Organic baby gifts are not only beautiful, but they are practical. Organic fabric is gentler on a baby’s delicate skin.  Organic baby products do not have harmful dyes for baby to smell and ingest. The first few months of a baby’s life are spent lying in a crib or stroller surrounded by the fabric used in the baby blankets, stuffed animals and clothing that he is dressed in.

Organic baby gifts send many messages to the family of the baby.  Besides showing that you care enough about the baby to go the extra 9 yards and select an organic gift; an organic gift says a lot about you and how you feel about preserving our planet. Sending an organic baby gift demonstrates that you care not just about the baby today but about the future of the baby and the world he will inhabit.

Today, organic doesn’s have to mean  dull beige baby blankets or boring toys. There are many colorful designs  and fabrics  that are truly beautiful; we love the handcrafted onesy with baby giraffes. Not only is it organic, but it is made in America.  Our organic baby gift basket at www.namelynewborns.com features a handcrafted organic butterfly onesy , an organic bunny security blanket and 4 beautiful ec0-friendly muslim swaddling blankets from Aiden and Anais.

There are few processes as personal as picking out a baby gift. Not only are you picking out a gift for a newborn baby, but also for their parents for which you have a close relationship. You want the gift to be something comforting for the newborn and memorable for the parents. Monogrammed baby gifts like blankets, pillows, gowns and towels are exactly the kind of present to give at a baby shower or birthday. Namely Newborns offers quality baby safe products that are monogrammed with expert stitching and embroidery; with so many quality products it can be difficult to pick a single item – we’ll help with this list of some of our more popular products.

Bearington Bear Personalized Crib Blankets – This posh blue dot blanket has beautiful designs and is made with soft baby safe material. The fabric is chenille which is cozy, thick and ultra-soft. The blanket is 36’’ by 29’’ which is great for babies from newborns to toddlers. The blanket also comes with a fantastic large area for a quality stitched or monogrammed baby blanket. According to the website, “Choose plush blue trimmed in satin with chocolate and blue dots which reverses to soft chocolate or blue velour plush which reverses to brown. Up to two names embroidered in blue on the brown blanket or brown on the blue blanket FREE”.

Custom Personalized Baby Pillow – With a wonderful dotted design and pleasant background colors – this pillow is one of the most sought-after baby gifts available at Namely Newborns. The personalized baby pillow is 15’’ by 15’’ which is a perfect size for children from newborns to toddlers. According to their website, “Our monogrammed precious dot baby pillow is 15 by15 inches and matches custom Butterscotch blanket”. This pillow has a large area for custom monogram with any letter or letter combination.

Infant Gown – Designed by Margery Ellen, this blue dot design gown is a great gift to give any newborn. Along with soft baby safe fabric, these beautifully designed gowns come with custom area for monogramming. The items are incredibly affordable and most customers get multiple gowns. According to the website, “An essential item for the newborn baby’s layette since it can be used as a gown up to three .Build your layette by adding a matching blanket, hat or footie”.

When you buy a gift for a baby born in the spring, think bright spring colors. For girl babies, look for a baby blanket or towel in lavender or hot pink. Hot pink or lavender make the fashion statement this spring. For baby boys, although blue is always safe, choose an orange blanket or aqua towel. Orange is the new neutral this spring. Add a touch of orange to pink or blue and you have a sharp new color combination.

 3 Marthas adds orange to her newest giraffe baby hooded towels to make  a new fashion statement for spring. Orange and pink on the little girl giraffe towel and orange and aqua on the little boy giraffe towel make these towels standout.

Pick out a bright colored toy to throw in baby’s stroller or crib. We love this brightly colored organic octopus made from scraps of organic cotton. And the name is scratopus – cute and an earth saver in one small bundle.

orange & pink and orange & blue giraffe towels

Organic nurseries provide the perfect safe nesting environment for newborns.  But the commitment to an organic nursery is not an easy one. Many organic bedding sets are white or natural.  You may have limitations in color and products, but that doesn’t meant you have limitiations in quality and style. Once you have decided that you must have an organic nursery, here are our tips to jazz up your nursery.

Pure White Organic Bedding by Dwell Studio

Most  organic bedding is white or natural like this Dwell Bedding set . So in order to make your room a jewel here are our tips.

l. Paint the room a deep jewel tone color like emerald green, hot pink,or cobalt blue.

