse you love, congratulations, you have a diaper bag. My favorite place to buy purses, satchels, cross-bodies and leather bags is Quince!

I also saw a much less expensive (but similar) cotton/polyester option at H&M! Check here & see below image. I’m honestly still on the fence with the decision, because both bags are cute and the H&M one is like 1/2 the price. The main difference for me here is that you can’t wear the H&M one like a backpack, and I really appreciate a good backpack.

DO YOU NEED IT? Probably need some sort of bag for diapers on the go, but a $200-ish dedicated diaper bag, absolutely not. This is me being bougee if I go forward with the Pehr one.

Wipes

WHAT I CHOSE: Honest Clean Conscious Dry Wipes

This category made me realize how simple a baby product can actually be.

The ingredient list is: 100% organic cotton.

They’re dry, so I can add water myself rather than buying a pre-moistened wipe with an entire formulation designed to remain shelf-stable while wet. Honest also states that they’re made without alcohol, parabens, fragrance or chlorine processing.

This checks several of my personal boxes at once: natural fiber, fragrance-free, extremely simple and nothing unnecessary sitting against baby’s skin. I’m planning to keep a little spray bottle or water nearby and wet them as needed.

Other options

There are plenty. I also looked at dry wipes from brands like Whoopsie and Nest Designs. Honestly I went with Honest because it was right there on my registry and easy to select, while meeting my simple criteria here.

And if you’re choosing a pre-moistened wipe instead, this is where I’d go back to the framework from earlier and look at both what the wipe itself is made from AND the actual solution/ingredient list. For me, the dry cotton wipe + water route just felt simple.

Diaper Rash Cream + Baby Balm

This is another area where I’m not married to my choices yet. Right now I have Sunborn Organics Baby Balm on my registry, but I don’t think diaper balm needs to become an especially complicated category. I’ve also heard that an active ingredient of Zinc oxide can be super helpful, so something like The Honest Company might be worth looking into if you are struggling with calming the diaper rash.

My general preference is a relatively simple barrier-type balm or salve without fragrance or a huge list of unnecessary ingredients.

Other options I liked include Primally Pure Baby Balm, La Petite Creme Organic Diaper Balm and Motherlove Diaper Balm.

And realistically, there are a lot of simple balms and salves that could potentially serve this purpose. I’m also not assuming my baby will need diaper cream applied at every diaper change? I do not think at least?

This is therefore a category where I care more about the formulation itself than collecting a specific certification logo. And because skin can react even to perfectly “natural” ingredients, this is one place where I fully expect actual baby experience to matter more than what looks prettiest to me on an ingredient list today.

Changing Pad Liners

WHAT I CHOSE: Mushie’s water-repellent changing pad liners

These have 100% organic cotton on top, which is what baby actually lies against, with a bamboo-blend bottom and a water-repellent layer. Mushie also states that the product is third-party tested to CPSIA, ASTM and California Prop 65 requirements.

This is another example where I’m prioritizing the contact surface without requiring the entire object to be made exclusively from natural fibers.

A plain organic-cotton towel would also probably work.

But I liked the idea of having a few washable liners I could throw over the changing surface, toss into the laundry after a mess and also bring with me for changes outside the house.

WHERE I COMPROMISED: The underside isn’t simply 100% organic cotton, and there’s obviously a water-repellent component involved. I accepted that here because the entire purpose of the product is catching pee and poop so function wins this round.

Probably most “optional” option: Home of Wool portable changing pad

Other excellent option: Pehr portable changing pad

Diaper Pail

WHAT I CHOSE: The Ubbi steel diaper pail and its corresponding plastic bags.

Honestly, this was the first option that popped up on Amazon, and hey, it works! Love when that happens. This is exactly the kind of place where I’m not trying to make my registry performative. I liked the Ubbi because the body of the pail is stainless steel rather than a giant plastic diaper container, and the system is designed to contain odor without requiring me to constantly replace the entire pail itself.

But the trash bag inside… I am going to use a plastic trash bag. They are, however, unscented, which is important to me.

If you want something a bit fancier, you could go with the Momcozy diaper pail, the exterior is plastic but it gets the job done. But this is a good example of where you should pay attention: I would avoid using the deodorizer pack it automatically comes with, and just use unscented trash bags.

In general, this particular item is not that complicated, we’re looking for a sufficient trash bin and bags that will get the job done without extra chemicals and scents being released into the air.

Feeding

Before you look at everything I registered for and think does a newborn seriously need all of this?... no I do not think so. A newborn does not need a lunch box. I will not buy that to start, it’s just on my ‘check list of things I might like to have in the future’ so it found its way onto the registry.

I am someone who likes being prepared, and because I was already building a registry, I included things we’ll use beyond the newborn stage and into baby’s first few years rather than limiting it to what we’ll need during the first three months.

And feeding is definitely one of those categories.

My plan is to exclusively breastfeed if everything works out that way, while still having a few bottles and pumping/feeding supplies available because there will inevitably be times when someone else feeds baby, I need to be away, or life simply doesn’t go exactly according to plan. Then eventually we’ll enter the world of actual food, and that is where I had way too much fun with a cute brand I love!

Plates, bowls, cups + basically everything utensils

This was easily my favorite feeding brand I found.

WHAT I CHOSE: Elk + Friends

Again, the first option that popped up on Amazon and it was a total win! Like, how cute are those bottles? But more importantly, it is one of those rare situations where the thing I aesthetically liked the most also happened to fit beautifully into what I wanted from a materials perspective.

Instead of making the actual food-contact surface out of plastic, Elk + Friends offers products made primarily from porcelain, glass and stainless steel, and then uses silicone strategically for things like protective sleeves, suction bases, lids, handles and straws.

They have both porcelain and stainless-steel options, and I think either is great. The stainless steel obviously wins for durability. Porcelain gives you that traditional hard, non-plastic food-contact surface I love, while the silicone sleeve helps protect it and makes it much more practical for a tiny human who may decide that dinner belongs on the floor.

And the whole system is designed to grow with kids rather than looking like something they’ll immediately outgrow.

I registered for:

Bowls
Porcelain or stainless steel with silicone sleeves.

Divided plates + sleeves
Again, porcelain or stainless steel. I love that the silicone is functioning primarily as the protective/suction component while the food itself sits on porcelain or steel.

Flatware
Their baby/toddler utensils use stainless steel with silicone handles.

Snack cups + travel lids
Another category we’ll obviously use later, but I liked having an option ready for taking food out of the house.

Stainless-steel lunch box
Eventually we’ll use it, so onto the registry it went. Heck, I may use it now LOL.

Glass mason jars with silicone sleeves
These may be one of my favorite products they make. The glass jars can function as drinking cups and food-storage containers, and the silicone sleeves add grip and protection. Elk + Friends offers several sizes, and the system can adapt as kids grow. Another item I will likely end up using myself :P

I particularly like the versatility here. I’m much more interested in buying one glass or stainless-steel container that can go from food storage → snack container → drinking cup than accumulating a cupboard full of single-purpose plastic baby products.

DO YOU NEED ALL OF THIS? Absolutely not.

If you’re trying to build a minimalist registry, you could wait until baby is approaching solids and buy a bowl, spoon and cup then. You could also use plenty of things already sitting in your kitchen. A baby does not know that something came from the ✨baby feeding section✨ of a website.

This is very much my “I like being prepared and these are adorable and we’ll eventually use them anyway” purchase.

Bibs

I actually have two different kinds because they serve somewhat different purposes.

Mushie Silicone Bib

For actual mealtimes, I wanted at least one silicone bib. The reason is mostly practical: wipe it down, rinse it, reuse it.

Rather than needing a pile of fabric bibs every time baby eats something messy, I like the idea of having a silicone bib I can wash at the sink and immediately use again. The catch-all pocket also seems extremely useful.

DO YOU NEED IT? No, I would think a basic washable cloth bib would work just fine, pretty sure my grandmother did not use a silicone bib...

But this is one of those conveniences that seems worth having to me!? Maybe?

Mebie Baby Bibs

I also registered for Mebie Baby fabric bibs for everyday drool/milk/light mess situations where I don’t need to outfit baby for battle. This is more of my natural-textile option and something I expect to use very differently from the silicone feeding bib. 100% muslin cotton with cute print options, totally up my alley. Let me be clear though, there are a trillion different cotton bib options out there, some probably cheaper, larger bulk packs, etc. At this point, it’d take me forever to list all the good options and I sort of became exhausted choosing between “good” option A and “good” option B, so that is how I landed on Mebie. No matter the brand, provided it’s touching baby, I’d stick with a natural material if possible.

Burp Cloths: Burt’s Bees Baby Organic

Do you need both bibs and burp cloths? Moms? To be determined. I’ve just got both on my registry, as I do know babies spit up, and I assume I will want absorbent pieces of fabric nearby.

I went with Burt’s Bees Baby organic-cotton burp cloths because this is exactly the kind of product where organic cotton makes sense to me: it’s going against baby’s face and skin constantly, it’s washable, and there’s no reason I personally need a synthetic performance fabric here. Mebie also has great cotton burp cloths that can match your bibs (or get Burt’s Bees bibs)… Mushie, Pehr, etc…

DO YOU NEED SPECIAL “BURP CLOTHS”?

The question of the hour. Calling all moms. My guess is probably not. An organic-cotton muslin, towel or other absorbent cotton cloth can accomplish essentially the same job lol.

So if you already have a million cotton cloths, I wouldn’t buy something merely because the package says burp cloth, although they are cute… I can’t lie!

Bottles

WHAT I CHOSE: Pigeon glass nursing bottles

Again, first glass option on Amazon and it was it for me! My plan is to breastfeed, but I still want bottles available for quick milk. Material-wise, glass was my first choice for the bottle itself rather than plastic.

