Go green at all times of the year and with nearly any item – including baby gifts for Christmas or Chanukah. Yet, finding green baby gifts can be a challenge, as most retailers don’t carry them. Standard baby products, from mattresses and sheets to toys, tend to contain chemicals, be it PVC, phthalates, or BPA, and these leach out and enter a child’s environment. For doing something good for the environment and reducing your own or someone else’s carbon footprint, here are some suggestions for green baby gifts:

• Eco-friendly diaper cakes from Rattlecake put a mundane yet necessary item in an attractive package. A typical Rattlecake diaper cake has 80 to 150 diapers and various baby toys attached to the outside. Eco-friendly diaper cakes have Seventh Generation diapers and assorted organic cotton and corn fiber-filled toys on the outside.

• Baby Planet Zoey Strollers are environmentally friendly and safe – two qualities any parent enjoys. Each Zoey stroller can be used with timi & leslie diaper bags and is equipped with all-terrain wheels and a five-point harness.

• Naturepedic mattresses come in sizes for babies and children. Regardless of the size, however, all Naturepedic mattresses are made out of organic cotton, without harmful chemicals and allergens, and are waterproof.

• On the same subject as bedding, consider a Moses basket stand for a parent who has one of these temporary baby beds. Each is made out of organic wood with no paint, stains, or toxic finishes.

• Yellow Label Pink Cuddle Dolls are all handmade – no machines or child labor is involved. Each soft toy, which can be given to a baby or toddler, is made by hand in accordance with Fair Trade practices.

• Surprise a new mother with a Lassig Vintage Metro diaper bag. With a colorful print, each diaper bag is made without PVC, nickel, AZO dyes, or phthalates.

Christmas and Chanukah are only a few weeks away, and if you’re looking for a baby gift, for your own child, a friend’s, or family member’s, you might be stuck on what to get. Toy stores are no help; the options are endless, and you might not be able to discern what is useful and what’s not. In general, follow guidelines for purchasing a holiday baby gift as you would for a shower: fun yet practical. Consider the following suggestions:

• Toys, toys, toys. A kid can’t ever have too many toys; yet, parents find that some activities are more useful than others. While play appears to be for fun, it’s educational for babies and toddlers but not in the ways you may think. Rather than reaching for Your Baby Can Read, find toys that stimulate a child’s senses, assist with building motor skills, or encourage creative or critical-thinking skills. For babies, these toys are often black, white, and red or have various colors and textures. For toddlers, on the other hand, soft toys that keep them active, such as blocks, dolls, or play sets, are your best bet.

• Be practical. Parents can never have too many onesies or diapers. But rather than going a mundane route, dress up your present. Holiday diaper cakes have a fun appearance and include 80 to 150 diapers. For clothing, consider the child’s age or size and go with basics: onesies, t-shirts, footies, or pants. Also, if parents prefer pink or blue, make sure to keep colors in mind.

• Think about parents’ wants or needs. Is a new mother carrying around an ordinary diaper bag? Surprise her with one that looks like a designer handbag on the outside but is equipped with all the features a parent needs inside. Or, if parents are in need of a new stroller, car seat, or crib, consider purchasing one, but ask about their preferences beforehand.

What parent doesn’t want their child to get ahead in reading, learning new words, or math? At the same time, toy manufacturers take advantage of this desire and convince them that their toy is the one to accelerate a child’s skills or boost intelligence. Yet, with evidence showing the ineffectiveness of Baby Einstein, some are questioning the claims of baby toys with similar intentions.

Countless toys for babies and toddlers are geared toward learning new words, reading, math skills, and problem solving, but how many of them truly work? Researchers question the claims made by each manufacturer, but at the same time, nonbiased studies cannot be performed on every toy on the market. Additionally, proving that the particular toy increased or advanced a child’s skills is difficult.

