Baby Usher

General Gift guidelines

If you want to get us something that's not on the gift registry, here are guidelines I use when buying baby products.

We're not revealing the gender because we don't want a bunch of baby-blue/pink stuff. There are plenty of very pretty gender-neutral colors to choose from.

You can ignore anything in italics - it's just there to provide additional context for anyone curious about why or want more information.

• Clothing

  • Sleep-wear
    Any sleepwear should be snug-fit. It should have a warning label that the garment must be snug fitting because the fabric is flammable (i.e. Not treated with flame retardants). This is because federal law requires any non-snug-fitting child sleepwear to be treated with flame retardants, commonly Bromine-based FRs, which have solid research linking exposure to adverse health impacts.

  • Material

    • Natural fibers are preferred (cotton, wool). Blends of natural and synthetic (polyester/spandex/nylon/etc) fibers are also fine.
      This is not a health/safety issue, I just find that natural fibers are more comfortable due to better moisture/thermal management.

    • Tags should mention 'GOTS' or 'OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100'. They are similar standards in terms of output, but GOTS also ensures the manufacturing process isn't abusive to workers and the environment.

  • Size 12mo or later (we already have enough for the first year)

• Consumables (creams, soaps, diapers, wipes, etc.)

  • Should be non-scented (ingredients list must not include 'Fragrance').
    Scented products where the actual ingredient is listed are probably fine.
    Due to an FDA loophole, manufactures can classify fragrance ingredients as trade secrets and not list them. In practice, this means most products with 'Fragrance' contain high levels of Phthalates (a class of chemicals with endocrine-disrupting effects. Many individual phthalates have been banned for use in consumer products, but scientists agree that many chemicals in this class are likely to have this effect, but just haven't had the research done yet to prove it).

  • Ideally labeled free of Phthalates, Parabens, and Fragrance.
    Note - many things containing Phthalates are labeled 'Free of Parabens', even though they wouldn't normally contain Parabens (Parabens are a preservative, and for example wouldn't normally be in diapers, but most diapers claim to be free of Parabens). I believe this is because people will confuse Phthalates and Parabens, and assume the product is free of Phthalates.

  • A good resource to check products is https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
    A product doesn't need to have the 'EWG Certified' mark, but avoid anything with a red rating (>=7).

• Plastics

  • The goal is to avoid anything with phthalates.
    This can be difficult because it won't be listed on the product unless specifically advertised as 'Phthalate free'.

  • "Good" Plastics

    • Polyethelene (aka PE, HDPE, LDPE). Recycling symbol 2 or 4.

    • Polypropylene (aka PP). Recycling symbol 5.

    • PET (aka PETE, polyester). Recycling symbol 1.

    • Nylon

    • Silicone (technically not a plastic). "Pure" silicone is safe. I only trust it from reputable brands. Usually labeled "100% silicone" or "food grade" or "medical grade", but those aren't regulated terms. Cheap silicone is often mixed with fillers (silicone is fairly expensive to manufacture), that are likely to contain phthalates or other unhealthy chemicals. You can infer by creasing the material - if it doesn't immediately spring back or if it has any discoloration, it's not pure silicone.

  • Bad Plastics

    • PVC (aka Vinyl) is the worst offender. Recycling symbol 3.

    • Polycarbonate (PC). Recycling symbol 7 (other). Not everything with recycling symbol 7 is bad. Nylon is also #7.

  • Other Materials
    Modern Baby products made from things like wood and metal are generally coated with non-toxic finishes. Avoid items old enough that they could be coated with lead paint or other heavy-metal-laden finishes.