I also chose Pigeon specifically because the company designs its nipples around the latch/suck/swallow process. But here’s a piece of advice I’ve gotten numerous times now: DO NOT BUY 47 OF ONE BOTTLE BEFORE YOU MEET YOUR BABY.

Apparently, babies can be extremely opinionated about bottles? You may carefully research the world’s most perfect bottle and your baby may say absolutely not. So I’m starting with a few, not building an enormous collection.

If baby takes Pigeon beautifully, amazing. Thank the Lord. I’ll buy more. If not, we’ll try something else.

OTHER OPTIONS: There are plenty of reputable glass bottle systems. This is a category where I care much more about glass + a nipple baby actually feeds well from than being loyal to one particular brand.

Insulated Bottle Bag

An insulated bottle bag is basically a specialized little lunch box, which means you can just as easily use an insulated lunch box that you already have on hand if it fits your bottle size. I’d also really only think you’d need this if you plan to bottle feed on-the-go, are taking a trip where you’ll need bottles ready, sending baby off with someone where they’ll need to bottle feed, are pumping outside your house… Etc. If you do not plan to do any of that, you do not need a fancy new lunch box.

My main priorities were avoiding PVC and phthalates, looking for a clearly disclosed food-safe PEVA or similar lining, and, where possible, choosing a cotton or organic cotton exterior rather than an entirely synthetic bag. PFAS-free is another nice bonus when a company actually discloses it.

A few options I found:

• Fluf Insulated Square Lunch Bag: technically a lunch bag rather than a designated bottle cooler, but probably the strongest option I found from a materials standpoint. It has a 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton exterior, recycled-polyester insulation and food-safe lining, and Fluf states that it is free of PVC, BPA, phthalates, heavy metals, and PFAS. It’s roomy enough that it could easily be repurposed as a bottle bag with ice packs.

• JuJuBe Insulated Bottle Bag: one of my favorite true bottle-bag options. Certain prints/collections are made with a 100% cotton canvas exterior and an FDA-compliant PEVA insulated interior. It fits around three bottles plus snacks and has interior bottle straps and pockets. Just check the specific colorway, because some JuJuBe versions use polyester instead of cotton on the outside. I’m a sucker for a paisley pattern, so I’ll probably go with this one below :)

  

• PackIt Freezable Double Bottle Bag: especially convenient because the cooling gel is built into the walls, so the entire bag goes into the freezer and you don’t need separate ice packs. PackIt lists it as PVC-, BPA-, phthalate-, and lead-free. But the exterior is not going to be a natural material, it’s plastic.

There is absolutely no requirement to buy a dedicated baby bottle bag. Like I said, if you already own a small insulated lunch box and ice packs, you’re probably good to go.

Baby Bottle Warmer

This is firmly in my maybe pile. If I register for/buy a bottle warmer, I’m leaning toward the Baby Brezza AirSwirl for home because I like the simplicity of a waterless warmer and the fact that the milk stays inside the (glass) bottle while it warms.

But according to several moms I’ve talked to, you don’t necessarily need a baby bottle warmer as breast milk does not need to be served at one magical temperature from an electronic appliance. Some babies happily take milk cold or at room temperature, while others strongly prefer it warm.

And because I’m hoping to primarily breastfeed, I’m especially hesitant to accumulate a bunch of bottle-specific appliances before knowing how frequently we’re actually going to use bottles.

I also care less about finding a warmer that is completely plastic-free and more about whether the milk itself comes into direct contact with plastic. Since we plan to use glass bottles, an indirect warmer like the AirSwirl feels like a very reasonable place to loosen my standards a little. The milk stays contained inside the glass bottle rather than touching the warmer itself.

A few options I looked at:

• Baby Brezza AirSwirl: probably my favorite for home. It warms the bottle externally, so with a glass bottle the milk never directly touches the appliance. The unit includes stainless steel and silicone components and is listed as phthalate-, lead-, and latex-free. I could not confirm that the entire appliance is completely BPA-, PVC-, or PFAS-free, but I’m much less concerned about that here because the milk remains inside the bottle.

• Nurra+ Portable Glass Milk Warmer: one of the more interesting travel options from a materials standpoint, and if I find I need one for on-the-go, I’ll probably get this. The warming vessel is borosilicate glass, and the company states that it is free from BPA, BPS, PVC, phthalates, and lead. It’s rechargeable, so this is more of a true diaper-bag option if we discover that baby really does prefer warm milk.

• Innobaby Aquaheat: a simple low-tech option using a 304 stainless-steel container and a water-activated heating system. It’s listed as BPA-, phthalate-, and PVC-free and doesn’t require electricity.

• Tommee Tippee Travel Bottle & Food Warmer: essentially a stainless-steel thermal flask that carries hot water. You pour the hot water into the outer container and place your bottle inside to warm it. No charging or electronic components required.

• Baby Brezza Portable Travel Bottle Warmer: Baby Brezza also makes a separate rechargeable travel warmer. Unlike the AirSwirl, this one is specifically meant for on-the-go use. The milk is poured directly into its stainless-steel warming cup, so this is a product where I would pay a little more attention to the direct-contact materials.

For now, I’m not convinced we need both an at-home warmer and a travel warmer before baby is even here. If baby happily drinks a bottle straight from the cooler, amazing. That’s one less thing to buy, charge, clean, and haul around. If baby turns out to insist on warm milk, we can always add a portable option later.

So this may be one of those products I leave on the registry, don’t receive, and simply wait to see whether I even want or need it.

Bottle Washer + Sterilizer

This is another product that you absolutely do not need.

Bottles and pump parts can be washed by hand or, when the individual parts are dishwasher-safe, in a regular dishwasher. So a dedicated bottle washer/sterilizer is really a convenience appliance and whether that convenience is worth the counter space and money is going to depend on how many bottles and pump parts you’re actually washing.

Since I’m hoping to primarily breastfeed, I’m especially hesitant to buy a bunch of bottle-specific appliances before I even know how much we’ll use them.

That said... convenience also sounds pretty wonderful when I picture myself with a newborn.

If I get one, I originally liked the Momcozy KleanPal Pro, particularly because the dirty water drains through a hose directly into the sink rather than collecting in a wastewater tank that I then have to empty and clean. It washes, steam sterilizes and dries everything in one machine and has good reviews consistently.

My hesitation is actually the detergent. Momcozy’s machine is designed around its proprietary low-suds detergent tablets. Momcozy describes those tablets as fragrance-free, non-toxic, hypoallergenic and baby-safe, but I haven’t been able to find a complete ingredient list published by the company. Momcozy’s support information also says the KleanPal Pro “only works” with its dedicated tablets and warns that non-specialized detergents can leave residue.

For someone who has spent this much time looking at the materials touching baby’s milk and food, I would really prefer to know what’s in the detergent washing them.

A note on bottle-washer detergent

If you want to use a different detergent, I would specifically look for a fragrance-free, transparent-ingredient, low-suds formula designed for automatic bottle washers, rather than assuming any “non-toxic” dishwasher detergent will work.

Molucky is one of the simpler alternatives I found. The company discloses citric acid, sodium bicarbonate and protease and specifically says its tablets are formulated for automatic bottle washers and compatible with the Momcozy KleanPal Pro, Baby Brezza and Grownsy. I can’t independently verify that formulation or compatibility testing, but based on the manufacturer’s disclosed information, this is one I’d personally consider.

I also looked at more conventional baby-bottle detergents like Dr. Brown’s, but those contain a much longer surfactant/preservative/enzyme formula. Again, that doesn’t mean properly rinsed bottles washed with them are somehow “toxic”, they’re simply not where I’d land when there are simpler formulas available.

And then there’s Molly’s Suds, Branch Basics, and similar brands, which I already use/like as a more transparent dishwasher detergent options. I’d happily consider it for bottles in a normal dishwasher, but I haven’t found confirmation that its regular dishwasher pods are formulated for these small automatic bottle washers nor how they perform in this instance.

Basically, you have options. If I end up with the Momcozy, I don’t feel like I’m necessarily locked into using a detergent with an undisclosed formula. I’d just make sure whatever alternative I use is specifically designed and appropriately low-sudsing for an automatic bottle washer.

High Chair

WHAT I CHOSE: Stokke Clikk High Chair + Clikk Cushion + Newborn Set.

This is another category where I ultimately chose function, cleanability and ease of use while still feeling really good about the materials and safety testing.

The Clikk has beechwood legs, a dishwasher-safe food-contact tray, an adjustable footrest, and it comes with the tray and harness. Stokke also publishes a pretty robust compliance list for the Clikk, including JPMA certification in the U.S./Canada (basically, a safety seal), CPSIA lead and phthalate requirements, heavy-metal testing, and FDA food-contact requirements for the tray. The outer cushion (what touches baby) is organic cotton.

What I especially liked is that it seems simple to clean and simple to live with (and it matches our current furniture decently). There aren’t a million wooden crevices or upholstered pieces for food to disappear into, and the tray can go in the dishwasher. The chair itself is also lightweight and tool-free to assemble.

MATERIALS NOTE

The Clikk isn’t an all-wood high chair, so there are definitely more natural-material-forward options if that’s your number-one priority. The legs are beechwood, while the seat, tray and other functional pieces use synthetic materials.

That said, I still feel really good about this choice from a lower-tox standpoint. As mentioned, Stokke publishes testing and compliance information covering lead, phthalates, heavy metals and food-contact safety, and the wood components use a finish that Stokke describes as free from formaldehyde emissions and harmful substances.

So for me, this isn’t really a compromise on safety as much as a compromise on having every component made from my ideal natural material. I’m okay with that here because the synthetic components are serving a very practical purpose: making the chair lightweight, durable and extremely easy to clean.

Other options worth exploring

If you want something even more natural-material-forward, more adjustable for long-term use, or simply a different design, these are the other options I’d explore:

Stokke Tripp Trapp: Probably my “more optimal” choice from a materials + longevity standpoint, but more expensive once you add all of the accessories. Primarily European beech or oak, FSC-certified wood, water-based finishes, adjustable seat and footplate.