How and if a toy works notwithstanding, marketing for educational baby toys is unregulated. As a result, manufacturers can make practically any claims – even improbable ones like Your Baby Can Read’s. About the lack of regulation, Russ Heimerich, spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, explained:

“Nobody checks the ads and says, ‘No, you can’t say that.’ That would be prior restraint. Unless it’s doing someone harm or grossly misleading, you have to give the benefit of the doubt to the people making the claim.”

If a parent wants to help their child learn new skills but doesn’t want to fall into the toy manufacturers’ traps, what can he or she do? The Early Years Institute President Dana Friedman recommends choosing simple toys and limiting computer and television screen time:

“Generally speaking, the simpler the toy, the more complex the play. The more complex the toy, the more simple the play. You want to find toys where children have options for what they do with it. If it’s a toy that can only be used in one way, don’t get it.”

Don’t you wish your child knew about sharing and would just stop saying, “That’s not fair!”? Your child may, in fact, be fully aware of fairness and sharing, according to a recent study from the University of Washington. The study, which involved showing videos and then sharing toys, showed that children as young as 15 months in age recognize unfairness.

Scientists, before, had shown that 2 year olds are capable of recognizing sharing and fairness, but the new study indicates that children identify them at younger ages. In the University of Washington study, a group of 47 babies were shown two videos: one of food being divided evenly between two people, and another of food being divided unevenly. As the babies watched, some stared at the video of food being divided unevenly. Babies, according to scientists, stare when surprised by something.

The second portion of the study was more interactive. The babies were given two toys each, and the researchers indicated that they would like to have one. Two-thirds of the babies offered to share, but how they did it was not uniform. Some babies offered their preferred toy to share, and this group was labeled as “altruistic sharers.” Other babies offered their least-preferred toy, and this group was dubbed “selfish sharers.”

Out of these two groups, the altruistic sharers were more likely to stare at the video of the food being divided up unevenly. Selfish sharers, on the other hand, were more inclined to look at the video of the food being divided up evenly. Regarding the results, Jessica Sommerville, who led the study, mentioned:

“Our findings show that these norms of fairness and altruism are more rapidly acquired than we thought. The infants expected an equal and fair distribution of food, and they were surprised to see one person given more crackers or milk than the other.”

You’d think that, with all of the coverage surrounding celebrity babies even before they leave the womb, Victoria Beckham’s baby shower would have been covered in the news sooner. Yet, news of her May 7 baby shower didn’t hit the tabloids until May 16 – even in the U.K., where Beckham and her soccer player husband are far larger celebrities than they are in the U.S. Perhaps the paparazzi are far more concerned with Mariah Carey’s twins than they are with the Beckham’s fourth spawn.

Nevertheless, as reported in celebrity gossip blog Hollywood Life, Beckham was thrown a pink-themed baby shower at the Hotel Le Petit Ermitage in Hollywood. A-list guests, including Selma Blair, Eva Longoria, and Nichole Richie, were invited. Source Beginnings, a Hollywood baby boutique, claims that, even with Beckham’s insistence that all gifts be pink, guests chose presents in other colors.

Baby products used by celebrities are not as far removed as, say, fashion choices. A Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag is closer to the average woman’s budget than a pair of Louboutins or a Hermes bag. If you are curious about the gifts given to Beckham, the following items have been mentioned by Hollywood Life and the Daily Mail:
• A Quinny Buzz Special Edition Stroller in pink
• A mamaRoo baby swing
• A Hoppop bath tub
• A Little Giraffe Luxe Blanket
• A Timi + Leslie diaper bag
• A custom-made stuffed giraffe by Melissa & Doug
• A Bonpoint clothing set
• An Orbit Baby Infant Stroller in red
• A Bloom Alma crib; and
• A Bloom Fresco high chair

Surprising a friend at a baby shower with a gift like one Victoria Beckham received isn’t out of the question. In fact, many of these brands can be found through ordinary baby boutiques. Baby and Me Boutique, for instance, carries Quinny Buzz strollers and Timi + Leslie diaper bags. Brands Melissa and Doug and Little Giraffe are sold through Hunky Dory.

