Your Nontoxic Baby Registry Checklist (Health-Focused Items for Mom + Baby)

Written By Katherine Braswell

Preparing for a baby is so exciting. But it can also be overwhelming, especially if you’re a first-time mom. When making your baby registry list, there are tons of products to sift through (from the best cribs to baby monitors) — and this can feel stressful if you don’t know what items are best.

As a holistic nutritionist, I like to take my baby registry planning even further by including nontoxic items for the home. Many common baby items are covered in flame retardants, plastics, and forever chemicals (PFAS) — which can be harmful to your baby.

When we had our little one, Colter, last year, I heavily researched each item on our baby registry checklist. I’m particularly passionate about using nontoxic items here because…

Each time we substitute an everyday product for a nontoxic product that’s safer, we reduce our baby’s overall exposure to toxic chemicals.

An important thing to remember is that nontoxic and organic items can be expensive. But they typically last for multiple babies and don’t need to break your budget. Plus, you can source from second-hand shops to save money and reduce waste.

Where to Build Your Baby Registry Checklist

To create our registry, we used Babylist, and we really loved that you could register at any website or store.

Chemicals to Avoid on Your Nontoxic Baby Registry

My quick list of chemicals to always avoid when building your baby registry checklist…

  • Synthetic Flame Retardants: Yes, these are chemicals, and they can be found in mattresses, car seats, strollers, and even on children’s clothes. Many flame retardants have been linked to serious health problems such as infertility, hormonal problems, reduced IQ, developmental issues, and behavioral problems.

  • Plastics: We have been working to avoid all plastics in our home, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), phthalates, cadmium, lead, bisphenol A (BPA), and polypropylene. Most plastic toys are made from these chemicals, so we prefer toys made of wood or other natural materials. Plastic is tough to avoid, so we opt for PVC free and BPA free at a minimum. And we consider how the item is going to be used. If it’s going to end up in our child’s mouth, we try to source as naturally as possible.

  • Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): These are compounds that easily turn into vapors and pollute the air we breathe. And lots of VOCs are present in the products commonly used in our homes. Examples include paint, furniture, carpeting, rugs, toys, and more.

  • Forever Chemicals (PFAS): These are chemical compounds that don’t easily break down. They’re used to strengthen or preserve a product (the best example is teflon). But you can find them in children’s clothes, stain-resistant furniture, carpets, and even skincare products.

Natural Materials to Buy Instead

Here are the materials we buy instead of plastics, chemicals, and VOCs.

  • Organic Materials: Choosing organic isn’t always possible, but it’s something we strive for. This is especially important when sourcing clothing and blankets. For example, cotton growers often use hazardous pesticides (more chemical pesticides are used on cotton than any other crop). These pesticides can prevent individual nerve cells from communicating with one another — which can interfere with every function in the human body. A simple swap to organic cotton can give our babies a healthy and much less toxic environment where they can thrive.

  • Solid Woods: You may not be able to find or afford a product that has all the certifications to make it nontoxic. But if it’s made out of 100% beechwood (for example), that’s significantly better and naturally less toxic.

  • Natural Fibers: Up to 8,000 chemicals can be used in the production and processing of textiles (for dyeing, treating, printing, and finishing). We love fabrics that breathe, like cotton and linen.

Nontoxic Certifications: What Do They Mean?

When building your nontoxic baby registry list, you may notice products that have certifications. Here are my favorites and what they mean:

  • Greenguard Gold Certification: This certification means that products have been rigorously tested and scientifically proven to have low levels of chemical emissions (or VOCs). This is especially important when sourcing furniture for your nursery.

  • GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) Certified Organic Cotton and Wool: Using third-party certifications, GOTS sets a high standard for the processing of organic fibers. To be certified, a product must meet ecological and social criteria for their entire textile supply chain. You can read more about this certification here.

  • Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX: This certification is great when sourcing clothing, burp cloths, blankets, and towels. It specifically tests for harmful substances (like chemicals and hormone disruptors) in textiles, using standardized global criteria.

My Favorite Items to Source for Your Baby Registry List

GEAR

Keep your baby secure in the car and safe from airborne chemicals.

  • Car seats: We use UppaBaby Mesa (for infants — they offer free virtual safety checks for all car seats), Clek (convertible), or Nuna Rava (convertible)

  • Baby carriers: Solly Baby (for  newborns) and ErgoBaby (after two months). I recently bought an Artipoppe (use this link to save $50) and have loved using it with Merritt and intend to use it for our third baby!

  • Pack-n-play: Guava Travel Crib. This is the best travel crib we’ve used, and it’s super lightweight

  • Jumpers and seats: We avoided the use of most seats due to the fact that they do not support baby neurological and motor development. (You can read more here.) The only jumper that we like is Merry Muscles — although we avoided use until he was standing assisted

Diapering

On busy babies, diapers need to hold up. This is why many of them are filled with toxic chemicals, like PFAS and VOCs. Here are some safer diapering options we’ve used with our little ones:

  • Regular diapers: Coterie and Honest

  • Diaper caddy: Parker Baby (I recommend buying two, so you also have a pump caddy)

  • Travel changing pads: Pehr

Baby Monitors

This is the item on registries that I’m most passionate about. Research shows that digital baby monitors placed less than one meter away from a baby's crib emit almost the same level of radiation as a cell phone tower 150 meters away. Some of the possible side effects of EMF radiation include sleep disruption, brain development issues, and nervous system disruption.

