When I was pregnant with my first child, I thought I had a good idea of what babies needed until I went to a baby superstore for the first time.
Suddenly, I was faced with a ridiculous number of options and every product was marketed to seem like it was the MUST HAVE item that no parent should be without. Any possible issue that a new mom might encounter had a handy product solution that would make life SO! MUCH! BETTER!
I’m embarrassed to admit I fell for all of it…hook, line and Diaper Genie. I just didn’t know any better and frankly, being green wasn’t even on my radar back then. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for me to realize how un-green my baby’s world was but not before I made a more than a few mistakes and wasted a lot of money.
Learn from my experience and don’t bother with these baby items. You can use the money you will save to get baby gear that is safer and more eco-friendly!
Bassinet: There really isn’t a more useless baby item. You might use one of these for a few months at best and then it’s just this big thing taking up space. Our house had small steps up and down into the living room so we couldn’t even move it into different areas of the house with any degree of ease. After, much frustration, I ended up getting a Moses basket from a friend. It was far more portable than a bassinet and a much greener, more natural option. Once I started using it, I promptly dropped the bassinet off at the local baby consignment shop and never looked back.
Baby Shoes: Your baby doesn’t walk. Why does she/he need shoes? It’s kind of silly, isn’t it? If you don’t like the look of bare feet or plain socks, get some of these cute socks that look like shoes and skip the baby shoes they don’t need and will grow out of in about 15 seconds.
Fancy Baby Blankets: Babies shouldn’t sleep with blankets because they pose a smothering danger and the best blankets for swaddling are not the fluffy, fancy kind anyway so feel free to skip those altogether and get some organic cotton swaddling blankets instead.
Diaper Genie: This is a specialty garbage pail for disposing of diapers and uses special plastic bag refills that you need to buy over and over and over. If you choose to use disposable diapers, the greenest solution is to toss your dirty diapers into an outside trash can or if that’s not possible, a lidded trash can lined with a biodegradable and/or compostable trash bag that you can empty each day to keep the stinky diaper smell to a minimum. If you really can’t deal with any odor, use individual bags. Trust me, after you’ve run out of Diaper Genie bag refills and have to start buying them regularly, you’ll realize what a racket it is. Also? it’s hard to consign or pass on a used diaper contraption to someone else. Nobody wants them—believe me, I tried.
Special Baby Detergent: Standard laundry detergents contain a lot of chemicals and unhealthy chemical-based fragrances so those are not a good choice for washing baby’s clothing and linens but if you already use a biodegradable, fragrance and dye-free, hypoallergenic detergent like Seventh Generation, for example, you don’t need to buy a special detergent just for your baby’s laundry—they are overpriced and typically still not as good a choice for babies as an eco-friendly detergent.
Baby Wipe Warmer: I can see how someone might be swayed to get one of these but I can honestly tell you that neither of my babies ever freaked out over a cold wipe. Never. But on the off chance that you’re not totally convinced, you can always roll a wipe around in your clean hands to warm it up first. Really :)
Continue being eco-friendly after your baby outgrows the things you do buy and donate gently-used items to a domestic abuse shelter where baby gear is always needed. ADDED BONUS: Your charitable donations are tax-deductible! Keep that in mind when you file your income taxes next year!
Have some great alternatives to unnecessary baby items? Share them in the comments!
Check out my post on how to set up a green nursery on a budget!
Instead of a Diaper Genie, you can get a Diaper Champ, which uses whatever bags you want and ties off each diaper individually. I really do need something other than a standard garbage bag because I have dogs, as a lot of people do, and if you don’t do something to control the smell and/or make it hard for them, HOO BOY, you have a mess and a freaking HALF.
The DC works with biodegradable bags, and is better than individual bags in terms of use. Highly recommend.
OMG…I never had to deal with that. I see your point! Thanks for the suggestion.
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I absolutely love this post! After having my daughter, I quickly learned how many of the items recommended by Store registry lists are unnecessary! I created my own list of non-essentials…http://inherchucks.com/2011/11/22/sorting-through-the-stuff/. Thanks for sharing!
I completely second that baby shoes (even super cute baby ones) are unnecessary and it’s one more thing to keep track of. Shoes seem to be one of those items that are for adult fashion sense only. With baby no. 2, I didn’t keep any shoes (under 1T) or fancy baby blankets. The organic ones seem to be lasting longer too!
But your baby does need this book so they can learn about plants and conservation! http://jordangogreen.com Greentips: http://jordangogreen.blogspot.com
Great post! I am guilty of using a wipes warmer in winter, We keep our house pretty cool in winter and cold wipes in the middle of the night have made our daughter howl.
We used baby shoes, our baby walked holding fingers by 5 months and on her own at 10 months.
I am also amazed by the organic/ green items that are either non-existant or horribly expensive. (Like winter coats, baby shoes (our baby walked early), ragdolls, cloth books, etc).
Last, why are so many ‘organic’ items actually a bit of organic and many ghastly chemical things?