Dressing newborn babies is a fine art. Getting tiny flailing limbs to shimmy down a long sleeve. Easing a floppy little head through a neck hole. Keeping their infinitesimal socks from falling off their feet. Just when you get it figured out, new tests begin; including the mastery of stain removal and the miraculous feat of keeping a toddler clothed at all. No matter which skill you are perfecting, you will always need to know how to select the safest fabrics.

Many new parents assume that cotton is the best fabric for their baby's clothes and bedding because it's a natural fiber, but conventionally grown cotton is one of the most pesticide intensive crops grown in the US. After the cotton is picked and milled into fabric, a soup of chemicals that are known to harm human health are used to dye and finish the fabric. Chemicals like formaldehyde and urea resins are used to increase stain resistance, wrinkle-proofing, and even disinfecting. Most "finishing" chemicals contain volatile organic compounds that are often sensitizers and suspected carcinogens. Often, the clippings from fabric mills are so loaded with chemicals they are handled like toxic waste, while the products made from these materials are considered safe to bring into our homes.

Now take a deep breath and relax - your baby is okay. There are safer options and solutions other than immediately ripping the onesie off your baby. Residues on baby clothing and bedding are minimal and have only been shown to cause contact dermatitis (generally in people with sensitive skin). Still, we really don't know what long term health impacts may arise from the subtle, but constant exposure to chemicals in clothing and bedding.

Luckily, we don't have to wait to find out. We can select safer fabrics today:

Organic Cotton: Perhaps the most obvious choice is organic cotton, grown without the use of pesticides. Look for options that are not only grown organically, but are also untreated (i.e. they are finished and dyed using natural, non-toxic processes). You can also look for organic, untreated wool which is naturally fire-resistant and a good choice for children's sleepwear.

Bamboo: Another fabric increasing in popularity is made from bamboo, which has a natural softness and sheen similar to silk or cashmere. Bamboo is completely biodegradable and can be grown without pesticides or chemicals. Look for fabrics certified by Oeko-Tex which ensures that fabric made from bamboo fibers is chemical-free.

Hemp: Surprising to some, hemp is another option and is naturally pest resistant so requires few, if any, of the pesticides used on conventional cotton. Still, there's no certification process, so you can't be sure that the hemp has been grown pesticide-free.

More options: Other choices include linen, soy, inego (corn-based), and even recycled plastic (which Patagonia has been using in their fleece for quite some time). Given the textile industry's penchant for pollution and people's growing concern over the health of the planet, new eco-fabrics are popping up everywhere. You just need to do a little research.

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