I&#;m taking a break this week from talking about mindset and self-kindness to talk about something else I&#;m really passionate about: BABY STUFF!! Here I am with baby #3 so you&#;d think I&#;d have everything I need, right? I wish. All of our baby stuff is in storage back in Boston, and it would actually cost more to ship it all to Hawaii than to start fresh. (Insert facepalm). So here I am, essentially starting from scratch.
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When I was pregnant with Cimorene I went nuts trying to figure out the safest, most non-toxic options of everything. Let me just set the stage by saying I have done an embarrassing amount of research. What I&#;ve learned is that there are about as many perspectives on the safety of different chemicals in baby stuff as there are bassinets to choose from. That is to say: a lot. But: there are an increasing number of reputable third-party organizations out there doing testing that are making compelling arguments for eliminating toxins in anything baby comes into contact with, and when it comes to baby I&#;m firmly in the camp of &#;let&#;s err on the safe side&#;.
Problem: it can get expensive (and cause a LOT of anxiety). With Cimorene I wanted to eliminate as many chemicals as possible, but I didn&#;t have a limitless budget. So both then, and again now with baby #3, I have to ask myself: what&#;s most important? Science says to think about two things: the level of exposure and the degree of harm. With those criteria in mind, here are the three questions I asked myself in order to prioritize where I spent the extra money.
What will baby come into contact with the most often?
When I thought about where Cimorene was going to spend most of her time, it was in her crib and car seat. Even if it doesn&#;t feel like it as a new mom, babies sleep a LOT. And we travel quite a bit (or at least we did pre-COVID, and hope to again) which meant lots of hours in both the car seat and pack-n-play.
What comes in closest contact with baby&#;s skin?
Baby skin is much thinner than an adult&#;s, and many chemicals are small enough to penetrate the skin and get into the bloodstream. So, anything that touches Cimorene&#;s skin regularly was on my list of things to think about. Pajamas, diapers, wipes, baby shampoo, lotion, and sunscreen (6+ months old) were all things I thought about. Daytime clothing too.
How harmful is the chemical?
I cared most about carcinogens (cancer causing) and endocrine disruptors (which have effects on child health and development), especially anything that builds up in the body over time. I cared less about potential allergens or skin irritants. The more conclusive the research, the more seriously I work to eliminate the chemical from Cimorene&#;s surroundings.
In order of priority, this is where I decided I would spend my non-toxic dollars:
Organic, flame-retardant free pajamas
Non-toxic crib mattress
Flame-retardant free car seat
Organic everyday clothes
Natural, non-toxic baby skin care
By thinking about it this way, I knew that if I couldn&#;t make my dollars spread all the way down the list, at least I knew I was spending where those dollars would maximize impact. Below you&#;ll find more detail on each of these, as well as what we ended up purchasing. None of this are affiliate links and I get nothing if you click on them except a feeling of happiness that maybe I helped another mama save time by doing all this research. &#;
Priority #1: Organic, flame-retardant-free pajamas.
Lots of the big-name baby clothing companies treat their pajamas with flame-retardants because of an antiquated safety law that&#;s still on the books. But many of these chemicals are known carcinogens. Even if the pajamas aren&#;t treated with flame retardants, baby clothes are often treated with other questionable chemicals to prevent wrinkling, staining, fading, and more. I look for pajamas that are 1) organic (GOTS, OTA and USDA National Organic Program are reputable third-party certifications), and 2) STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certified. My favorites:
Hanna Andersson. Organic and OEKO-TEX certified, and their PJs have zippers and grippy feet. My 4-year old still wears these!! (Pay attention when you click &#; only about half of their stuff is organic).
Pact Organic. GOTS certified organic. Limited color options but compared to some of the other companies out there these are super affordable!! Zippers, but no grippy feet.
Burts Bees. GOTS certified organic and uses &#;non-toxic and PVC, heavy metal and phthalate free dyes&#;. PJs have zippers and grippy feet.