Bugaboo Giraffe: FSC-certified European beechwood, GREENGUARD Gold certified, highly adjustable.

Abiie Beyond Junior: Primarily European beechwood with a plant-based lacquer, plus an adjustable seat and footrest that allow it to transition into a regular chair.

Keekaroo Height Right: Adjustable wooden high chair made from rubberwood/parawood with a plant-based finish.

Charlie Crane TOBO: One I’d look at if wood construction + aesthetics are particularly important to you. It feels much more like a beautiful piece of furniture than traditional baby gear.

There are plenty of others out there, but I don’t think you need to compare 20 high chairs. I’d mostly decide whether your priority is natural materials, longevity, ease of cleaning, price, or compactness and narrow from there.

For me, the Clikk ended up being a really nice balance of lower-tox materials and testing, functionality, cleanability and price. If I were taking the natural-material piece even further, I’d probably be looking hardest at something like the Tripp Trapp instead.

Breastfeeding Support

WHAT I CHOSE: SwingyNest Breastfeeding Support + Play Pillow

I registered for the SwingyNest because I liked that it could serve more than one purpose rather than being a giant pillow that exists solely for feeding. I imagine using it for breastfeeding support initially and then transitioning it into a supervised play/support pillow as baby grows.

This is definitely another convenience item rather than a necessity. You can breastfeed using pillows you already own, and depending on your body, your baby, and the positions you end up preferring, you may find you don’t need a dedicated nursing pillow at all. But I am also very pro making myself comfortable while learning how to feed a tiny human, so I wanted one.

The SwingyNest has a OEKOTEX certified 100% cotton fabric top cover of the pillow, and you have the option between a hypoallergenic polyester fibre fill or wool fill. The wool fill at this time is about $25 more, so it’s a small enough amount that the upgrade is worth it to me.

OTHER OPTIONS: There are nursing pillows made with organic-cotton covers and natural fills like wool or natural latex. Holy Lamb Organics is an example. This brand is awesome, but it is a bit more pricey. Organic Bed & Baby also has a great option. And for the most cost effective option, I know this sounds funny, but you could simply get the My Best Friend organic 100% cotton nursing pillow cover, and then stuff it with material you already have at home, such as old cotton blankets, shirts, etc.

Pumping

WHAT I CHOSE: Haakaa Silicone Manual Breast Pump

Because I’m hoping to primarily breastfeed, I’m starting really simple here. The Haakaa is made from food-grade silicone, with no batteries, charging, cords, motor or wireless connectivity. It’s inexpensive relative to an electric pump.

From my personal lower-EMF perspective, I also love that there’s simply no electronic component involved at all.

I also read this review on Amazon, which really sold me on it:

“This was one of the most useful breastfeeding products I purchased. I simply attached it to one side while my daughter nursed on the other, and it collected my letdown while also providing enough suction to express even more milk. On some feedings, I was able to collect up to 4 ounces that otherwise would have been lost.

I used this every single day for months, especially during the early postpartum period when my milk supply was well established. It made building a freezer stash so much easier without adding extra pumping sessions.

The silicone is soft, easy to clean, and simple to use. I loved it so much that I ended up buying three of them so I always had one clean and ready to go.

If you’re breastfeeding, I can’t recommend this enough. It’s an inexpensive product that made a huge difference in my breastfeeding journey and is something I recommend to every new mom.”

That said, I don’t think a Haakaa should necessarily be viewed as a replacement for a traditional breast pump in every situation. According to what I read, the classic Haakaa uses continuous suction and is popular for catching letdown and occasional milk expression. If I end up needing to pump frequently, establish or maintain milk supply through pumping, exclusively pump, or regularly pump while away from baby, I may very well want something more substantial and electric, which I will personally be fine with.

I would also check insurance before buying an electric pump yourself as I have heard that health plans may be required to cover it, although the type and process depend on the individual plan.

The Miscellaneous Breastfeeding Things

And then we enter the category of little things I may be extremely grateful I registered for... or may barely use at all. First-time mom over-preparation at its finest.

Haakaa Colostrum Collector Kit

This was a “suggested for you” item after I added the Haakaa manual breast pump, and I am intrigued. This little puppy is for collecting and storing those tiny amounts of colostrum people say you express. Simple enough and same acceptable materials as the manual breast pump mentioned above.

Glass Breast-Milk Storage Jars

Linked KeaBabies, but there are so many different options available here. I also saw a whole set of mini mason jars that I might snag instead, because I could see these being more useful when we’re out of the storing milk stage (as food storage, without a baby logo).

Earth Mama Nipple Butter

This is something I’m registering for because I would rather have it sitting in a drawer before I discover that breastfeeding has made my nipples very unhappy.

Another great option: Motherlove Nipple Cream

There are plenty of other options, but for simplicity sake, these have short ingredient lists and great reviews. I am unsure how something as simple as a tallow salve would work, but could be worth a shot.

Nursing Pads

For disposable, the overall pick seems to be PureTree organic-cotton nursing pads.

For reusable, TL Care nursing pads made with 100% organic cotton is a cost effective option. If you want to go wool, you can try Babee Greens.

Silverette Nursing Cups

This brand is a little more expensive than the alternatives, but it’s the only one I could find that is 100% sterling silver, whereas the rest are “trilaminate 999” which means it’s a silver covering with a copper or metal inner. I truthfully was not familiar with this distinction before comparing these options. And while it is not a big deal, I always prefer the 100% hypoallergenic option when things touch my skin, as I do not know how my nipples will respond.

Why these cups??? Well it’s been one of the highest suggested items to me when I’ve talked to moms about breastfeeding. Apparently it can be a real life savor for chapped nips.

Sleeping

Sleep is an area where I don’t have a strong personal philosophy yet. There are so many different approaches to infant sleep such as room sharing, different forms of co-sleeping, sleep training or not sleep training, and figuring out what feels right for us is still very much on my to-do list.

So I’m not going to pretend I have answers here as a first-time mom nor am I here to judge anyone based on whether they choose to co-sleep or not. I’m simply going to show you what I’ve registered for based on the materials and standards I discussed earlier, knowing that what we actually use may change once our baby is here.

Swaddle

For the newborn swaddling stage (I know there are mixed opinions on this, so just providing an option), I liked the SwaddleDesigns Organic Omni Swaddle Sack.

The material is 100% Organic Cotton GOTS Certified and seems like it offers the most versatility. As with everything sleep-related, I’ll ultimately follow baby’s cues and what feels most natural to us.

Sleep Sack

Once out of the swaddling stage, the Woolino 4 Season Ultimate Baby Sleep Bag is such a great option.

It has a 100% merino-wool lining and 100% organic-cotton outer, with no synthetic filling. Woolino also lists OEKO-TEX Standard 100, Woolmark, Responsible Wool Standard and GOTS certifications for the relevant materials.

And while these look expensive initially, the “Ultimate” size is designed to fit from approximately 2 months to 2 years, so instead of buying a new sleep sack for every size and season, the merino wool is designed to work across seasons for 2 years (or until sized out), with clothing underneath adjusted for room temperature.

So I would consider this one of those cases where buying the nicer natural-material option upfront may save money later, if you chose to get a sleep sack (which again I know is not on everyone’s list).

Bassinet

WHAT I CHOSE: Heirloom Willow Wood Bassinet

Honestly this is just a simple design, hits all of the standard baseline certifications for me, and matches our bedroom furniture. I will say though that this is one category where the mattress deserves just as much attention as the bassinet itself.

You can find a beautiful wood or natural-fiber bassinet and then discover that the included mattress is mostly polyester/foam which somewhat defeats the purpose if natural materials were the reason you chose it.

Two options I’ve found for custom natural-material bassinet mattresses are Home of Wool, which makes custom-size wool mattresses, and Heaven & Nature Organics. Heaven & Nature can also make custom fitted sheets, which is useful when you’re dealing with a nonstandard bassinet size.

I’d price out both and see which combination makes the most sense.

ANOTHER OPTION: The babybay Original is worth exploring if you’d rather purchase more of the setup together. They offer an untreated wood version and an organic coconut-fiber mattress option, which eliminates some of the piecing-together. I still might switch to this option, we’ll see.

Crib

WHAT I CHOSE: Babyletto Hudson 3-in-1 Convertible Crib + Toddler Bed Conversion Kit

There are so many beautiful lower-tox crib options. I chose the Babyletto Hudson because it fit my budget, matched the simple style I wanted, and converts from crib → toddler bed → daybed, so we should get around 5-6 years of use from it.

It also meets the basic wood/finish/emissions standards I was looking for, including GREENGUARD Gold certification, which was particularly important to me for a large piece of furniture sitting in baby’s sleeping environment.

There are plenty of more natural or heirloom-level solid-wood cribs available if you want to take this category further. I personally felt like the Hudson hit a really good intersection of lower-tox + attractive + functional + reasonable price + longevity. Babyletto has tons of different designs, just pay attention to the finishing materials. If opting for a different brand, use the certifications mentioned above to find one that matches what’s important to you.

Crib Mattress

For the mattress, I registered for the Naturepedic Classic Organic Cotton Crib Mattress.

This one checks a lot of the boxes from the beginning of this article: GOTS-certified organic materials, GREENGUARD Gold, MADE SAFE, EWG Verified, and it’s also UL Formaldehyde Free and UL validation for non-detectable PFAS. Naturepedic also makes it without flame retardants, fiberglass, polyurethane foam or glues/adhesives.

THE TAKE-IT-EVEN-FURTHER OPTION: As mentioned, Home of Wool makes natural wool mattresses if you want something even more natural-material-forward. Beautiful option; substantially more investment.

Naturepedic is where I landed for the balance of materials, certifications, practicality and price.