2. Divide the walls in half with a molding and paint the upper portion a lighter tone of the same color as the lower portion. If you want to be really dramatic, choose two colors like pink and green , or aqua and brown, lavender and sage, or navy and red.

3. Accent with bright white baseboards and molding.

4. Include an organic blanket in bright colors to accent your crib.  Custom the blanket in colors that repeat the wall colors.

5.Personalize everything with bright colored embroidery. Keep repeating the same accent colors on everything you can find.

6. Look for organic towels and clothing. These can be hung on dowels on your wall to punch out color in your room. 

Organic Baby Blanket Handcrafted for Namely Newborns

8. Add a bright wall organizer from 3 Sprouts. They come in hippo, monkey and alligator designs. These wonderfully characters will  decorate your walls, and organize your clutter and will still be safe and organic.

Organic 3 Sprout organizer

Things to Consider when choosing organic?

What are you looking for in baby products.?Is style or comfort more important to you?  Are you concerned with babies physical safety and the safety of the planet? Then organic baby products may be the answer for your baby’s needs. If you choose organic, you may have to be more careful in purchases and budget more carefully. Often organic baby gifts are  more expensive and do not come in some of the vibrant colors of polyester products. Many organic baby products are white or soft blue, pink or natural.  You may have to be more creative in creating a unique nursery by embroidering with accent colors .A few companies have mastered the ability to dye cotton with organic dyes that produce vibrant colors, but most organic products are neutral.

Are you willing to sacrifice style for safety? We think you can have both with our organic products which combine safety and style.

Soft organic security blanket from Under the Nile

Here is why you need to buy dress baby in organic clothes and cover him with organic blankets.

The skin is our largest organ and what touches baby’s skin during the first few critical months may have lasting affect on his well being for the rest of his life.  He is usually covered from head to toe with hats and booties and blankets for the first few months. The first few months of his life  baby is in a reclining position 90 % of the time and is often swaddled with a blanket. He breathes the air around him and if there are chemical  fumes from the clothing ,blankets and crib bedding that surround him ; he breathes these chemicals  .

 If his favorite stuffed animal or security blanket isn’t organic , he is putting this non-chemical free fabric in his mouth .He is touching this security blanket  with his fingers, chewing on it and putting his face on it.  If his bath towel isn’t organic, you are drying him with a fabric loaded with chemicals. 3 Sprouts has beautiful organic towels that are both fashionable and safe.

Organic walrus towel from 3 Sprouts is hit with new babies!

More and more manufacturers are trying to provide  environmentally friendly choices for baby’s bedding and organic layettes .

Tips for picking the best Organic clothing

1. Choose companies for your layette  like Under Nile;companies  that use  Egyptian cotton that is handpicked, free of chemicals and pesticides provide beautiful organic layettes. 

2.Make sure the products are dyed with metral-free or vegetable .

3. Make sure the dyes are soy-free.

. 4. Make sure hese organic textiles are not bleached.

Following these four tips will help you find beautiful organic clothes that will help baby adjust to his new environment safely and even prevent skin allergies in your newborn.

The softest organic layette by Under the Nile

It is important to understand the terminology when you are searching for organic baby products. To be certified organic, it means that the raw cotton  mst meet strict standards set forth by the government and private boards that regular inspect the products.

There are other buzz words which imply organic ,but don’t actually meet the strict regulations. Many products are labeled green or eco-friendly . Some of these can be very safe if they are guaranteed to be pesticide free, but they are not organic. It is important to help the planet  so sustainable or eco-friendly products are a step above synthetics, but don’t be mislead and think they are organic if they are not labeled organic.

Good luck in your search for organic baby products and gifts. Please let us know if you find any wonderful organic brands that we should carry.

Namely Newborns would like to congratulate our Earth Day Contest winners, Becky and Kevin Fenner, the proud parents of 6-month old baby, Colin Fenner! The Fenners of Altamonte Springs, Florida, wrote in to tell us what they are doing to reduce their impact on the environment while raising Colin.

Colin’s mother Becky says, “We’ve been using these wonderful reusable baby diapers since he was born.  They are adjustable, so we plan to use them until he’s toilet trained.  We really try to “go green” and limit the use of baby wipes too.  My mom made small “wipes” that we wet and clean his little bottom with.  The laundry adds up, but we use Seventh Generation detergent and dryer balls instead of the dryer sheets.  We usually hang his diapers on a drying rack to limit dryer time and keep the diapers in good shape.”