Fire-retardant chemicals, in concept, seem beneficial. After all, in theory, they should slow a fire’s spread and save more lives. Yet, at the same time, many fire-retardant chemicals are toxic and can be found in items ranging from furniture to clothing to baby products. Because going green is beyond a trend and, at this point, has become a necessary lifestyle, USA Today ran a piece recently about the hazards of fire-retardant chemicals in baby products.

Fire-retardant chemicals are so omnipresent that even the dust in your house has traces of them. If you consider the habits of a baby, including sleeping and putting objects into his or her mouth, exposure to fire retardant chemicals seems unavoidable. In fact, such chemicals are found in the polyurethane foam in baby mattresses; up until the 1970s, they were added to baby clothes, until a study showed that these substances cause cancer in animals.

According to the USA Today article, the concentration of fire-retardant chemicals in toddlers and preschoolers is three times the amount in adults. While such chemicals are harmful to people of all ages, they can affect behavioral and brain development in children, lower IQ, or result in learning products.

But, is the addition of such chemicals even necessary? According to an article published in the Los Angeles Times in 2009, fire-retardant chemicals worsen emergency situations, as materials like polyurethane foam release the chemicals into the air during a fire. Although California, the state with the most strict fire standards, has made an exception for baby products, a significant amount of furniture is still made with fire-retardant chemicals: 56 percent of infant carriers, 44 percent of car seats, and 40 percent of portable cribs.

Finding baby products free of these chemicals is difficult but not impossible. Baby mattresses are a particular concern, as a child sleeps for 70 percent of its first year, and Naturepedic makes products that are organic and free of toxic chemicals. Containing no PVC, vinyl, or phthalates (a plastic softener), Naturepedic baby mattresses are tested for chemical emissions and are Greenguard certified. Each baby mattress has a 100-percent food-grade polyethylene waterproof surface, organic cotton filling, and a non-toxic and naturally-derived fire barrier system.

These days, children are expected to be reading well by the time they finish kindergarten. But should you be expecting your child to read by the time he or she turns 2? Or, furthermore, can you even expect a 2-year-old to start reading? Educational product line Your Baby Can Read thinks so. If you’ve ever watched late-night infomercials, you likely caught one for Your Baby Can Read. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the product’s commercial:

Consumer advocacy group Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood claims these commercials are misleading and deceptive and claims Your Baby Can Read products are harmful to children. Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, but this instance is not the first time the organization questioned a baby product’s claims.

A few years ago, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood took the same approach to Baby Einstein, and parents who purchased Baby Einstein products were eventually refunded. Baby Einstein claimed their products assist with building young children’s vocabulary. Studies, however, disproved these claims, finding instead that children who exclusively watched Baby Einstein videos knew fewer words than those who just interacted with their parents.

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood takes their argument a step further. They claim that, while young children can recognize words aurally and visually, they are not developed enough to read. Additionally, they state that the amount of time Your Baby Can Read requires a child sit in front of a television or computer is harmful.

Your Baby Can Read, of course, denies these claims, and says that one million families have bought their product and are satisfied.

Still, although Your Baby Can Read involves interaction between the parent and child, sitting a child in front of a computer or television is no substitute for talking to and reading with your child.

That crib you own, the car seat you use, or your baby’s favorite toy – one day you find it recalled and don’t know what to do. For a major recall, as we saw with the drop side cribs, the story will hit the news. If a toy by a smaller manufacturer is recalled, however, you may not hear of it until later. When something like this happens, the typical response is panic. But instead, develop a course of action for keeping your child safe.

First, stop using the product. Take the car seat out, disable the crib, or remove the toy. Although the item has not posed problems for you yet, it may at some point. Why take the risk?

Second, find out about what the manufacturer plans to do. Is the company permanently taking the product off shelves, or is it repairable? Expect a kit or replacement part for the latter option. In this case, sending in the registration card months before is helpful.