Pro-tip: always check the clearance sections first. You can literally pay $7 for a pair of PJs that are listed for four times that at retail price, if you&#;re not as picky about the pattern.
There are a lot more organic options today than there were three years ago! I just got my first order of Finn+Emma and might be trying out Pehr as well since they have an organic kimono-style onesie that looks fantastic for middle-of-the-night diaper changes. I&#;ll come back and update if either of these become new favorites.
Priority #2: Non-toxic crib mattress
With a crib mattress my concern wasn&#;t that baby was touching it, it was the chemicals outgassing or becoming airborne and being inhaled. Valid concern? Turns out yes. From the Environmental Working Group:
&#;A baby&#;s exposure to chemical contaminants in their crib mattresses can be amplified since they sleep for 12 to 14 hours every day and inhale air just inches above the mattress surface, where the concentrations of the [volatile organic compounds] can be about twice as high as standing just a few feet away."
Gimme the Good Stuff has a great overview of what to look for in a mattress, with recommendations on the cleanest companies out there. Key takeaways: look for zero flame retardants, and GOTS or GOLS certified all the way through (not just an organic cover). Here&#;s what we ended up buying.
I never had a great, non-toxic bassinet, and I&#;m still pretty disappointed in what&#;s out there. I really want something that attaches or slides up next to the bed with a lower rail to simplify breastfeeding at all hours of the night (like the Arms Reach Co-Sleeper) but none of those are non-toxic. Still, there are more options out there today than there were three years ago. Since baby is coming in less than two months at this point, I&#;m going to have to make a decision soon!
Priority #3: Flame retardant free car seat
When I was first researching this I thought, well, baby&#;s skin doesn&#;t actually really touch the car seat, so is this still important? Yes, I learned. Like with mattresses, the flame retardants used in car seats become airborne, so baby (and you, actually) are breathing them even if you&#;re not touching them. Gentle Nursery has a fantastic summary of why non-toxic car seats matter. There are only a handful of car seats on the market that don&#;t use any flame retardants. EcoCenter keeps tabs on every major car seat brand, tests new models each year as they come out. Here&#;s their current list of non-toxic car seats, and I&#;m excited that there are more than twice as many as when Cimorene was born! Here&#;s the ones that we&#;ve had experience with.
Uppababy Mesa, in wool. This is the one we used! The downside is the click-in-able stroller options are limited and can be pricey, though there are more than twice as many options now compared to when I purchased it three years ago. Still, we love it and our Vista, and if you keep a CLOSE eye on Craigslist and FB marketplace you can snag a used one. It took me a month of obsessive page-refreshes, but this is what I did.
Clek Foonf and Fllo, in wool. Expensive and heavy, but they were the first &#; and when C got big enough they were the only &#; convertible car seat on the market that was non-toxic. We bit the bullet and got it. Installation on the Foonf is&#; interesting. But once it&#;s in, it&#;s in!
Nuna Pipa, Pipa Lite, Pipa Lite lx. I have mixed feelings about this company because three years ago they claimed the regular Nuna Pipa was non-toxic. We bought it. Then a report came out showing that wasn&#;t the case. I was able to get a full refund from the company, and they&#;ve since come out and said they&#;ve made all components non-toxic, but it left a bad taste in my mouth since Cimorene was using it for a good long while.
Priority #4: Organic everyday clothes
At least with everyday clothes flame retardants aren&#;t typically a concern, but there&#;s still the chemicals used to prevent wrinkling, staining, fading, etc. In addition to the companies I buy pajamas from, I also love Kate Quinn. Only reason I don&#;t buy their PJs is because they have snaps and not zippers (middle of the night diaper changes with snaps? UGH). But their kimono onesies are a lifesaver for newborn blowouts because you don&#;t have to pull them up and over your baby&#;s head. Even though not all of my kid&#;s clothing is organic &#; because WOW does that get expensive &#; I did try and at least put them in an organic onesie under any non-organic clothing when they were little. (Insert chant: Clear-ANCE! Clear-ANCE! Clear-ANCE!)