Sheets + Blankets

This part is easy as there are so many organic-cotton crib sheets available now that I don’t think you need a giant list of special brands.

I registered for the Burt’s Bees Baby BEESNUG 100% Organic Cotton Fitted Crib Sheet, but Quince and plenty of other brands have organic-cotton options too.

Same with blankets. Look for 100% cotton, organic cotton, wool or another natural fiber, and you have a ton of choices across different budgets.

I actually had several blankets on my registry, but my mom already bought us two adorable 100% cotton Carter’s blankets, one organic and one conventional, so those are what we’re using.

Of course, blankets are for cuddling/stroller/etc.; from what I have learned, loose blankets don’t belong in baby’s sleep space.

Baby Nest

I also registered for a natural-material baby nest/lounger because I like the idea of having a cozy portable place to put baby down while awake and supervised, and the particular one I chose met the material standards I was looking for.

Tons of great options (for example, from Home of Wool), but I chose the Naturkind baby nest.

Sound Machine

I registered for the Hatch sleep bundle with the home + travel sound machines.

Could I buy a completely basic, non-connected white-noise machine? Absolutely, and if minimizing electronics in the nursery is particularly important to you, that’s probably the direction I’d go.

But I am a big white-noise person. It helps me sleep, and between a bird and multiple dogs in our house, I can already imagine appreciating some consistent background noise for baby too. I particularly like having both a home and portable option, and I like that the Rest can provide a red-toned night light. Rather than turning on bright overhead lighting during nighttime feeds/changes, I can keep a dim, warm/red light available when I need to see.

If you don’t care about all the Hatch features, keep it simple: basic white-noise machine (if using) + a separate dim red/amber night light. You absolutely do not need an app-connected baby sleep ecosystem. If going the simple route, my personal favorite red night lights are the twilight motion red night light (they detect motion and turn on, we have these all over our house for nighttime).

And depending on how I actually use the Hatch once baby is here, I may find that half its features are completely unnecessary too.

Nursery

I’m going to keep this section short because this article has officially become a beast to put together, and the nursery feels like it deserves its own post because so much of putting together a nursery is simply fun and design-oriented.

So I’ll eventually do a separate piece showing exactly how I’m personally putting ours together (the practical things I want, the materials I’m prioritizing, and all of the cute things I’m choosing simply because I love them).

And ours isn’t even going to be baby’s final nursery. We’re not in our forever house and may be moving sometime in the next two years, so I’m essentially designing a temporary first nursery while trying not to go completely overboard. We’ll see how that goes.

For the purposes of this registry guide, there are really only two larger nursery purchases I want to mention.

Changing Pad

I registered for the Naturepedic Organic Contoured Changing Pad, along with Naturepedic’s changing pad covers. This will sit on top of a dresser I buy.

Their changing pad uses organic cotton and is made without polyurethane foam, vinyl/PVC, phthalates or added flame retardants, and it carries GOTS, GREENGUARD Gold and MADE SAFE certifications.

Since baby will actually be lying directly on this surface over and over again, this is somewhere I personally cared more about optimizing the materials in the nursery.

Rocker/Glider

And then we have perhaps one of the best examples on my registry of good enough > perfect. I registered for the DaVinci Baby Suzy Flex Recliner & Swivel Glider.

This is not the most natural-material chair I could put in the nursery. The upholstery and cushioning aren’t my dream natural-material combination.

But it checks a lot of my baseline lower-tox boxes, including GREENGUARD Gold certification. DaVinci also states that the foam is CertiPUR-US certified (confirms it is non-toxic and low-emission, meaning it is free of formaldehyde, heavy metals, harmful flame retardants, and ozone depleters) and that the chair is made without added chemical flame retardants. Ultimately, this is one of the places where budget won.

I want a comfortable chair that reclines, swivels and glides because I imagine spending a lot of time sitting in this thing. The Suzy gets me most of what I want at a much more reasonable price than some of the beautiful natural-material upholstered chairs I found. If budget allows, I may look to upgrade, but this is where we’re at currently. I may not even use this that much, so… TBD.

Regardless, it also helps me personally that I’m the one primarily sitting against the upholstery, rather than baby spending eight hours a night sleeping directly on it. That makes this a very different priority in my mind than something like a crib mattress.

More natural-material options to explore:

• Solid-wood rocking chair + wool or organic-cotton cushion: probably the simplest way to get closest to a truly natural-material chair. Look for solid wood with a natural or water-based finish.

• Monte Design Luca, Como or Vera: particularly their 63% cotton/37% linen upholstery, which gives you a 100% natural-fiber upholstery. The chairs are also GREENGUARD Gold certified and PFAS-free. The internal cushioning is still synthetic foam, so these aren’t literally 100% natural-material chairs.

• West Elm: look specifically for chairs offered in linen or genuine leather, and check the exact fabric and fill specifications for the configuration you’re ordering.

• Pottery Barn Kids: similarly, certain chairs can be ordered in linen or genuine leather, making them much more natural-material-forward than standard polyester performance upholstery.

• Nestig: another beautiful higher-end nursery option worth exploring, although I’d still check the exact upholstery and internal fill of the individual chair rather than assuming the entire chair is natural.

And that’s an important distinction: natural upholstery doesn’t necessarily mean an entirely natural chair. If that’s your goal, look beyond the fabric and investigate the cushion fill, batting, wood, adhesives and finishes too.

I’ll save the furniture, storage, lighting, curtains, decor, sentimental pieces and all of the completely unnecessary adorable things for a separate post where I can show you exactly how I’m piecing together our temporary little nursery.

On the Go

When it comes to strollers and car seats, there are so many possible combinations, so I don’t think there’s one setup everyone should buy. For me, I’m looking for something that feels lower-tox, beautiful, functional, relatively lightweight, and honestly just really nice to use because I imagine this being one of our most-used baby purchases as I love a good walk. I’d also prefer it to grow with our family.

Stroller + Car Seat

Right now, I’m leaning toward the Nuna demi next + pipa aire rx travel system in sterling.

“In sterling” because apparently the all black option (“caviar”) is +$450. Caviar is purdy slick, though.

One thing I learned while comparing Nuna is that you need to pay attention to the exact model and materials. Not every Nuna stroller uses the same seat insert.

Natural baby-contact materials are important to me, so I specifically narrowed my choices to models with Nuna’s Merino-wool inserts. Nuna’s own stroller comparison identifies the TRIV next, SWIV and DEMI next as having removable Merino-wool inserts. I ultimately like the DEMI next because it gives me the Merino-wool insert and can convert from a single stroller into a double/twin configuration. Since we hope to have more than one child within the next few years, that makes a lot of sense to me for such a large purchase.

The downside is weight. The DEMI next is about 26 pounds before its insert, canopy and armbar, whereas the TRIV next is only about 18.4 pounds before those pieces. So if having a lighter, more compact stroller were my biggest priority and I weren’t thinking about a second child, I’d probably choose the TRIV next instead.

For the infant car seat, I’m pairing it with the PIPA aire rx.

I particularly like this one because its infant head and body inserts are made from a Merino wool + TENCEL lyocell blend, and it additionally comes with a GOTS-certified organic-cotton insert and harness-cover set. It’s also GREENGUARD Gold certified and made without added fire-retardant chemicals.

So although Nuna isn’t a completely natural-material stroller, this feels like a really nice middle ground for me: natural fibers against baby where I can get them + strong lower-tox standards + a really functional travel system.

If you want to take stroller materials even further...

Naturkind is probably the stroller brand I’d look at if natural materials themselves were my absolute #1 priority. They’re quite beautiful, too. Their strollers are made using materials like organic cotton, organic sheep’s wool, coconut fiber/natural latex, cork and wood, and says it is GOTS-certified for its processing of organic fibers.

Angelcab takes a similar natural-material-forward approach, using organic cotton, organic virgin sheep’s wool, wood, coconut latex and leather. One of my friends has one and it’s absolutely gorgeous, but it’s a splurge for sure.

These are probably the closest stroller equivalents I’ve found to the “Home of Wool mattress” approach from earlier in this article: instead of starting with a conventional synthetic product and making it lower-tox, they’re building natural materials into the product itself.

Winter Footmuff

Because we’ll have a newborn in the winter, I’m also planning to get a Naturkind footmuff. When looking up “how to keep newborn warm outside in stroller” I stumbled on footmuffs, which is essentially a cozy insulated sleeping-bag-style layer that fits into the stroller and surrounds baby.

For a winter baby, this feels like one of those accessories we could genuinely use constantly! And of course, this option is all natural material whereas most winter things for babies tend to be polyester.

Pehr Stoller Bag + Portable Changing Pad

And now we get to the very important category of things that are useful, but also mostly on my registry because they’re adorable. I love the Pehr stroller bag that hangs directly from the stroller and gives you quick access to the small things you may need while out and about.

I also added their portable changing pad, which folds up compactly and gives me a surface for diaper changes when we’re out. Neither is an example of 100% natural materials throughout, but they’re also not products baby is sleeping on or eating from, so they’re much lower on my priority hierarchy. That said, the outer fabric for each is 100% cotton.

And as mentioned above, currently my diaper bag is also in the wildflower pattern from Pehr, so while completely unnecessary to coordinate, seeing them all together makes me happy and feel organized.

I may actually decide the stroller bag is redundant once I see how much I use my diaper bag, so this is another registry item I’m completely fine not receiving.

Baby Gear

This is going to be another quick category because a lot of these things are pretty simple.

For teethers, pacifiers and little toys that baby will inevitably spend a lot of time putting directly into her mouth, my priorities are straightforward: simple construction, minimal pieces, and materials like untreated solid wood/natural rubber or high-quality food-grade silicone.

Teething Toys

There are so many inexpensive teething toys available that fit the basic standards I’m looking for. I particularly like simple combinations of wood + food-grade silicone, and there are plenty available on Amazon. Socub makes some really cute silicone/wood baby teething toys at reasonable prices. I also love the baby rattle/teeth by Wonderoo. Here’s another example of what you could look for.

