Non-toxic baby gear: part 1
my picks & recommendations

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I’m a research nerd, and just about every product I’ve chosen for my little ones has some amount of thought or investigation behind it. I just can’t help myself…I’m passionate about informed decisions in this category!

This post on non-toxic baby gear covers the products that can have a lot of hidden chemicals — the 10 things I recommend being extra choosy about. Part 1 includes: nursing pillows, feeding (bottles and milk storage), car seats, mattresses, and white noise machines. Part 2 will cover: baby carriers, travel cribs, bouncers / baby chairs, bath accessories, and toys.

Please note: this is not an exhaustive list! There’re dozens of other great products on the market that would fit my criteria. Today, I’m only sharing what non-toxic products I decided on and why. These are items I have personal experience with that I would buy again. In some instances, I’ve included links to good looking alternatives. I’ll do a separate post for products related to toddlers and preschoolers in the future as well.

Before diving into my picks, I’ve included “my 5 rules of thumb,” which have guided my decisions. I want you to understand the “why” as many of these are more expensive than their conventional counterparts, but I believe it’s for good reason. However, if you’d like to jump straight to my product picks, click here.

My 5 rules of thumb:

Avoid plastics
Avoid flame retardants
Avoid EMFs & minimize electronics
Find trusted brands
Avoid items that have a short lifespan

Why avoid plastics & flame retardants

For context, you may want to read a 2005 study by the Environmental Working Group called Body Burden: The Pollution in Newborns – A Benchmark Instigation of Industrial Chemicals, Pollutants, and Pesticides in Umbilical Cord Blood. Of the 287 chemicals [they] detected…we know that 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.” This gives us a glimpse into the environmental toxins we’re exposed to and the burden on babies’ developing systems from day one. It’s a clear sign that we’re indeed absorbing these elements from the environment into our bodies.

The problem with plastics

This topic could be a standalone post. One of the many issues with plastics are phthalates. These are endocrine (hormone) disruptors with estrogen-mimicking properties that have been linked to a range of health, hormonal, fetal, and childhood developmental issues. According to an article out of Yale University:

“There is now abundant research that links BPA and phthalate exposure to such human health concerns as deformities of the male and female genitals; premature puberty in females; decreased sperm quality; and increases in breast and prostate cancers, infertility, miscarriages, obesity, type 2 diabetes, allergies and neurological problems, like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.”

Bisphenols are another concern when it comes to plastic. That’s the B in BPA. Even though BPA is now being phased out of many products, there’re numerous studies that indicate that it’s replacement (another bisphenol, often BPS) is just as dangerous as BPA (source, source). In fact, testing of BPA-free babies bottles have all shown “chemicals having estrogenic activity;” some worse than the products with BPA (source). This is why “BPA free” is meaningless to me. Instead, I opt to avoid plastic in contact with food, drinks, and in the bathtub, where warm water makes it more likely to be absorbed by the skin.

The problem with flame retardants

Chemical fame retardants are found in a range of household items, which is why over 97% of Americans have detectable amounts of these chemicals in their blood. It’s very telling that firefighters all over the country are banning together to get these taken off the market. That’s due to overwhelming concern about the high rates of cancer deaths as a result of breathing in these burning chemicals while in the line of duty (source, source).

Normal exposure to these compounds have been linked to health issues, such as: “decreased IQ, learning deficits and hyperactivity in children, impaired memory function, cancer, reproductive problems, and hormone and immune disorders” (source). Children get a double douse of these chemicals by breathing in the off-gassing from different foams in their environment (mattresses, sofas, bouncy chairs etc.) and from the dust particles that carry these chemicals as they break down around the home over time.

Take an extra look when there’s foam included in a baby product. Remember that an organic cotton cover (common with less expensive mattresses for example) doesn’t hold much weight if the foam has been treated with flame retardants and other chemicals. It’s no surprise that the only 3 pieces of gear on this list of the 7 most toxic baby products are related to flame retardants found in foams (and #4 is in the plastic category, vinyl bath toys).

Why be cautious about electronics and EMF exposure?

In general, it’s advised that even adults keep mobile devices a safe distance from their bodies (source). Moreover, a child’s size and rapid growth make them significantly more vulnerable and sensitive to these types of frequencies. We also know that low frequency EMF radiation has been classified as possible

carcinogen, but years worth of research has led me to believe that this might be the tip of the iceberg. Some people call this the “smoking” of our generation.

