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We wholeheartedly recommend the products/companies we list on this page. Many of the products we have purchased ourselves and use (or used) on a daily, if not weekly, basis!

*See disclosures here.

A few notes before we dig in:

– These are products that have worked for our family. You and your family are unique, so what meets your needs may be very different. This list is simply meant to answer the question, “What items did you find to be helpful?“

– Although we are by no means “minimalists,” we do believe that less physical stuff can be a good thing (more financial flexibility, less time spent organizing and stewarding things, etc.). The items on this list have been paired down to display only what we found was truly needed/added value to our lives.

– In learning more about child development and how to best support it, we have endeavored to avoid certain baby products that are often shared as “must haves” (e.g. motorized swings, bouncers, jumpers, Bumbo-style seats, synthetic/stain-resistant fabric items, pacifiers, swaddles, etc.). If you are curious as to why we have made these choices, a great place to start is On-Track Baby’s courses. The book recommendations on this page and our Pregnancy, Labor and Postpartum page also shed some light on the subject.

– Make sure to consult with a trusted health professional before starting any supplements, exercises, etc. We are not health professionals, and any information shared is for educational purposes only.

– Do not underestimate the amount of money you can save buying things secondhand! We have found many items for a discounted price though Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Amazon’s refurbished market, Nextdoor and Poshmark (Use our code ERICAKBARLOW for $10 off when you sign up on Poshmark). Just be wise about what products you source secondhand (ex: you may not want to source un-washable fabric items, but used books and wooden toys may be just fine). Before using any secondhand items, we recommend running washable items through the wash at least once and thoroughly washing/sanitizing hard surface items.

Resting/Sleep

We recommend all parents or soon-to-be parents read this book before purchasing any resting or sleeping items for baby: Sweet Sleep: Nighttime and Naptime Strategies for the Breastfeeding Family. We found it to be a truly helpful resource that cuts through all the marketing and cultural practices that oftentimes run counter to God’s design in breastfeeding and sleep. Of course, each family will have to decide what will work best for their particular situation, but it is so helpful to see what is normal vs what is common. From there, you can consider which items will add value to your life.

  • Moses basket – A great option for supervised co-sleeping; a safe space to set baby during those early weeks while you get things done around the house! A close friend passed along their Moses basket to our family. However, if we needed to buy a new one, we would definitely consider one of Plum+Sparrow or Little Green Sheep’s baskets. Plum+Sparrow’s baskets are made from elephant grass and are chemical and fire retardant free. The coloring of the basket comes from natural dye made from native plants. Little Green Sheep’s basket is made from palm leaves and their inserts (“mattresses”) use some of the best materials we have seen. Moses baskets are such versatile pieces and can be easily brought along for park dates, not to mention used to corral stuffed animals or toys once baby is older!
    • In case you are curious, we have opted to not use a crib for either baby. Co-sleeping has provided Erica with excellent bonding time, more restful sleep (since she’s not having to get up and walk to or lift a baby out of a crib or co-sleeper), and is one less piece of furniture that is limited to one stage of life. If you are interested in co-sleeping, definitely check out our book recommendation from above to learn about how to safely enjoy it!
  • Moses basket insert (“mattress”) – When that same friend was expecting, we sewed the insert ourselves using USA-grown, organic cotton fabric and fill from a company called SOS from Texas. We eyeballed the size, so unfortunately we do not have any pattern to share. If store-bought is more your style, consider one of Little Green Sheep’s mattresses.
  • Moses basket sheets – We also sewed these ourselves using the same USA-grown, organic cotton fabric we mentioned earlier. We made two so that my friend could cycle through them as needed. Because the insert itself is 100% cotton, you can throw it in the washing machine along with the sheets, should it get soiled. However, if you would like another layer of liquid resistance, you might consider sewing or purchasing a chemical free wool fabric/cover. If store-bought is more your style, consider one of Little Green Sheep’s organic cotton and linen sheets. Either way, handmade or store-bought, we recommend having at least two on hand to rotate through during washings.
  • Wool puddle pad – As an extra layer of protection between our son’s sheets and mattress, we use a wool puddle pad. His is 30 inches by 40 inches and was purchased from this shop, but it looks like it is no longer sold. If we were to make a new purchase, we would consider this option or this option from Etsy. If you have not heard of puddle pads before, you should check them out. Wool is a natural material and has excellent thermo-regulating properties. Wool is also liquid-resistant after being lanolized and felted, making it an effective and eco-friendly way to keep mattresses from getting soiled!