Priority #5: Natural, non-toxic baby skin care
Diapers, wipes, lotion, sunscreen, shampoo, diaper cream&#; if it sits on baby&#;s skin, it&#;s on my list. Because the list of questionable chemicals found in these products is so long, and brands get bought out and ingredients change rapidly, I rely on the EWG Healthy Living app as much as possible when I&#;m out shopping. My current list is:
Shampoo: Babo Botanicals. EWG verified and now pretty widely available.
Diapers: Bambo, because they&#;re the most affordable out of the options (other good options here and here, since every baby bum is different!). We use Honest diapers when we forget to place an Amazon order in time since they&#;re in every Target, and we use Honest Overnights for, well, overnight.
Wipes: We use Kinder by Nature and love them. I only wish the packaging was a little better &#; the little plastic sticky that you use to open and close isn&#;t the most reliable. We tried Water Wipes for a while, and while I know moms that swear by them, I just didn&#;t feel like Cimorene&#;s bum was clean. Here&#;s a list of other clean options.
Sunscreen: We&#;re currently using Think Baby. Badger Active Baby also works, but I feel like I need to re-apply it more often. Babo Botanicals now has a baby sunscreen which I&#;m excited to try when our Think Baby runs out, since I love their other stuff!
Diaper Cream: Babo Botanicals for everyday diaper rash and prevention, but if it&#;s really bad we use Triple Paste since we&#;ve found the Babo (and many other all natural options) just don&#;t cut it.
Whew that&#;s a lot of information, and I feel like it only scratches the surface! I hope it&#;s helpful for some of the mamas out there, and always feel free to get in touch if you have questions. If you have them, guaranteed a lot of of other mamas do, too!
Did you know that around 385,000 babies are born each day around the world? So, that also includes the number of parents that try their best to provide comfort to their babies. From comfortable clothing to good-quality dietary products, there's always a high demand for such items. Now, you can think about the daily requirement of such products and suppliers to dispatch them safely and promptly.
Considering the demand, you can also enter the baby products industry by starting a dropshipping business. The idea of dropshipping sure seems to be enticing, but how do you figure out the best baby products to dropship?
So, this write-up will enlist the best baby products you can consider for dropshipping and other essential information you cannot ignore. Let's begin with an overview of the market.
Keep up with the Baby Products Market
According to Statista, the market value of baby care products was recorded to be 67.35 billion U.S. dollars in . As the market seems to maintain this pace, we can expect its worth to cross 80 billion U.S. dollars by . Moreover, the keyword "baby clothes" has always been high in terms of search volume and supposedly would increase in the upcoming years.
Hence, keeping up with the baby products market is crucial for success as a dropshipper. And identifying the target audience is one of the vital factors for effective marketing. As a dropshipper, you must understand the needs of parents, caregivers, and families seeking baby products. In addition, considering factors like safety, convenience, affordability, and quality also helps in meeting the demand of your target audience.
How to Select Baby Products to Dropship
After understanding the baby products market and its demand, you must focus on choosing the right products for dropshipping. That said, let's take a look at the criteria to select the best baby products to dropship.
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First of all, a parent can never compromise the quality and the safety factor of a product bought for children. Hence, as a dropshipper, you must prioritize products with excellent quality standards and adherence to safety regulations to ensure the well-being of babies and build trust with customers.
As you already know, the baby products market is ever-evolving and demanding, so it is better to keep an eye on the popular and trending products. You must know what parents are searching for and what they mostly look for when buying baby products.
The market is demanding, and you're more likely to face fierce competition from other sellers. Hence, to survive in the market, seek products with competitive pricing that allows for attractive profit margins, balancing affordability for customers while ensuring profitability for your business.
The role of a supplier is a major factor in the making or breaking of a dropshipping business. By choosing and partnering with reliable suppliers who consistently deliver high-quality products and maintain good communication, you take a step further to being a credible business. Hence, look for well-reputed suppliers that offer efficient order fulfillment to establish a smooth and reliable supply chain.