This is somewhere I’d simply read the materials carefully and avoid buying something because the listing calls it “natural” without actually telling you what it’s made from.

Pacifiers

If we use pacifiers, Ninni Co. is my first choice.

The Ninni pacifier is made from 100% medical-grade silicone and is designed with an extremely soft, breast-like nipple that stretches and forms in baby’s mouth rather than being a rigid pacifier nipple. It was the #1 option I saw when exploring crunchy mom’s pacifier preferences forums. Apparently, Ninni has designed the pacifier to encourage a wide latch and active sucking motion, rather than simply sitting passively in baby’s mouth, which may be a good combo with breastfeeding.

Babies are babies and she may decide she absolutely hates the pacifier I so thoughtfully researched. So this is another thing I wouldn’t buy 25 of before knowing what your baby actually likes.

I’m also adding the Ninni pacifier clip so I’m not constantly picking a pacifier up off the floor. Plus, she cute.

Nature Kids Co. Soothe Beginnings is also apparently a great option, although I have no experience using pacifiers with a babe so I am not the best judge. Just looking at materials here.

Baby Carrier

For a carrier I can use around the house and while we’re out, I’m currently leaning toward MABE.

Babywearing is something I can imagine doing constantly, especially when I want baby close but would also really enjoy having the use of both of my hands.

MABE seems to hit a nice middle ground between the really expensive structured carriers and cheaper options, with good reviews. Their Monarch carrier uses a 88% cotton + 12% linen exterior and has multiple carrying positions and is designed to grow from the newborn stage into toddlerhood.

There are also plenty of other organic-cotton, linen and woven-wrap carriers available, and you can save a little and buy a used Mabe carrier here.

Bouncer

For the bouncer, I chose the Bloom Coco Go 3-in-1 in the natural wood option.

I really liked this one aesthetically, but I also liked that it incorporates natural wood rather than looking like another giant piece of plastic baby equipment sitting in the middle of my house.

And if you want to take the natural-material approach even further here, I’d look for wood-framed bouncers with organic-cotton or other natural-fiber seats and pay attention to what’s actually inside any padded components, not just what the visible fabric is made from.

Bathing

Baby Bath

You honestly may not need a separate baby bathtub at all. A sink, a regular tub with support, or whatever setup feels safest and easiest for you may work perfectly well.

If you do want one, I think this is a category where silicone over wood makes a lot of sense. A bath support is constantly getting wet, so I’d prefer to have something nonporous, easy to rinse and quick to dry.

I registered for this one on Amazon. According to the manufacturer/seller, it’s made from 100% food-grade silicone/TPE, is free from BPA, PVC and phthalates, and complies with U.S. CPSC and ASTM safety standards. It also has an adjustable recline, non-slip silicone base and built-in temperature indicator, and is designed for newborns up to about 6 months/20 pounds.

Nails

I registered for the Haakaa rechargeable Happii Bear nail trimmer/buffer. I have a little thing like this for my bird’s nails and I like the convenience. It’s an electric filing/buffing system rather than traditional clippers.

Simpler option: baby nail clippers, rounded-tip scissors or a basic glass nail file.

Toothbrush

I also added Haakaa’s 360° silicone baby toothbrush with suction base. I like the soft silicone design for introducing oral care and gum brushing. Again, nothing elaborate required here. A simple age-appropriate silicone finger brush works too.

Hair Brush + Comb

If you want an actual hairbrush/comb set, this is another place where you can keep things extremely basic. I’d look for a wooden comb and natural-bristle baby brush, kind of like this set.

Towels

For towels, I’m going with the Quince Organic Turkish Cotton Baby Hooded Towel Set. This is currently a really reasonable price compared with a lot of specialty baby brands. More generally, I’d simply look for: 100% cotton → even better if organic cotton → done.

Soap + Body Wash

My general preference is fragrance-free, simple formulas and as few products as we actually need.

Earth Mama Simply Non-Scents Castile Baby Wash

A good liquid option that is fragrance-free and made without phthalates, parabens, triclosan or sulfates. The formula is based on coconut oil, olive oil, aloe, glycerin, shea butter and calendula, and it has the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance.

One thing to know: Earth Mama specifically notes that it is not a tear-free formula, so you’d want to be careful around baby’s eyes.

Or... just use a simple soap bar. We make an unscented goat-milk soap at Nourish, and that’s the type of straightforward traditional soap I’m perfectly happy using when appropriate. Ours uses nourishing fats including goat milk, lard and coconut oil.

Bath Toys

Bath toys are another category where I want to avoid the classic situation of water getting trapped inside a little rubber duck for six months. I like 100% food-grade silicone toys that open up or can be thoroughly cleaned and dried.

Mushie makes adorable options from 100% food-grade silicone, free from BPA, BPS, PVC and phthalates, and their mold-free bath toys separate into pieces so the inside can actually dry.

Health + Safety

Just listing a few basics I plan to have on hand (although there’s plenty of different options here):

• Safety 1st 3-in-1 Nursery Thermometer: just a basic digital thermometer, which is really all I wanted. It can be used rectally, under the arm, or orally as baby gets older, has a flexible tip and gives a reading in about 30 seconds. Can also just use what you already have. Nothing fancy, inexpensive, and gets the job done.

• Little Remedies Sterile Saline Nasal Mist: another extremely simple one. The ingredient list is literally water + sodium chloride, and it’s drug-free and preservative-free. You can use it to moisten/flush little nasal passages.

• Innovo Hospital-Grade Silicone Twister Bulb: for actually removing mucus, I chose a simple silicone bulb aspirator rather than something super elaborate. It was actually one of the first options that came up for me, and I like that silicone is easy to wash and the twist-apart style lets you actually get inside of it to clean and dry it properly instead of wondering what is growing inside a sealed bulb.

• Bebcare Hear Digital Audio Baby Monitor: this one I researched a little more because I wanted a monitor without automatically having Wi-Fi/video transmitting next to baby’s sleep space all night. According to their site, the Bebcare Hear is an audio-only, non-Wi-Fi monitor designed specifically around lower wireless emissions. Bebcare claims its system produces 94% lower wireless EMF emissions than the average baby monitor, so I want to be clear that this number is Bebcare’s own comparison claim, not some universal independent certification. Still, if reducing unnecessary wireless transmission is something you care about, the design itself makes sense to me as a lower-EMF option. It has a parent unit + baby unit, encrypted digital audio, up to 2,000 feet of advertised range, rechargeable batteries with up to 70 hours of standby time, a white-noise silencer, night light and lullabies, and it doesn’t require Wi-Fi or an app. There’s also an optional breathing sensor mat.

That’s about all I’m starting with here, unless I am missing something, moms?

Clothes

I am not going to list every single piece of clothing I registered for because we’d be here until this baby is born. Instead, I think the most helpful thing is explaining how I organized it, because staring at baby clothes with five different size ranges and absolutely no concept of how many sleepers a tiny human needs was initially not helpful.

How I personally organized the clothes

I divided everything into:

Newborn → 0–3 months → 3–6 months → 6–9 months → 9–12 months

Then I looked at what season our baby will actually be in during each size.

For us, that looks roughly like:

• Newborn: middle of a Michigan winter: COLD, snowy, lots of cozy layers, hats, mittens/booties, etc.

• 0–3 months: late winter into early spring: still plenty of warm clothes, but starting to transition.

• 3–6 months: spring into summer: lighter-weight clothes with some warmer layering pieces.

• 6–9 months: late summer into fall: just a few more lighter pieces transitioning into fall clothes... and obviously I had to account for her first Halloween*

• 9–12 months: fall into winter again: back to warm layers, outerwear and cold-weather gear.

This made making my clothing wish-list much easier.

*Like how can we not just oggle at how cute this ensemble is, and why do they not make this in adult sizing?

The basic checklist I worked from

You certainly don’t have to follow these numbers exactly and please remember I am a certified first time mom… I am just “best guessing” based on the research I’ve done. Some other factors to consider are how often you do laundry, how messy your baby is, how quickly he or she grows and how much clothing you receive secondhand.

But this gave me a really helpful starting point:

NEWBORN

• 3-5 footed sleepers

• 2-3 bodysuits

• 2-3 pants

• 1-2 outfits

• A few socks/booties + hats

0-3 MONTHS

• 5-7 footed sleepers

• 8-10 bodysuits

• 5-6 pants

• 2-4 outfits/rompers

• 1-2 layering pieces

3-6 MONTHS

• 5-7 footed sleepers

• 8-10 bodysuits

• 5-6 pants

• 3-5 rompers/outfits

• 1-2 layering pieces

6-9 MONTHS

• 5-7 footed sleepers

• 8-10 bodysuits/tops

• 5-7 pants

• 3-5 outfits

• 2-3 layering pieces

9-12 MONTHS

• 5-7 footed sleepers

• 8-10 bodysuits/tops

• 6-8 pants

• 3-5 outfits

• 2-3 layering pieces

Plus 2 or so swaddles for the newborn phase and 2 sleep sacks for the rest, but we talked about this above already.

Then add whatever makes sense seasonally: sun hats, warm hats, jackets, sweaters, mittens, booties, bunting/snowsuits, etc.

My easiest rule of thumb became roughly a week’s worth of basics in each size, adjusted for the season and how frequently you do laundry.

Where I’ve been shopping

For clothing, I’m primarily looking for cotton, organic cotton, linen and wool, depending on the piece and season.

One important caveat: I am not saying everything sold by every one of these stores is made from 100% natural materials. A store might have a beautiful 100% organic-cotton sleeper sitting right beside one made with a cotton/polyester blend, so you should still checking the actual fabric composition of every piece.