Nursing, Breastmilk Storage and Bottles

Erica exclusively breastfed our son, and she got to bring him to work with her once her maternity leave was up. She plans to exclusively breastfeed our daughter as well. Below we have listed some of the items we made/purchased in light of this:

  • Nursing pillow – This is another item that we sewed ourselves for my friend and that was passed on once we had our first baby. For this, we did use a pattern. You can find the pattern for the insert and cover here. Same drill with the fabric and fill as with the Moses basket accessories. Some great options for fill for nursing pillows (and pillows in general once baby is old enough) are: organic cotton, wool, buckwheat, kapok and millet. We would avoid latex fill after reading concerns about molding occurring for some. For sourcing many of the fills we list, check out BeanProductsInc on Etsy. Although we have not purchased their fills individually, we have personal pillows that are 1/2 buckwheat and 1/2 millet that are very comfortable and have held up well after years of use. Erica would also like to mention that a nursing pillow is not one of the things she would categorize as a “must” for her. Regular pillows stacked and contorted as needed can work just as well! That being said, if store-bought nursing pillows are more your style, check out this article for some recommendations. A removable cover for washing is a nice feature to look for.
  • Manual breast pump – Erica has the Haakaa Silicone Breast Pump & Silicone Cap, made from 100% food grade silicone. The particular model we linked has a suction cup base to prevent spills and a tight fitting lid to allow for breastmilk storage right in the container itself, if needed. Erica found the Haakaa to be really helpful, particularly in those first few months where oversupply and leaking was a challenge. Please note that this particular pump is not automatic; it requires manual expression and can also suction to the breast to collect let down.
  • Reusable nursing pads – Erica’s two sets (12 total) are handmade with organic cotton from the Etsy shop oteKLOTH, but it looks like those are no longer available. If she were to make a new purchase, she would look into TheConsciousCloth’s nursing pads from Etsy. Reusable nursing pads can be so helpful for those first few months after baby is born, and a chemical-free fabric is ideal for such a sensitive and important part of the body!
  • Breastmilk storage – We have used Ball canning jars, if needed, specifically these 4 oz. jars. For tips on freezing liquids in glass jars, check out this article. For plastic-free (and rust + leak proof) lids, check out these from LifeWithoutPlastic. If you are still concerned with the idea of freezing glass but still want to avoid plastic, you could check out Haakaa’s silicone storage pouches. They may not be feasible to purchase in bulk if you are trying to build up a substantial supply of frozen breastmilk, but we have really enjoyed having a few on hand (plus, they double as baby food pouches!).
  • Bottles – We opted for glass, as we work to avoid plastic where we can in our home. We purchased one of these bottles to have on hand as needed (Amazon link here). We also found three of the same type of bottles at our local Goodwill. As of publishing this page, our son has yet to take a bottle, so unfortunately we are unable to comment on the specific use/longevity of the bottles we choose. We have run across better choice nipples (e.g. 100% natural rubber), but you will need to check for yourself what nipples will fit the bottles you choose.

Diaper Changing Basics

  • Changing table – Finding an affordable, solid wood changing table with an eco-friendly paint/finish proved to be very difficult. Because of this, we opted to go the DIY route. These are the plans we used. This is the paint we used (color: Barely White 0021), and this is the glue we used. (We bought a gallon of the paint and have used it to paint a king size headboard and bed frame, two nightstands, two changing tables, and five pieces of wall art – in other words, one gallon will cover A LOT of projects!) If the DIY route is not for you, and you are working on a budget like we were, you may want to check out what is available locally on the secondhand market. We would recommend looking for solid wood (particle board and other glued “wood” items are known to off-gas the chemicals used to keep them together). You can always repaint, too, if you want to seal in any less-than ideal chemicals!
  • Changing mat – If a simple, thick cotton (or wool) blanket set on the floor or bed does not fit your family’s needs, check out Naturepedic’s mat (Amazon link here). This mat can be wiped clean and used without a cover. We have found these on the secondhand market in great condition and significantly cheaper than brand new!
  • Changing mat covers – Although the changing pad we recommend can be used without a cover, we have a set of Burt’s Bees organic cotton covers (Amazon link here). We like being able to wash a cover in the washing machine, especially for those dirty diaper changes where things seem to get everywhere! Touched by Nature brand also offers affordable organic cotton options. (Note: These are noticeably thinner than other brands.) We recommend having at least two on hand to rotate through during washings. We also recommend going with dark colors/patterns to hide stains.
  • Diaper pail – If you have a covered trash can and frequently take out your trash, you may not need a dedicated diaper pail. However, if you feel like one would be helpful, we recommend Ubbi’s diaper pail (Amazon link here). It has a stainless steel interior and a locking top to prevent little hands from exploring its contents! We have two pails that have worked great for our family. This is another brand you can often find secondhand.
  • Diaper cream/Lotion – The offense route: To avoid yeast infection/sensitivities, we recommend frequent diaper changes, using cloth diapers, and allowing your baby to have some “airing out” time between diaper changes. Less is typically best for baby’s delicate skin! The defense route: If your little one is showing signs of an infection or sensitivity, we recommend breastmilk right on the affected skin, coconut oil, or Earthy Brown’s balms. Other options that we have not tried but look good are: Earth Mama’s diaper balm, Rowe Casa’s diaper cream, and Poofy Organics diaper cream.

