The gift you buy for your baby or someone else’s baby is worth its price when it is really of some use to the baby. You feel happy, satisfied, and a bit proud of your choice when you see that your gift really being liked or enjoyed by the little kid for whom you bought it. Also, if the gifts are organic baby gifts, your pleasures would increase!
By gifting a baby with organic baby gifts, you are welcoming the most precious creation of God with the safest, most natural, and friendliest of the gifts. The baby will not only enjoy these gifts, but they will also be totally safe from the dangers of contamination by any kind of harmful chemicals used in synthetic products. An insight into these Organic Baby Gifts will not only give you an idea of what they actually are, but will also help pick the best one for your baby. Here we go!
Organic Baby Gifts: They look no different from any baby gift whatsoever. However, the difference lies inside. Organic Baby Gifts can be defined as the gift items, for babies, which are made up of organic materials and manufactured through an organic process. There should not be any involvement of any kind of synthetic or artificial or chemical substances before, during or after the manufacturing of these gift items. That means that the raw material must be natural and grown with the help of organic fertilizers and pesticides only, and “Not” chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
A baby dressed up in red clothes and Santa cap. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Furthermore, during the manufacturing process, no chemicals should be used for bleaching, conditioning, strengthening, staining, coloring, flavoring, and adhering, disinfecting, or any other step of manufacturing. Finally, no chemical preservatives or bio-repellants should be used on these products and they must be packed in organic packs. Again, there is no specific definition of what should be included in Organic Baby Gifts. They can include anything of the baby’s use, such as clothes, food items, toys, cosmetics, and other accessories.
But Why or Why Not Organic Baby Gifts?
The adverse effects of chemicals used in baby products mostly show up after long-term use and by that time, they become irreversible.
For example, there are many chemicals, exposure to which can cause irritations. However, babies can feel it since they are more delicate and their skin is more sensitive than adults. Therefore, they are more open to danger, but it is not that we as adults are any less prone. It is simply that we cannot feel it. Finally, we simply do not seem to care, and this comes from a lack of awareness. We often think that what difference would our using these Organic Baby Gifts make when everything else is so much polluted with chemicals. However, I say that there would be no harm either if you use organic products. They will surely be of some benefit to your baby. At least, this can be a humble beginning of a great change and if you are not willing to change the world, you can at least do this for your baby.
Enough of lectures! Where is the data? Okay! I am sorry if I was boring. Here is some real data! Let’s start with the types of products you can pick as Organic Baby Gifts and their whereabouts.
Organic Baby Apparels
Material: Organic natural fiber, preferably cotton.
Availability: The availability is better in big cities and developed nations than small towns, rural areas, and developing economies. It can also be ordered on the Internet.
Price: it is costlier than normal baby apparel.
Organic Baby Toys
Organic Baby Toys are neither made up of vegetables and fruits nor are they edible. They are as good as any other toy with the difference that they are made up of organic raw material and no chemical or synthetic substances are used in them. We, who are habituated to see toys made of plastic and metal and some soft toys, can hardly think of any other material which could be used to make toys. However, this is not so. There are plenty of natural substances that can be used. Some of these are given below. [1]
Organic Natural Fiber: Organically grown cotton, silk, jute, flannel, and wool can be used for making soft, stuffed, or other types of toys.
Organic Natural Latex or Rubber: Obtained from organically-grown rubber plants. Ideal for making dolls and balls.
Organic Natural Wood/Bamboo etc: Obtained from organically grown trees. Although hard, they can be rounded (all sharp edges and angles removed) to make dolls and other toys. These toys are still popular in rural parts of India, China, and Russia.
Organic Natural Color: Obtained from various flowers and extracts of plants. Although it cannot replace paint or dyes but are good enough to color cloth toys.
Advantages of Organic Baby Toys: Since these toys do not contain toxic synthetic compounds, your baby can safely touch them and can even put them in his/her mouth (I still do not mean that they are edible).
Disadvantages of Organic Baby Toys: The only disadvantages of these toys one can think of are their higher price and rarer availability. Most of the manufacturers, even the giants in toy manufacturing, are not producing Organic Baby Toys. The reason behind this may be that the toys are not considered as important as other baby products such as baby food and baby clothes and the physical contact of these toys with babies is not as much as that of baby food, baby bedding or baby clothes. So, many think about what harm such little or occasional contact with these non-organic toys can do to the babies. Moreover, just because the organic raw materials cost much more than cheap synthetic ones, so the companies see less profit in selling Organic Baby Toys.
What If? What if Organic Baby Toys are not available in your locality? There are three possible solutions to it. First, you can order them on the Internet as some companies are selling them online and they will ship them to your home. However, this will be too costly to spend on something that is not an essential commodity. Next, you can order your nearest dealer to get some for you. This again, if not as costly as ordering on the Internet, is going to cost you handsomely. Finally, you can make them at home or get them custom-made by someone. This is going to be the cheapest option and you will need to buy only some organic clothes, organic rubber sheets, organic wool, and a few other organic tidbits, which are not a big deal.
Market Response: Organic Baby Toys are not as popular as other organic baby products. The reasons include their rare availability and lack of importance given to them by their parents. Many still think that it makes no difference if the toys are organic or not.
Organic Baby Bedding
Material: Organic natural fiber and rubber
Availability: Again, more in big cities and developed economies and less otherwise. Can be ordered on the Internet.
Price: Higher than normal baby bedding
Organic Baby Blankets
Material: Organic cotton and wool
Availability: Same as above
Price: Costlier
Organic Baby Foods
Material: Organic materials such as cereals, milk, and sugar [2]
Availability: Better available than other organic baby products
Price: Costlier than normal baby foods
Benefits: Organic foods have lower levels of pesticides and higher levels of nutrients. [3]
Organic Baby Cosmetics
Material: Organic Beeswax, Organic Essential Oils, Organic Herbal Extracts, and Organic Vegetable Edible Oils
Availability: Has a far better availability than other organic baby products
Price: Much higher than normal cosmetics.
Future: Organic baby products might be costly today as very few manufacturers came up with organic products, but very soon, every other player will enter the arena and things will be available at more competitive rates. Thanks to the growing awareness among the people and the consequent growing demand for organic products. And there is even more good news! Perhaps this is the first time when such a revolution will not have any adverse impact on the environment, unlike the Industrial Revolution and the Green Revolution, etc. So, let us wish this revolution a very bright future and let us contribute to it by encouraging Organic Baby Gifts.