Plenty of experts are deeply concerned about the constant exposure to EMFs in our modern world. This includes Dr. Martin Blank, Ph.D., from Colombia University’s Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics. He’s joined a group of over 160 scientists from around the world petitioning the United Nations to address this problem (source).

I know there’s conflicting research and that plenty of people say there’s no issue. However, it’s important to note that the findings vary substantially based on who’s funded the research on this topic. Carefully consider your sources when there’s a $1.4 trillion industry on one side of an argument!

The bottom line is that we truly don’t know what the long term impact of non-stop EMF exposure, wifi, 5G, etc.. For most of today’s children, exposure begins in-utero and is a constant every day starting in infancy. At a minimum, I believe there’s reason for caution (and precautions). This is why you wont find wifi or blue-tooth enabled monitoring devices on my list. If you do want a baby monitor, I’d go with something wired (non-wifi) or an old-school audio monitor like this.

The cumulative impact of toxins on children

According to my favorite Functional Medicine Pediatrician, Dr. Elisa Song (a board-certified MD): “Over 50% of our kids are currently diagnosed with a chronic condition – whether it’s eczema, asthma, allergies, ADHD, autism, anxiety, autoimmune illness, cancer, or some other disease… And by 2025, that number is expected to be 80%! One of the major root causes for this increase in chronic illness in our children is: TOXICITY.”

I’ve heard this from many other medical experts throughout my research. The rise in these chronic conditions is simply staggering, and environmental toxins (including food) are what many experts point to as cause for the dramatic uptick.

On the topic of environmental toxins, it’s also worth taking extra precautions because children are more vulnerable to toxins and they have under-developed detoxification abilities compared to adults.

Why find trusted brands?

Doing research on products is time-consuming and stressful. One saving grace has been finding brands with strong values and high standards. This just makes life easier! A couple of my favorite baby gear brands are BabyBjorn, Naturepedic and Nuna. In terms of retailers, the best store I’ve found is Sprout San Francisco. They screen everything to a very high standard, so it’s an extremely curated selection of non-toxic gear and clothing. You can shop online or in a handful of locations across the US. Galt Baby also carries many high quality products, and they have one of the best selections of non-toxic nursery furniture that I’ve come across.

Why avoid short-term products?

This is probably obvious, but I certainly don’t want any more gear than I absolutely need. I don’t like extra “stuff” and I hate wasting money. I’ve been deliberate about buying quality products that will last for multiple children and avoiding unnecessary gear or anything with a lifespan of just a couple months per baby. I also want to avoid waste in general. After my babies have outgrown something, these quality pieces can be donated or passed on to friends or family rather than being tossed in a dump.

My picks for non-toxic baby gear

Mattresses

Since foams are one of the biggest sources of hidden chemicals and flame retardants, I prioritized investing in a natural mattress for our babies. If there’s only one place you can splurge, I think a non-toxic mattress is one of the most important things to invest in. Babies spend thousands of hours on this surface in the first year alone.

We have a Naturepedic 2-stage crib mattress, and have been very happy with it. This is a quality piece that’s held up beautifully for both of our children, will work for a toddler (in a converted crib), and is something I expect we’ll be able to donate or pass along to a friend or relative once our youngest outgrows it.

Natural mattresses are pricey compared to conventional options. To get the most bang for your buck, I would go with a regular sized crib mattress that can work with a crib that converts to a toddler bed so that you can get multiple years of use. I can see the appeal of saving some money to get a mini crib set, but the life span of an item like that is just too short in my opinion. It will cost more down the road.

If you go with a different brand, be sure to review all of the materials in the product. There’s a lot of green-washing in this space that can be misleading (e.g. a cover that’s organic cotton, but foam–the bulk of the mattress– that’s full of junk). The Gentle Nursery has a great post on non-toxic crib mattresses with other options (Naturepedic is their #1 recommendation as well).

Nursing pillow

Again, pay special attention to any baby products that contain cushions, as they’re often made from petroleum-based foam. Foams are typically a combination of different chemicals that off-gas, get inhaled, and then break-down into dust in our homes. Given the amount of time a nursing baby can spend on a supportive pillow, I recommend opting for a non-toxic product in this department.

I have the Nook feeding pillow. It’s 100% organic (not just the cover, which is a common form of green-washing). I love that this nursing pillow is stuffed with a kapok (silk-cotton) filling. Side note: that filling is great for non-toxic sleeping pillows.
In addition to support while nursing, the Nook doubles as a nice prop seat on the floor for a baby that’s just starting to sit up (while supervised!). Letting this provide some padding between your tipsy baby and the floor is much safer than having them sit in a Dumbo seat (also, you can avoid the plastic…and extra gear!).