Don’t wait for a recall to question the baby products in your home, however. Instead, always be looking for parts or features that pose a hazard to your child, especially with toys and baby furniture. If you are unsure of what to look for, an article from U.S. News & World Report gives some suggestions:

• Always look for broken parts on the toy and around your home.
• No parts should be small enough to fit in a baby’s mouth.
• Toys for older children should be out of reach.
• Avoid cords, strings, balloons, and motorized toys.
• Find out if toys are safety tested.
• Always dispose of packaging.

Take a similar approach to examining baby furniture. Hardware, in particular, is often a cause of injuries, so see that is it always secure. Additionally, if the furniture has a seat or uses a harness, make sure that the child cannot escape or take it off.

You’ve been invited to the baby shower for a friend of a friend, and when you go to choose a baby gift, you essentially have two options – pink or blue. No matter if the toy or item is a set of blocks, onesies, a blanket, or stuffed animal, these two colors practically predominate. Unisex or gender-neutral items are only a small percentage of the baby products on the shelf. So, what do you choose?

If the shower is for a girl, you’re in luck and have a plethora of options. For a boy, however, you’re stuck. Although blue, to a certain extent, is appropriate for girls (assuming you don’t give her an action figure), pink appears to exclusively be a girls’ color. When there are no blue baby gifts, should you settle on pink – it is only a toy, after all – or look for another option?

Writer Rachel Kramer Bussel seems trapped in the same type of dilemma, which she details in a piece for the Huffington Post. She decided to give a baby gift, a similar and favorite item she had for her child, but could only find it in pink. Rather than looking for another gift in blue, she sent the pink baby toy instead.

Bussel, although still waiting for a response about the toy, still questions her decision. While the child likely will not remember the toy, the parents, however, may be put off or taken aback. Pink, socially, is not considered an appropriate color for boys, and a pink baby toy, as a result, appears like a feminist agenda in a box. Will the parents use it, put it in a closet, or think that Bussel is making a political statement out of a baby toy?

There is no concrete answer to Bussel’s dilemma. Ideally, the use of the toy would trump its color. Blue, as a masculine shade, is considered empowering for girls, but pink does the reverse for boys – debasing or feminizing. In such an instance, going with the unisex option appears to cause the least commotion and confusion.

Creativity and practicality need to meet whenever you choose a baby gift. Although an item can be attractive in appearance, it is useless if a parent can’t use it regularly. Even though a red and green bootie set and hat might be perfect for the holidays, a parent has no use for it after December 25. Clothing, however, is not out of the question, and neither are toys, blankets, and other baby products. Even if ordinary in appearance, a baby product can be dressed up for the occasion and used for a few months after.

If you’re looking for holiday baby gifts for a friend, consider some of these items:

• Baby Clothes. Children, and babies in particular, can never have too many clothes. Items get soiled, they become small, or they just become worn after a few uses. Parents, as a result, are always in need of new baby clothes — onesies, t-shirts, and other items. But with a wardrobe consisting nearly entirely of solid color cotton clothing, a special occasion outfit – one that can be worn at least a few times – adds a little variation.
• Baby Toys. Is there a toy that a child won’t refuse? For babies, a new toy is more than a source of a new play item; a toy is often an item that he or she has never seen. Although baby toys for the first six months consist of items involving sight and hearing senses, those designed for six-month-olds and older encourage touch and gross motor skills, such as rolling, crawling, and touching. Play mats, for example, have enough space for rolling and offer many items for touching. Various soft baby toys are also designed with a varied surface, multiple colors, and noises.
• Diaper cakes. Typically a baby shower item, diaper cakes are useful to parents all year round. Each diaper cake is made with 80 to 150 diapers arranged in two to four tiers. Various baby products are attached to the outside. As parents always need diapers, a diaper cake gives them a large supply. Designers like Rattlecake, as well, make specific holiday cakes.