Cloth Diapering

Like with clothing and bedding, our goal in diapering is to have only natural fabric in contact with skin (fabric free of pesticides and harmful or risky substances found on synthetic materials). The most non-toxic option would probably be to use 100% organic cotton/linen diaper liner with a 100% organic wool cover. Our budget did not allow for this, so we went with our second best option – secondhand polyester (with waterproof TPU laminate) covers with natural fabric inserts. See our recommendations for this category below.

  • Reusable diaper pail liner and wet bags – We are not aware of a non-toxic option for this, so your best option in terms of minimizing non-recyclable waste is probably to look for these secondhand. We have a set of Grovia’s pail liners, as well as a set of their zippered wet bags (Amazon link for the pail liner here and wet bag here). We recommend having at least two pail liners on hand to rotate through during washings. The wet bags are quite a bit smaller. When not used for holding dirty diapers, they work great to corral baby stuff for quick trips out of the house.
  • Cloth wipes – Our set of 60ish organic cotton cloth wipes came from this Etsy shop. The cloths work great for bath time and cleaning up little hands + mouths after mealtime, too! We fold the wipes so they come out like disposable wipes (a quick google search will show you how), put them in a wipes container like this one, and then typically pour a solution of 1:20 *Branch Basics concentrate to filtered water over the stack. We like to make enough wet wipes to last about three days at a time, but feel free to experiment with what works best for your family. You can also keep the wipes dry and then spray the wipes with Branch Basics All-Purpose before using or pump Foaming-Wash on them to wash hands and face instead of pre-soaking them. Depending on your setup, you might be able to store your wet cloth wipes in a glass or stainless steel storage container as opposed to a traditional plastic wipes container.
  • Cloth diaper covers – Our friend got us started with cloth diapering by giving us an assortment of brands. After experimenting a bit, we found that our favorite is Thirsties. We like them over other brands because 1) we found setting a cloth liner inside a cover was way easier than having to fold/tuck in liners; and 2) this seems to be one of the only brands with leg gussets (which greatly helped prevent car ride blowouts!). We built up the rest of our set of Thirsties covers by purchasing them secondhand through *Poshmark (use our code ERICAKBARLOW for $10 off when you sign up). We now have a set of 24 Thirsties Duo Wrap size 1 covers and about the same amount in size 2 covers. We did purchase a few of their inserts for the size 2 covers, as the length of the original inserts we had were not quite enough. Depending on your baby’s bathroom habits and how often you do laundry, you may need less covers. Some people also prefer to reuse each cover a few times for #1 before throwing them in the wash (replacing just the soiled diaper insert each time). Note: Thirsties does sell an option that has everything sewn together, cover+liner.)
  • Cloth diaper inserts – Out of the brands we have tried, these by Ecoable are our favorite (55% hemp, 45% cotton). We have about the same number of inserts as we do cloth diaper covers, although it would not hurt to have more on hand. **2024 update: Now that our second is transitioning to crawling and moving around more, we are switching to Esembly’s organic cotton inners (this referral link will give new customers 20% off!) that snap to secure the diaper around baby’s bottom. We like this option because it stays in place better than a simple “liner” style, something especially helpful since our girl was is early crawler!

Disposable Diapers + Wipes

  • Disposable wipes – Healthynest wet wipes or dry wipes are about the most non-toxic option we have tried, but they are pricey and have to be ordered online. MADE OF’s and Hello Bello’s wet wipes are quality, low tox option. Runer-ups are: Charlie Banana and BumGenius. We have used WaterWipes and Honest wet wipes before, but the former contains benzalkonium chloride and the latter contain silver citrate, both of which we have learned are best to avoid. Honest brand also sells dry wipes from organic cotton that we have used and get our stamp of approval. Keep in mind that brands are constantly changing and reformulating, so we recommend checking out an account like Raising Well Kids for more up-to-date research on wipes/diaper brands’ ingredient safety.

Bath Time

After the arrival of our son, we realized that a lot of things marketed for babies and bath time were not true needs for our family. For example: bathtub and sink inserts for young babies. Instead of purchasing these short-lived contraptions, we just hopped in the tub with our son and enjoyed some sweet bonding time. If you feel comfortable with it, you might also consider holding baby for a shower (and perhaps setting a stool in there if you need to sit). We found it helps if you have a second adult available to hand you the baby while you hop in the shower and get yourself situated, and likewise for getting out and dried off.