Feeding: bottles, milk storage & babyfood storage

Given the issues with plastics, I never used traditional plastic bottles or storage bags for breast milk. Below are my top picks for baby bottles and what I’ve used to store milk and baby food.

These Pura baby bottles are stainless steal with silicone nipples and lids. They sell sets with 5oz and 11oz bottles. You can also buy them individually and insulated versions, which are great if you’re taking a bottle on the go! Yes, they’re more pricey than plastic bottles, but they’re multi-functional. By swapping out the nipples, they can transition to sippy cups or straw tops for toddlers. And unlike plastic, these hold up well over time. We’ve used the same bottles for both children and I’m sure they’ve got even more life in them once we’re done since you can always buy a fresh set of silicone nipples.

We also like the Thinkbaby stainless steel bottles. Like the Pura bottles, they transition from baby to toddler with different nipple options and a handle that you can add for the sippy cup conversion. Also, the baby and sippy nipples (shown to the left) are interchangeable between the Pura and Thinkbaby bottles. Note: the ring that secures the top and the sippy cup handles are made of plastic. Since the silicone nipple is what touches the milk, I was comfortable with this set-up. These beat out the Pura bottles as sippy cups because of the handles.
We have Philips Avent Natural Glass Bottles in the rotation as well. With glass you get the benefit of being able to see how much milk is left in the bottle, but the downside is that they can chip and break. Very few of our original set made it through baby #1. They don’t transition to the toddler stage, and since they’re quite a bit heavier than stainless steel, these are harder for an older baby to hold independently.
For milk storage, I use simple glass mason jars in 4 oz and 6 oz sizes. These are freezer safe (just don’t overfill) and are also great for storing baby food.

Car seats

Given the amount of time many babies will spend in a car seat, I believe this is an important item to select carefully. Physical safety should be the top priority, and I believe non-toxic materials should be the second consideration.

We have the Nuna Pipa Infant Car Seat, which has no added flame retardant and has excellent safety ratings. They now also make a Lite version, which is just 5.3 lbs(!!), albeit quite a premium price.
The Gentle Nursery has a whole Non-Toxic Car Seats Guide and a Complete List of Car Seats without Flame Retardants if you’d like to look at options from different manufacturers.

White noise machines

This one may be controversial. Baby sleep experts and many parents are huge advocates of white noise to block out sounds that can disturb a sleeping baby. Personally, I love silence and hate white noise, so typical white noise machines are like nails on a chalkboard to me.

As I did my research, my visceral reaction to their sound started to make sense. There’s actually evidence that electronic white noise isn’t good for our brains. According to researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, “exposure to continuous white noise sabotages the development of the auditory region of the brain, which may ultimately impair hearing and language acquisition” (source). Not a big shock. After all, electronic white noise is basically a static sound that’s made from combining all the frequencies that we can hear at once. Even the white noise tracks that are “nature sounds” are almost always the ocean or rain sound on top of the static, so it’s really no better.

Since babies are learning and growing so rapidly, and sleep is when a lot of processing happens in our brains, I fear that baby sleep + loud electronic white noise = an unhealthy combination. It may help with sleep, but it seems to deprive the baby’s brain the restorative rest and processing time needed.

However, I do understand that sleep is one of the biggest challenges for almost every family with a baby (been there!) — and a baby wont thrive or be happy without proper rest.

The solution we’ve used is a fan-based white noise machine in the the laundry room, which is outside the kids’ bedrooms (otherwise, I’d do the hallway). Benefits of this set-up: it’s non-static white noise, lower volume exposure to the baby since it’s not right next to the crib, and sounds from other parts of the house (ding-dong…UPS delivery!) are still muffled. If I know it’s going to be extra noisy while a baby’s sleeping, I’ve also placed a folded towel on the floor to cover a large gap between the bottom of the door and the floor to keep the bedroom more quiet.
We have the HeminWeigh White Noise Machine. I found out about this type of machine when I was doing acupuncture. After an incredibly relaxing session, I realized there was a white noise machine that’d been on in my room the whole time… that didn’t drive me crazy. That machine was the very popular MarpacDohm, which is similar to the one I purchased.
We also have AirDoctor air purifiers in the kids’ rooms. Set on low, the internal fan produces a gentle sound of moving air. This also slightly muffles sounds without the harsh mash of frequencies from a typical white noise machine.