As the winners of our Earth Day Contest, Becky and Kevin will receive a blue organic baby blanket personalized with Colin’s name.  We think the baby blue blanket will go wonderfully with those beautiful baby blue eyes!

Our thanks go out to all families who participated in the contest.  Namely Newborns applauds you all for your efforts to “go green.”

Organic Baby Contest

Namely Newborns would like to do our part in celebrating Earth Day by encouraging moms to think green. Enter our organic baby contest and win a beautifully personalized organic baby blanket in your choice of blue, pink or natural. This blanket retails for $54.95 and is woven in the United States with 100% organic cotton.

How To Win

Tell us in fifty words or less what you are doing to reduce your impact on the environment.  Are you feeding your baby organic food, recycling or using cloth diapers? We want to share your tips with others, so together we can all make a difference!

You choice on how to enter:

1. Send an email to info@namelynewborns.com
2. Add your comment to this blog article
3. Follow us on Twitter and send us a message
4. Become a fan on Facebook and post your entry and/or photos and video

The contest ends April 22 at midnight EST.  One winner will be notified on April 23 to receive a beautiful organic baby blanket with up to two names and a birth date embroidered on it.

We look forward to hearing from you!

More About Earth Day

Earth Day is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries every year. Earth Day is celebrated in spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Many communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues.

In the United States, Earth Day is celebrated each year on April 22.

photo: Raphael Goetter

What is Baby Layette?

One of the many puzzles a new mother must solve is what clothes does a newborn baby really need. A layette is the most commonly used name in the U.S. to describe the essential collection of clothes that a newborn baby requires for the first six months of his life. Traditionally family and friends would hand sew the baby’s layette, but modern moms now have to rely mostly on carefully chosen store-bought gifts. Embroidering baby’s name , initial, or birth date on the item is a great way to personalize your store-bought items and turn them into heirlooms. Try finding handcrafted baby quilts or blankets to make your baby’s layette something really special.

Before Selecting Layette, Do Your Homework

You have to be knowledgeable about what you need and what fabrics are best for a newborn baby. 100% cotton is usually the favorite choice for the newborn.  You will want the purest and softest fabric next to baby’s tender skin.  Many articles of clothing and blankets are now available in organic cotton or eco-friendly soy with natural dyes.  A new Mother definitely wants easy care washable clothing that will stand up to repeated washings and still look fresh and colorful.

Building Baby’s Layette

Building a layette is like packing for a long trip. You don’t want too many items that the baby will never wear.  On the other hand, you don’t want to spend every free minute in the laundry room hoping your baby will sleep until the clean onesies are dry.  Try to build baby’s wardrobe around a basic color scheme so that you can mix and match. You don’t want to search for the matching lavender pants to your favorite lavender top with a squirming baby on the dressing table. Everything you pull quickly from your drawer should match everything else in the drawer. Add lots of white and you can never go wrong in dressing baby in style.

We are happy to report that “preppy is back in style” and the most popular color scheme for baby girl is once again pink and green with pink and brown in second place. For baby boy the favorite color is still blue. Blue and green is in second place with brown and blue a close third. Our favorite layette are manufactured by trusted companies like 3 Marthas, Margery Ellen and Light of Mine Design.

Baby Layette Checklist

7 footies or sleepers

4 onesies

2 gowns

4 receiving blankets

3 hooded towels

coming home outfit

2 crib or stroller blankets

4 bibs

4 burp pads

2 security blankets (one is always in the washer)

1 comfy cozy

1 stuffed toy

Good luck on your journey to acquire the perfect baby layette!

I just received my April 2010 “O” magazine yesterday and was excited to see that one of our favorite baby towels was featured on the “O List.” For those of you who may not know, the “O List” is published monthly featuring  products the editors of the magazine “think are just great.”

This organic purple hippo hooded towel from 3 Sprouts is a soft and sweet way to wrap up your little one after bath time.  We have to agree that we think it is great too!  As noted in the magazine, the towel is a generous size, so you can use this for baby and use it all the way until he’s a toddler.  In case purple doesn’t work for your little one, it’s also available in green hippo.