Some of the places I’ve had the most luck (price to material wise) include:

• Carter’s

• Quince

• ButterBlu

• Gap

• Old Navy

• Small Story

• Tiny Kind

• Viverano

• Burt’s Bees Baby

• Monica + Andy

• MamaOwl

• Little Green Radicals

• Maisonette

• Colored Organics

• Hanna Anderson

• H&M

• Mebie Baby

• LovedBaby

There are a lot more “dreamier” brands, but for an item of clothing that will only be worn for a few month span, I am (usually) not going to spend a fortune. And don’t overlook Carter’s just because it’s such a mainstream baby brand. They actually have quite a few cotton and organic-cotton options, you just have to check the composition because other pieces contain polyester.

My other strategy has been shopping ahead based on season and stalking clearance sections. Once I know approximately what size she’ll be wearing during each season, I can grab things as they get marked down. I’ve already found some really nice pieces for $4-5 each this way!!

Obviously there’s always a gamble that baby grows faster or slower than expected, so I’m not buying an enormous wardrobe years in advance. But for basics and inexpensive clearance finds, I’ve been having a lot of fun with this.

For my personal situation, I plan to grab a few special winter pieces.

As mentioned, most of baby’s wardrobe does not need to be expensive, but there are a few pieces where I’m intentionally spending more for beautiful natural materials, warmth and something that can hopefully be passed down to future babies.

MamaOwl Pipit Merino Wool Fleece Baby Suit + Bonnet

This is one of my bigger investment pieces. I wanted one really beautiful, timeless wool piece that would keep baby warm during our Michigan winters, and I’m intentionally choosing a neutral color so it can be passed down regardless of whether a future baby is a boy or girl.

Even though we’ll have a newborn in the winter, I am not buying this one in newborn size. Because she’ll be brand new during her first winter, I don’t think I’d get enough use out of such an expensive piece before she outgrew it. Instead, I’m registering for 6-12 months, which should put us right into her second fall and winter and give us considerably more wear from it.

This is exactly where I think spending more makes sense: buy fewer really special pieces, choose a useful size, and hopefully use them for multiple children.

Little Green Radicals Hooded Snug Suit

For that second winter, I’m also adding this little snow suit. Again, I’m intentionally sizing the more substantial winter pieces for when she’s older rather than investing heavily in newborn outerwear that may fit for five minutes.

Pehr Teddy Fleece Baby Suit

For her first winter as a newborn, I’m going with the Pehr Teddy Fleece Baby Suit in 0-3 months. It’s less of an investment than my MamaOwl wool suit but still gives me that cozy little full-body layer I’m looking for during those first freezing months. While there’s a pink color, I’ll choose this more neutral option for future-baby-purposes.

Socks, Booties + Mittens

Especially with socks, a little synthetic fiber is often added for stretch and to help them actually stay on baby’s foot, so it’s hard to find 100% natural material. So, I’m looking for predominantly natural fibers.

Some places I’ve found good options:

Viverano: lots of organic-cotton baby basics and accessories.

ButterBlu: another good place for simple basics.

Carter’s: has some surprisingly good little cotton bootie options if you check the materials, like these.

Burt’s Bees Baby: I really like their quilted booties.

Quince, Carter’s + Small Story: places I’ve found good sock options. Again, check the percentages because socks are commonly blends.

Ten Little Everyday Baby Booties: another practical little shoe/bootie option for when we actually need something on her feet.

Again since we’ve got rough winters, my splurge is on these sheepskin baby booties from EAST PERRY in the 6-12 month size, which will get me through September-February.

And final winter splurge: DILLING merino-wool baby mittens. We’re staying warm out here.

Overall, clothing is probably the easiest category to make much more natural-material-forward without spending a fortune.

You can buy beautiful organic wool baby clothes from specialty European brands, but you can also walk into a Carter’s clearance section and find a perfectly good cotton bodysuit for five bucks. I’m doing mostly the latter, but a little bit of both for more important items.

Playing & Toys

This is another category where I think there is a ton of wiggle room. I mostly found myself gravitating toward simple wooden toys, high-contrast visuals, basic sensory items, and soft toys made from organic or natural fibers where I could find them.

So this is very much my list, not the list.

• Under the Nile stuffed animals: these are one of the few plush options I found that are actually natural inside and out. Their toys are made and stuffed with 100% organic Egyptian cotton, GOTS certified, and the company says they’re free from things like flame retardants, formaldehyde, PVC, fragrance and lead. They are definitely more expensive, so I’m not buying a whole zoo. I just registered for one or two special ones, like the bear.

• Wee Gallery sensory toys: I really like this brand for the newborn/early baby stage. Their woodland activity pad has a 100% organic cotton shell and fill, along with crinkle, rattle, squeak and a maple-wood teether. Their high-contrast cards are also such a simple way to give baby something visually interesting without lights and batteries everywhere. I also added the woodland soft block, which uses organic cotton fabrics with a foam inner cube, so again, not completely natural throughout, but still a nice sensory option.

• Joliecraft rattle: the simple little rattle I mentioned earlier. Supa cute.

• Poppyseed play wooden baby gym: very simple and not visually overwhelming. The frame is natural pine, the hanging toys are beech wood, and there are food-grade silicone beads. Poppyseed says there are no coatings or finishes on the wood. There are lots of similar wooden baby gyms out there, so you absolutely don’t need this exact one.

• The original baby paper: basically a little crinkly sensory square that babies can grab, squeeze and chew on.

• Estella organic-cotton handmade rattle: another cute soft sensory/rattle option.

• Pottery Barn Kids natural baby critter stacker: just a cute 100% cotton stacking toy.

• Books: and then I added some books, literally just old favorites of mine that I want to read to her, like Goodnight Moon and Night Night Farm.

Babies are probably going to teach all of us that the most exciting toy in the house is eventually going to be a wooden spoon, an empty box or the tag attached to the expensive organic toy anyway.

And that’s a wrap!!!

If you made it this far, I hope this was helpful! As I mentioned in my last post, a lot of my first trimester was a bit of a struggle bus. I wasn’t feeling like myself, wasn’t doing a whole lot, and ended up spending a lot of time sitting on my computer researching baby things.

I went back through certifications I’d researched in the past when buying furniture for our home, refreshed myself on materials, learned about some new ones, compared an absurd number of products, and slowly started putting together what felt right for us.

And honestly it ended up being time really well spent because I feel like I have such a better understanding now of what I actually care about, where I’m willing to compromise, where I think spending more is worthwhile, and where the inexpensive/simple option is perfectly fine. More than anything, I now have a really good visual of what that first year may look like, which makes this whole becoming-a-mom thing feel a little less abstract and even more exciting :)

I also want to reiterate that this is just MY registry and MY approach.

This is absolutely not an exhaustive list of every great lower-tox or natural-material baby product out there. There are so many other wonderful brands and resources and momma blogs and sites I came across along the way, and plenty of products I didn’t choose simply because... one baby can only use so much stuff!

There are also places where I prioritized natural materials heavily, places where I chose a well-tested synthetic material because it made more sense for the job, places where I splurged, places where I went with the $5 clearance option, and a few things I registered for simply because I thought they were really cute!

And I think that’s kind of the point. You don’t need a perfectly “non-toxic” baby registry. You don’t need every certification or the most expensive version of everything. And you certainly don’t need to make all of the same choices I did!

My hope is simply that the research I did gives you a starting point, some materials to look for, certifications to recognize, brands to explore, and maybe a few rabbit holes you now don’t have to go down yourself.

Annnnd, if you want to see everything I ended up choosing in one place, I’ll link our actual baby registry here as well. I could’ve just shared this, but I really wanted to go more into depth on things and provide a more useful, comprehensive guide for you all.

Fair warning: I’m still finalizing it! I’m continuing to swap things in and out as I learn more, find better options, realize I registered for something completely unnecessary, or change my mind, which I have done approximately 400 times while writing this article.

So consider the registry the living, breathing version of this post.

And if you found this guide helpful and want to support the frankly embarrassing number of hours I spent putting it together, using one of my affiliate links when you happen to purchase something off Amazon is an incredibly easy way to do that, and I genuinely appreciate it. Plus we have Nourish Food Club, which is our amazing food cooperative/collection of small farms that ships farm-fresh foods and other items nationwide. (My husband Brandon, 50% of my baby, is also co-owner of Nourish, as well as Ashley (my sista, but y’all already know that)).

Now I am officially closing the 47 baby-product tabs currently open on my computer.

breathes sigh of relief

Love you guys.

I’M PREGNANT. 🥹

Even typing that still feels completely surreal. I’ve officially entered my second trimester, there is a little baby growing inside of me, and somehow I still wake up some mornings thinking… wait, this is real?! This is actually happening?!

For those of you who have followed Ashley and me for a long time, you know there is a lot of history behind those words. You’ve watched me navigate getting my period back, hormone health, under-eating, over-exercising, not eating enough carbohydrates, crash diets, extreme diets, and eventually finding a much more balanced relationship with food, exercise, and our bodies. We’ve shared so much of that evolution publicly over the last six or seven years, both here and through our podcast, Rooted in Resilience, so I don’t want to retell that entire story today.

Instead, I want to tell you about the chapter that came after it. The one that ultimately brought me here!

How we got here

Earlier this year, at the end of January, I underwent laparoscopic surgery for suspected endometriosis. I shared quite a bit about that experience with our newsletter community at the time, both before surgery and afterward, and I was honestly blown away by how many women reached out to me. Some had walked almost the exact same road, some were preparing for surgery themselves, some were struggling with painful cycles or fertility, and others simply wanted me to know they were praying for me and rooting for me.

It was incredibly heartwarming. There is something about hearing another woman say, me too, especially when you’re dealing with something involving your reproductive health, that makes an experience feel a little less lonely.

During surgery, my doctor found one endometriosis lesion on one side and a fairly large retraction pocket on the other, both of which were addressed. Even more reassuring to me was that my ovaries and fallopian tubes looked good, and my tubes were cleared during the procedure. I walked away feeling like I had done what I could do at that moment to give my body a supportive environment moving forward.

