Getting your baby’s bedroom perfect for their arrival and beyond is a pleasure and a priority. One essential on the shopping list is cosy bedding – safe sleeping bags, swaddles and sheets that are suitable for babies and toddlers of all ages.
However, increasing evidence is suggesting that chemicals given off from a crib (off-gassed by non-organic products) are some of the worst in the average child’s bedroom. One study performed by the University of Texas at Austin discovered that the sleeping zone of the crib gave off the most intense VOC fumes, which is especially troubling considering infants’ respiratory systems are fragile, many babies spend much of their first year of life in a crib, and body heat intensifies emissions.
To help keep your baby’s body free from unwelcomed toxins, you may wish to consider choosing organic bedding. Organic and non-organic options are not just reserved for food. This also extends to cotton farming. Non-organic Cotton farming accounts for a whopping 25% of insecticides and 10% of pesticides used worldwide - that’s an awful lot of chemicals coating what we’re soon going to be bundling our babies up in. And the chemicals don’t stop there! Once harvested, raw cotton requires an awful lot of processing before it becomes usable and that processing includes more chemicals including bleach and fire retardant, which are found in over 80% of children’s non-organic clothes, toys and bedding. Organic cotton and bamboo are grown and processed without the use of these chemicals.
We love the Aden & Anais Dream Blanket (particularly the bamboo version) for its incredibly comforting weight and luxury softness. But for very young babies our vote goes to the Love to Dream organic swaddle bag which helped keep newborns safe and happy in their cribs.
When searching for your perfect organic bedding, look out for 100% organic materials and ideally, natural or baby-safe dyes too. Bamboo won’t necessarily be listed as organic but it’s worth noting that all bamboo is grown without the use of pesticides and the thermoregulating properties of this material makes it perfect for children.
Here’s our top pick of the sweetest and best quality organic baby bedding.
As soon as this blanket came out of the gift-ready packaging we knew this was a winner. The weight of it was just perfect and somehow extremely comforting – it was a struggle to get this off the adults! But although a weighty four layers, it wasn’t too much for children.
The material (particularly the bamboo version) was really, really soft too which made the dream blanket an utter luxury to use. And the range of patterns are absolutely gorgeous too! Aside from being wondering to use at home, this would definitely make a lovely present for new parents.
Unlike swaddle blankets, which can be used to wrap up newborns, this isn’t suitable for that. It’s too thick. So keep this one for toddlers.
Generally, newborns and young babies love being swaddled. But some are not so keen on having their movement completely restricted and many prefer to sleep with their arms up. This swaddle bag offers the best of both worlds with the patented Swaddle-UP wings. The snug-fitting bag zips up easily and keeps babies feeling tightly held, but the addition of closed off ‘arms’ means that they can still self-soothe by touching their face and wave around a bit without hitting or scratching themselves.
Undyed and made from organic cotton, the fabric is as natural as it gets and very soft too. It’s quite thin, but as it should be for babies who can’t get regulate their own temperature – just be sure to follow the guidelines for what to wear underneath at different times of year.
Many parents found this to be the only swaddle bag that worked for them and helped give them all some sleep! The only downside is that because these are made to fit, you do have to buy the next size up when your baby grows.
Keeping your little one cosy can be fraught with issues surrounding getting their temperature just right. As babies and young children are not able to regulate their own temperature, it’s very easy for them to become too cold or overheat – which can be very dangerous.
This all-season sleep sack (available in sizes 2 months – 2 years and 2 – 4 years) helps your child keep at just the right temperature, thanks to the thermoregulating merino wool. As an added bonus, merino wool is also naturally anti-bacterial and odour repellent, meaning it stays cleaner for longer.
We think this sleeping bag is just lovely – beautifully designed, high quality and convenient too. The zip opening at the bottom makes night time changes a breeze and we really loved the addition of a seatbelt opening for easy transfer between stroller, car seat and bed.
It was so great to find an organic crib sheet that fitted as it’s meant to. Providing you get the right size for your baby’s bed, the Burt’s Bees sheets really do fit like a glove – easy to get on yet no chance of them coming off. Even for little night-time wrigglers!
We were really impressed with the quality and softness of the material used, which is a soft jersey fabric famed for feeling just like ‘your favourite t’. And it does. Babies seemed to love it too and snuggled down to sleep in no time.
Although some reviewers have mentioned poor fabric quality and durability, it’s likely that these products were fakes as there are a lot of those out there (as with any big-name brand). In our experience, these sheets were high quality, soft and durable. Everything you want in a cot sheet!
When we first took this TENCEL mattress protector out of the packet we found it hard to believe that it would hold up against accidents in the night. But, incredibly, it did! Even a more ‘major’ bedwetting which really put this product to the test was kept off the mattress.
The fabric, made from 100% natural wood pulp, is very soft with only a slight rubbery feeling to it and thin too, so extremely discreet and no risk of bunching up. It’s not sweaty, it washes well and better still, it makes no crunching sound to wake up sleeping children, as many other mattress protectors do. Although on the pricey side for a mattress protector, we think it’s well worth every penny.