In a perfect world, we wouldn’t use a monitor at all … but I know that isn’t always possible (we want to keep an eye on our little ones). The best option is to look for a low-EMF monitor that doesn’t connect to WiFi and is low in radio frequencies and transmission.

  • Baby monitors: My favorite options would be a radio audio-only monitor or a video monitor from Bebcare (use code “livewild” to save 10%)

Feeding

You’ll use bottles and milk storage every day as your baby grows. Here are some simple nontoxic options to add to your baby registry list:

  • Bottles: This is super dependent on your little one and the lactation support that you’re receiving. Glass bottles are best (to avoid exposure to microplastics). We used Glass Lansinoh Bottles — per the direction of our lactation consultant

  • Milk storage: 5 or 8 oz glass Mason jars (bought at Target or on Amazon)

Bathtime

Nourish your baby’s delicate microbiome and find nontoxic options that are good for sensitive skin.

  • Toys: It’s important to source mold-free toys. I love these GreenToys

Bedding

Sleep is a time for your baby’s body to recover and adjust. These resources can help you avoid flame retardants and forever chemicals in this vulnerable space.

  • Mattress: Savvy Baby (use code WILDANDWELL to save)

Nursery and Play

Let their play space be their safe space. Many of these options are more eco-friendly than plastic, too:

  • Rugs: Ruggable (these are washable too!)

  • Humidifier: It’s very important to find a mold-free option, like Canopy

  • Gliders and rocking chairs: Baby Letto

  • Toys and teethers: Try to source organic toys when possible and avoid plastics! Wooden toys have been our favorite. The Natural Baby Co and The Tot are both great natural toy options

General

These miscellaneous items are so helpful to have on hand:

  • Sleep sacks and swaddles: We used 100% cotton swaddle blankets from Oliver & Rain and Little Unicorn. We also briefly used the Ollie, but our little one didn’t love being swaddled. We used the Kyte Baby Sleep Sacks (we liked all temperatures 0.5–2) and still love those. There’s more info on swaddling here

Apparel

Nontoxic clothing for babies can be difficult to find. But there are plenty of options out there once you know which brands to shop with. Here are some of my favorites:

  • Oliver & Rain

  • Finn & Emma

  • Gap Organic

  • Patagonia Organic

Postpartum Essentials for Moms

Although it’s helpful to create your own postpartum registry, most of what you need after birth is physical, emotional, and nutritional support. Here’s what I always recommend for my clients when preparing for postpartum…

  • Meal support: Use a postpartum meal prep guide or hire a service to help you plan meals ahead of time. I also have my postpartum meal prep guide to help guide you in your meal prep!

  • Pelvic floor physical therapy: This was a crucial aspect of my personal postpartum recovery, and I believe everyone can benefit from it. You can also use online workouts like The Bloom Method

  • Lactation support: It may help to schedule a prenatal appointment with an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), even before giving birth. That way, you know you have support if you need it

  • Chiropractic support: Chiropractic care is essential in postpartum and can be vital in your overall healing. I recommend finding a local holistic chiropractor and working with them throughout your pregnancy

  • Massage therapy: Massage can also be extremely healing in postpartum and calming for the central nervous system

  • Nutrition and supplementation support: The support of a nutritionist is also a huge component to postpartum healing. The use of supplements, food, herbs, etc. all play a large role in balancing your body post-birth. I support mamas frequently in their postpartum journey and have found that it makes a huge difference in their recovery (along with how well it nourishes mama and baby!)

  • Doula support: This isn’t just important in postpartum. Having doula support throughout pregnancy and birth is essential. There’s a reason why having the support of a doula greatly decreases your risk for C-sections and helps ensure an intervention-free birth. Doulas continue to fulfill the historical role of emotionally supporting a pregnant woman through labor and childbirth — helping her advocate for herself and communicate with her caregivers

Take One Step to Build a Clean Environment for Your Baby

When you’re building your baby registry list, you’re likely to add too many (or too few) items in the beginning. You might also feel overwhelmed by all the environmental toxins and ingredients you could potentially expose your baby to.

This is completely normal. And, mom-to-mom, you should never feel stressed out about a nontoxic lifestyle. You should only feel empowered by it.

It’s okay to buy slowly.

It’s okay to prioritize some items but not others.

And it’s okay to find some of these things second-hand.

Just find a way to make your nontoxic registry work for you.

About the Author:

Katie Braswell is a holistic nutritionist focused on optimizing women’s health at all stages of pregnancy and motherhood. She believes women’s health recommendations are drastically behind the times and has made it her mission to change that — using real food and ancestral methods that help women regain vibrancy and wellness. Her continued education has led her to graduate from the Lily Nichols Prenatal Nutrition Institute and the Fertility Academy.

Katherine Braswell
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