The Baby products market is not limited to a few products, and it is pretty vast. Hence, you must consider the products that come with customization factors and multiple variants to give a personalized shopping experience to your customers.
So, these are the criteria you must keep in mind while choosing baby products for the success of your dropshipping store.
5 Best Baby Products for Dropshipping
These top-quality items listed below will surely meet the needs of parents while offering great potential for your dropshipping business.
Baby clothing and accessories must take the top spot on the list. Speaking about the in-demand products, parents often seek organic baby clothing for the safety and comfort of their children.
Other popular products you can consider in this category would be:
We, humans, are becoming technically advanced day by day. Hence, the type of care we provide to our babies has a touch of technology as well.
As a dropshipper, you can also consider baby gear and equipment for your store like:
When it comes to providing top-notch care to babies, parents put in extra effort to buy good quality nursing products and décor items. You can choose any of the following for your dropshipping store:
Every parent is focused on providing the required nutrition to the baby for healthy growth. However, feeding the babies is definitely not an easy task, so parents keep on looking for some beneficial accessories like:
Products related to baby bath and hygiene are designed with the baby's comfort and well-being in mind, making bath and hygiene moments nurturing and pleasant experiences. You can consider the following for your dropshipping business:
Hence, these would be some of the top baby products you can consider for your dropshipping store to achieve success.
How to Find Reliable Suppliers for Baby Products
This write-up has already mentioned the importance of choosing the right supplier for your dropshipping business. Below, you'll find the necessary steps you must take to find reliable suppliers for the success of your baby products business:
Researching and Vetting Potential Suppliers: First of all, you must conduct thorough research that can help you identify potential suppliers. As a dropshipper, you must consider factors like their reputation, experience, and product range before making a choice. Also, you must evaluate their websites, catalogs, and customer testimonials to know about their credibility and reliability.
Evaluating Supplier Reputation and Customer Reviews: You must look for suppliers with a positive reputation in the industry. In that case, checking online platforms, forums, and social media handles can prove to be helpful in understanding the customer service quality of a supplier.
Verifying Product Quality and Authenticity: You can also request product samples from potential suppliers to assess their quality firsthand. Ensure that the products meet safety standards and have the necessary certifications. Then, verify the authenticity of the brands they offer to maintain the trust of your customers.
Using Dropshipping Tools like DSers: As a dropshipper, you can utilize dropshipping tools like DSers. It is an effective dropshipping tool that can help you find the best suppliers and ease up order management. DSers is full of useful features like Supplier Optimizer, Product Bundling Tool, Multiple Store Management, and more. They can surely help you streamline the whole dropshipping process and make your operations more efficient.
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Assessing Shipping and Delivery Options: You can only proceed further after considering a supplier's shipping and delivery options. You can easily evaluate factors like shipping times, shipping methods, packaging quality, and shipping costs to understand the shipping quality of a supplier. In addition, it goes without saying that you must choose suppliers that provide reliable and prompt delivery services to ensure customer satisfaction.
So, if you follow these steps and partner with reliable suppliers, you can establish a strong and trustworthy supply chain for your baby products business.
Conclusion
The baby products market is full of trendy products and keeps on evolving, which provides an immense opportunity for aspiring dropshippers. As the demand for quality baby products continues to grow, dropshippers can have more than one reason to step in. By understanding the needs of parents and caregivers, considering vital factors before selecting the baby products, and selecting the right products for dropshipping, you can effectively cater to the target audience.
The top baby products for dropshipping encompass a wide range of categories. Still, by keeping an eye on these in-demand items, you take a step ahead in meeting the needs of parents while ensuring the potential for a successful dropshipping business.
In addition, finding reliable suppliers is crucial for the success of your baby products business. And, for that, dropshipping tools like DSers come in handy and streamline the whole process for you. So, with the right products and reliable suppliers, you can indeed embark on a successful journey in the baby products market.
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