Afterward, I also started pelvic floor physical therapy, which ended up being valuable for reasons that extended far beyond fertility. I learned more about 360-degree breathing, how to properly brace and use my core, and where I personally held tension versus where I needed more strength and coordination. I genuinely think some form of pelvic-floor assessment can be incredibly helpful for women who aren’t sure what’s going on down there, especially because so many of us go through life without ever really learning how our pelvic floor and core are supposed to function together.

Did pelvic floor PT help me get pregnant? I have absolutely no idea. Did removing the endometriosis help? Maybe. Did having my tubes flushed during surgery play a role? Maybe. Or perhaps none of those things were the thing and the timing simply happened to be right. I don’t think I’ll ever know, and I don’t want to retrofit a neat explanation onto something that I can’t actually prove.

What I do know is that somewhere during that recovery period, something changed in me emotionally.

For more than a year before surgery, even during periods when we weren’t officially “trying,” I was very aware of my cycle. There were months when I intentionally tried to time intercourse around when I thought I might be fertile, quietly hoping maybe this will be it. And when it wasn’t, my period wasn’t simply my period. Because my cycles had become so painful, it was this horrible physical experience layered on top of the emotional reminder that once again, I wasn’t pregnant.

Choosing surgery was also, in its own way, choosing to put that dream on hold. I knew there would be time before and after the procedure when pregnancy wasn’t the priority, and when you already feel ready to become a mom yesterday, intentionally adding more waiting isn’t necessarily easy.

But strangely, somewhere in that waiting, I found peace.

I stopped feeling like I needed to control exactly when it happened. Brandon and I weren’t in a place where we were actively scheduling or seriously trying for a baby. We were focusing on each other, our businesses, our home, and life in general, and I had genuinely reached a place where I thought: when the time is right, it will happen.

And then came one very lucky Tuesday in May.

The Tuesday that changed everything

I had still been loosely tracking my cycle through my Oura Ring and MIRA, although neither gave me a perfectly clear picture. I tend to drink a lot of fluids, which meant my urine was frequently pretty diluted for MIRA testing, so I took the information I could get from it without treating any single reading as gospel.

Then, in May, I decided to start using the basic little LH pee strips.

Literally the first afternoon I used one, the test line was DARK. It wasn’t darker than the control line, so technically I wasn’t looking at what I’d consider a clear positive, but I remember thinking, Hmm. Okay. Not quite there yet, but probably a good day.

So... I took my chances!!

The next afternoon I tested again and the line had already dropped dramatically. Based on that pattern, I suspect I ovulated sometime around that window, but I obviously can’t know exactly when it happened. Or maybe I did not ovulate. I could not tell.

What makes the whole thing even crazier is that we did not have intercourse any other day within that fertile window.

That Tuesday was it.

Apparently, that Tuesday was enough.

About 10 or 11 days later, I took a pregnancy test… and there was a line. Sort of?

Guys. When I say this thing was FAINT... I mean FAINTTTTT. 😂

I stared at it. I moved it into different lighting. I adjusted the contrast on the pictures. I questioned whether I was imagining it. I took another test. And another. And then began what I can only describe as my brief career as a professional pregnancy-test analyst.

The excitement was almost immediately accompanied by fear: What if I lose it? What if something goes wrong? What if this isn’t actually real? What if it’s a false positive?

Naturally, the solution my brain came up with was to buy approximately 30 more pregnancy tests.

Eventually, I got the magical little PREGNANT on a digital test, which somehow made it feel more legitimate. A few days later, I finally got the infamous “dye stealer,” and that gave me another little moment of okay... we’re here. This is real.

Except... WHAT IS REAL?!?!?!

I’m serious. As a first-time mom-to-be, I’m becoming convinced that nothing can completely solidify in your brain that you’re actually having a baby until someone physically hands you your baby. Even now, at the beginning of my second trimester, there are mornings when I wake up and think, I’m pregnant? There’s actually a BABY in there? And I’m going to give birth to it and it’s going to LIVE WITH US?!

It feels like I’m living inside a dream.

And I don’t say that lightly. I am so, so grateful to be pregnant and carrying my first child. After the years of working to restore my cycle, the painful periods, the months of hoping, and eventually making the decision to have surgery knowing it would temporarily push the possibility of pregnancy even further away, I don’t think I’ll ever take for granted what my body is doing right now.

But apparently you can be unbelievably grateful to be pregnant while simultaneously wondering how the human species has survived this long because, my goodness...

First Trimester Diaries: HOW have we survived evolutionarily?!

I knew pregnancy could make you tired. I knew nausea was a thing. I’d heard about food aversions.

I was still wildly unprepared for what those things actually felt like.

The exhaustion

There was no amount of healthy food, calories, hydration, sleep, or positive thinking that was going to convince my body it wasn’t exhausted. For essentially the entire first trimester, I was DRAINED.

Waking up was often the hardest part of my day. There were mornings when simply getting out of bed, walking downstairs, and making myself something to drink felt like I had completed a workout. I did my best to keep up with work and still take the dogs for a walk most days, but there were absolutely days when, had life allowed it, I could have happily stayed in bed from morning until night.

I often felt a little better as I got more food into me throughout the day, but then around 4 p.m. I’d be pretty cooked again.

I could spend 10+ hours in bed and wake up feeling like I had been awake all night.

Logically, I understand that my body has been undergoing an enormous amount of change to support a developing baby and placenta, so the fatigue makes sense. Experiencing it is another thing entirely. It gave me a whole new appreciation for women who go through the first trimester while caring for other children, working physically demanding jobs, or dealing with severe pregnancy sickness. I truly don’t know how you do it.

The nausea

Then there was the nausea. Mine was thankfully not anywhere near hyperemesis gravidarum territory, and I only actually threw up on maybe five days total, which I consider a win. But the low-grade nausea was almost always hanging around.

And hilariously, mine actually seemed to get WORSE toward the end of the first trimester, right when I thought I was supposed to be emerging triumphantly from the nausea fog.

The biggest lesson I learned very quickly was: do not let the stomach become empty.

If I waited too long to eat after waking up, I could end up dry heaving. If I went too long between meals or snacks, sometimes literally only around two hours, nausea would start creeping in again. Thinking about certain foods could make me nauseous. Smelling certain foods could make me nauseous. Looking at certain foods could make me nauseous.

Which brings me to...

WHY DOES THE FRIDGE SMELL LIKE THAT?!

Nobody else smells it. I need everyone to understand this.

My refrigerator apparently smells completely normal to every other person who enters my home but to me it is absolutely disgusting.

There were times when I would stand in the kitchen hungry, knowing that eating would make me feel better, but I couldn’t bring myself to open the refrigerator because I knew the smell would hit me. And yes, there were moments where this predicament genuinely made me want to cry.

Eventually I developed the highly sophisticated pregnancy survival technique of taking a deep breath, holding it, opening the fridge, grabbing whatever I needed as quickly as possible, closing it, walking away, and breathing again.

I still have to do this.

Strong-smelling foods have been equally questionable. Brandon has been loving this homemade taco salad I make, which includes a heavily seasoned tomato-based sauce, and the smell of that sauce GETS ME every single time. Sometimes I genuinely have to create physical distance between myself and his dinner.

Pregnancy is romantic.

My favorite foods betrayed me

If you’ve followed us for any length of time, you probably know I (we) love Japanese sweet potatoes.

Daily staple. Love of my life. Could eat them constantly.

I have not eaten ONE since roughly a week after finding out I was pregnant.

I can’t. I don’t know what they did to me. I don’t know why my baby apparently has a personal vendetta against Japanese sweet potatoes. But even thinking about eating one has been an immediate no.

Honestly, that has been the strangest part of food during pregnancy. Things I absolutely loved before suddenly sounded horrible, while the foods that worked were often extremely simple, cold, fresh, or relatively odorless.

Fruit has saved me. Melon in the morning especially has been a lifesaver when nothing else sounds possible. Smoothies have occasionally worked, although sometimes even the concept of blending a bunch of ingredients together gives me the ick.

Salads? Couldn’t touch one for basically the entire first trimester. Then recently I had three salads and thought, WE’RE BACK! They were incredible. Lettuce, apple, dried cranberries, hemp or pumpkin seeds, chicken, sourdough croutons, and a sweet/tangy dressing? Absolutely slapped.

Then I ate it a few times and my body said, Actually, we’re done with that now.

That’s another bizarre pregnancy phenomenon I’ve discovered. Something can be your safe food for approximately 72 hours and then, without warning, it has betrayed you too.

Plain salted pasta has gotten me through a lot. Occasionally I could sneak some peas or broccoli into it. Sometimes a tomato-based pasta worked. For a while even sourdough sounded terrible, which felt particularly offensive.

Thankfully, a couple weeks ago I got a shipment of Nourish heritage wheat sourdough products (because I physically cannot make my own at this point - too many smells and textures) and suddenly bread was back “in”, baby.

And bread has been giving me LIFE.

Two to three slices of sourdough toast with raw honey, coconut oil or butter (when the smell is tolerable), Ceylon cinnamon and salt? Incredible. Savory toast with beans mashed into a hummus-like spread, tomato and salt? Also incredible. Sometimes. Croutons on the aforementioned short-lived salad obsession? Incredible.

So if anyone reading this is currently in their first trimester surviving on whatever random rotation of foods their body has approved for the next 48 hours... I see you.

I’m still looking forward to the day when food tastes absolutely amazing again and I can eat all of my normal favorites. At the moment, though, I’m still somewhere between things are improving and we are surviving.

The part I really wasn’t prepared for

As difficult as the physical symptoms were, there was another part of early pregnancy that I was even less prepared for: the uncertainty.