  • Towels – While we have found that our son does not actually “need” baby-sized towels, we do still use occasionally use these that were on our registry. Oftentimes we just opt for a regular (soft) towel to wrap around our son once he is done with bath time. We found this works just as well! For baby washcloths, we use these.
  • Shampoo – Because a baby’s skin is so delicate and in an effort to minimize what we put on our son’s body, we use *Branch Basics Foaming-Wash for shampoo. It has worked beautifully! Gentle, non-toxic and effective. We try to use shampoo only when needed (aka not every bath).
  • Body wash – Instead of putting soap directly on his skin, we add a bit of Carina Organics’ body wash or bubble bath to our son’s bath water. This method leaves his skin soft and supple, without stripping it of its natural oils.
  • Baby/Safety swabs – Although we have seen some reusable swabs on the market, we are not fans of the material used. For now, we are using Maxim’s brand of organic baby swabs to gently clean our son’s outer ear area. Because these baby swabs are made from organic cotton and biodegradable cardboard, they can be disposed of in a compost pile!
  • Rubber duck – Traditional rubber ducks are often made from petroleum by-products. Hevea’s rubber ducks are made from 100% natural rubber (that is, from a rubber tree!). This particular duck has no holes = no mold issue on the inside! Hevea has some other cute 100% natural rubber bath toys, as well as teethers, place mats, balls, and swim fins.

Health + Bathroom

  • Snot sucker – We currently just use the one we received from the hospital with our son, but if we were in the market for a new one, we would get this nasal aspirator by Haakaa, as it is made of silicone and is from a brand we trust.
  • Nail clippers/trimmer – In our experience, trimming baby nails is much harder than trimming adult nails. Baby nails are quite a bit softer and require extra care and attention given their smaller size. Plus, the baby wiggles make it difficult to ensure only nail gets clipped. Instead of searching for baby-sized, 100% stainless steel clippers, we compromised and bought Little Martin’s electric nail file kit. One benefit of this kit is that its interchangeable nail pads work for newborns up to adults.
  • Toothbrush – Junior size BrushEco toothbrush from OraWellness. (For toothpaste for older children, we recommend HealThy Mouth blend by OraWellness or Poofy Organic’s toothpaste once kids are at an appropriate age.)

Baby Gear

  • Stroller – A friend gave us their BOB jogging stroller, which we love. We can fold it up with one hand, and it drives/rides really smooth. We also purchased a secondhand Britax stroller that our carseat clicks into for use when our son was little and Erica had her hands full bringing stuff in and out of work each day. It is a bit harder to finagle, but it was within budget. Brand new, quality strollers can be crazy expensive, so we recommend buying secondhand or perhaps adding a stroller fund option to your baby registry for friends and family to contribute.
  • Baby carrier – After trying a few stretchy fabric and wrap-style carriers, we found that we are most comfortable with a structured carrier. Our sister-in-law let us borrow her Kinderpack carrier, and we liked it so much we bought a second one off of *Poshmark (Use our code ERICAKBARLOW for $10 off when you sign up on Poshmark). We use our two carriers on an almost daily basis, whether at work, at home, or out and about. These carriers are such a blessing for our family and are particularly helpful when we need to get things done but our son needs help falling asleep or is craving some physical touch and bonding time. We like that the are washable and are made of mostly cotton instead of synthetic or heavily processed “eco” fabrics.

Mealtime

  • High chair – Solid, unfinished wood is ideal, as children oftentimes eat directly off of high chair surfaces and off-gassing of the chemicals used in production can cause respiratory distress. Other factors to consider are seat adjustability, whether or not there is a footrest, and if there is fabric, what is it made out of and has it been treated with a chemical for stain-resistance? While not completely non-toxic, we have and highly recommend the Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair in natural. We started using this high chair with our son once he was able to sit up independently. We really enjoy having him sit right at the table with us, and we look forward to using our Tripp Trapp for years to come!
  • Bibs – Not completely necessary, but help to minimize outfit changes due to drooling and/or food residue. We have two sets of these Burt’s Bees organic cotton bibs (Amazon link here). We recommend going with a dark color/pattern to hide stains.
  • Cup – We have rotated through using a stainless steel open-top cup from “The Inspector Play Kit” by *Lovevery (Get $20 off a new Play Kit subscription with this link), a set of these larger stainless steel open-top cups, and one of these stainless steel water bottles with twist-straw cap that keeps the straw completely covered when not in use. Easy-to-clean and durable, glass Oui yogurt cups are also a good size for little hands to practice drinking small amounts of safe liquids. Why an open-top cup? Drinking from a cup builds mouth muscles that will be used later for forming sounds! We also have for our son to use once he gets older.

There are a few things we have intentionally left off of our recommendations, such as a crib, baby monitor and pacifier, among others. If these you are interested in any of these items, we recommend checking out a blog post the Branch Basics founders put together on non-toxic nursery items. You can click here to read the post. As a general rule of thumb, we agree with most of the products and commentary included on their post, however we have taken a few things a step further in eco-friendly considerations.

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