You can spend years dreaming about becoming pregnant. You imagine seeing the positive test, telling your husband, growing a belly, feeling kicks, decorating a nursery, holding your baby.

What I hadn’t imagined was what it would feel like to finally get that positive test and suddenly realize how little control you have over what happens next.

Especially during those first few weeks, before an ultrasound or hearing a heartbeat if you choose to do those things, there isn’t necessarily anything tangible telling you, Yep! Everything is going perfectly in there!

Meanwhile, your body is doing things it has never done before. Every sensation is new. You don’t know what’s normal because you’ve never been pregnant before. And if you start searching online, it takes approximately four seconds before you’re exposed to miscarriage stories, complications, loss, symptoms you’re supposed to watch for, symptoms disappearing, symptoms appearing, and every possible thing that could theoretically go wrong.

For me, roughly weeks three through seven were the hardest mentally.

I wish I had been more protective of myself during that period.

There is absolutely value in being informed. There are symptoms in pregnancy that deserve medical attention, and I don’t believe in burying our heads in the sand or pretending difficult outcomes don’t exist. But I’ve also learned that being informed does not require repeatedly exposing myself to every heartbreaking thing that has ever happened to another pregnant woman.

Those are two very different things.

Eventually, I started leaning much more heavily into my faith. Not because faith gives me a guarantee that nothing difficult could ever happen, because it doesn’t. Pregnancy is inherently uncertain, and I am writing this while still very much in mine. I don’t know how the rest of this story unfolds.

What faith has given me is somewhere to put the uncertainty.

Instead of waking up every morning searching for evidence that something might be wrong, I’ve been trying to trust my body, trust this baby, trust God, and believe that I don’t need to spend today grieving an outcome that hasn’t happened.

I can simply be pregnant today. I can be hopeful today. I can believe that this baby is growing beautifully today. And I can allow this to be sacred and joyful even though I don’t have a guarantee about tomorrow.

I also want to say this with tremendous tenderness toward every mother who has experienced pregnancy or infant loss. I cannot imagine the depth of that grief, and my heart genuinely aches for anyone who has had to walk through it. Believing in your body, having faith, or thinking positively does not determine whether someone experiences loss. What I’m describing is simply the place I’ve personally learned to turn when the uncertainty becomes overwhelming.

Looking back, I wish I hadn’t filled quite so much of those earliest days with stories about everything that could go wrong. I wish I had protected that little bubble more and allowed myself to experience the beginning of my first pregnancy without constantly searching for reasons it might end.

I can’t change those weeks, but I can choose differently now. And these days, I’m choosing hope.

Okay, now for the FUN part...

Because OH MY GOODNESS there is so much to be excited about!!!!!

First of all... IS IT A BOY or IS IT A GIRL?!?!

Technically, somewhere in the universe, the answer already exists because I had NIPT testing done and the results are sitting there waiting for us (Ashley knows!). But Brandon and I haven’t looked! We’re having a little gender reveal get-together this weekend, where we’ll find out together with our family and friends.

I. CANNOT. WAIT.

At the beginning of pregnancy, I’ll admit I thought I wanted a girl. I grew up with one sister and no brothers, so girls simply feel familiar to me. I can picture a daughter because I know what sisterhood and being a little girl looked like in my own family.

But somewhere along the way, I started imagining the possibility of a little son. Oh my goodness.

Now I genuinely have no preference (phew). The thought of either makes my heart feel like it could explode. I just want to meet my baby.

I daydream about holding him or her for the first time and looking into those little eyes, realizing I’m holding this tiny person God created who is also half of my favorite person in the world (my husband). I think about the fact that I get to spend the rest of my life knowing, loving, protecting, teaching, and caring for this person.

It’s almost too much to comprehend, and it’s the ordinary things I keep imagining.

Going on my walks, except now I’m pushing a stroller. Giving a tiny baby a bath before bedtime. Watching a little mobile slowly turn above the crib. Sitting on the couch unable to accomplish anything because a warm little baby is contact napping on me and obviously I cannot move because that would be illegal.

I want those things SO badly.

Which is also why I’ve strategically avoided a particular genre of pregnancy and parenting commentary:

“Just wait...”

• Just wait until you don’t recognize your body.

• Just wait until you never sleep.

• Just wait until you can’t leave the house.

• Just wait until your whole life revolves around the baby.

• Just wait until the first diaper blowout.

• Just wait until...

You know what?

Yes, my life is going to change.

That’s the whole point.

I don’t want my life to remain exactly as it is now. I have wanted this change for a very long time.

Of course motherhood is going to contain difficult things. I’m not expecting every night feeding or screaming baby or bodily-fluid-related catastrophe to feel magical. I’m sure there will be moments when I’m exhausted, overwhelmed, touched out, frustrated, and wondering what on earth I’m doing.

But those aren’t reasons for me to dread motherhood. They’re part of becoming a mother. I don’t need motherhood to be easy for it to be worth it. All I know right now is that when I imagine the hard things alongside the possibility of getting to hold and love my own little baby, there isn’t a single “just wait” that makes me want this any less.

I want to experience it, all of it.

Apparently, preparing for a baby is also my new favorite hobby

Another unexpectedly fun part of pregnancy has been building our registry.

I did not anticipate enjoying this nearly as much as I have. 😂

Going through everything we’ll eventually need has made the whole thing feel even more real because suddenly I’m picturing where the baby will sleep, what we’ll use for baths, what tiny clothes will be folded into the dresser, what we’ll use for diaper changes, what toys will eventually be scattered around our house... all these tiny details of a life that doesn’t exist yet but somehow already feels like it’s starting to take shape.

And because I am me, you can probably imagine that I have gone DEEP into researching materials etc.

I’ve spent years doing this for our food, our home, personal-care products, cookware, clothing, you name it, so naturally I was never going to buy a crib mattress without reading approximately 47 tabs first.

I’ve been looking at things like lower-VOC furniture and finishes, mattress materials, natural fibers such as cotton and wool, fragrance-free baby-care products, diaper materials, bath products, toys, clothing, and all of the other little things that will eventually surround our baby. I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised by how many options there are now, including choices made with simpler materials that aren’t necessarily dramatically more expensive.

I’m also planning to experiment with a hybrid diaper situation: some cloth, some disposable. Cloth diapering obviously requires more upfront investment and effort, but because the diapers can be reused, there’s potential for meaningful savings over time, especially if they work well for our family. At the same time, I know myself well enough to know I don’t need to turn diapering into another purity contest. If disposables make sense, we’ll use disposables.

That has really been my philosophy with the entire registry: educate myself, make thoughtful choices where they matter to us, and then live our lives.

And I feel really good about it.

But... how am I supposed to know how to be someone’s MOM?

This thought has crossed my mind more than once.

What if something happens and I don’t know what to do? What if my baby is crying and I can’t figure out why? How do you go from never having a baby to suddenly being responsible for keeping an entire tiny human alive?!

I imagine this is a pretty normal fear for a first-time mom.

But I’ve also been thinking a lot about how I want to approach that uncertainty, because I know myself. I could VERY easily spend the next six months reading every parenting book, listening to every podcast, comparing every philosophy, and eventually becoming so overwhelmed by conflicting information that I trust myself less than when I started.

I don’t want to do that.

I absolutely want to learn. There are books I want to read, skills I want to understand, safety information I need to know, and people whose wisdom I deeply value. Asking for help and seeking professional guidance when something is outside my knowledge isn’t a failure of intuition either.

But I also believe there is something deeply intuitive about learning your own baby.

My grandma and great-grandma weren’t scrolling through 37 competing opinions about wake windows at 2 a.m. Women have been learning their babies for generations, and I want to leave enough quiet in my own mind to do that too.

Maybe I won’t always know immediately. I’m sure I won’t. But rather than beginning motherhood from the assumption that I am unqualified until someone else tells me what to do, I want to enter it believing that I am capable of paying attention, learning, asking for help when I need it, and becoming the mother my baby needs over time.

And strangely, that brings me back to where this whole story started.

For so many years, so much of my relationship with my body was centered around trying to understand it. Getting my cycle back. Healing. Paying attention to symptoms. Experimenting. Tracking. Learning. Wondering what else I needed to do or what piece I might still be missing.

And now, after all of that, my body is growing my baby.

As I mentioned, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully put into words what that means to me.

There is still so much I don’t know. As I’m writing this, I don’t even know yet whether I’m carrying a little boy or girl. I don’t know what kind of birth I’ll have, what kind of sleeper this baby will be, whether I’ll actually love cloth diapering as much as I currently think I will, or what motherhood will feel like when it’s no longer something I’ve spent years imagining.

And maybe that’s part of what this entire journey has been teaching me. There are things we can do to support ourselves, things we can learn, choices we can make, and information that can help us tremendously. But there are also parts of life we simply cannot research or control our way through.

Pregnancy has already forced me to sit with more uncertainty than I expected, and while I certainly haven’t mastered it, I’m learning to leave a little more room for faith.

So when someone says, “Just wait until your whole life changes,” I can’t help but smile.

Yes. That’s the whole point. I’ve wanted this change for a very, very long time, and I feel unbelievably lucky that I finally get to experience it.

I’m pregnant. I’m going to be a mom. And somehow, even after months of knowing that, typing those words still feels completely surreal. 🥹

I have a feeling I’ll have a lot more to share as I figure all of this out, so consider this the official beginning of my motherhood diaries. ❤️

Love,

Sarah

P.S. As you can probably tell, I have gone deep into researching our registry, especially when it comes to materials, nursery furniture, mattresses, diapers, clothing, bath products, toys, and all the other things that will eventually surround our baby. If you’re pregnant, hoping to be someday, shopping for another little one, or simply curious and would like me to share our actual registry and the lower-tox/natural options I’ve landed on, let me know! I’d be happy to share everything I’ve researched so you can steal whatever is helpful rather than opening the approximately 900 tabs I did.