Want to skip the fluorescent plastic and flashing lights in the trinkets you tuck into baby’s stocking?  Thankfully you have several eco-friendly options that will keep baby happily entertained without the planetary impact.

Wooden Rattles. Sassy has a great line of Earth Brights toys which include the wooden Cherry Tree Rattle.  The combination of colorful fabrics and natural wood creates a nice contrast.  The natural wood crescent rattle by Green Sprouts is simple, affordable and attractive, while the natural wood hedgehog baby rattle by ImagiPlay is also a good pick for its simple design and easy function.

Fabric Rattles.  Sevi has a playful line of plush dog, turtle, chicken, fish, and butterfly rattles that will keep you and baby entertained for hours.  Wonderworld has a variety of rattles, and small toys made from eco-friendly rubber, non-toxic paints and biodegradable fabrics.  Their designs are colorful, innovative and quite cute.

Metal Rattles. If you’d like to shower baby with a ridiculously expensive rattle that will probably be lost within the week, you can opt for the Sterling Silver Baby Teething Ring Rattle by Lunt.  It’ll run you $80.00 a pop, but it isn’t made of plastic.  Still, it’s probably best to buy one of the others and then donate the rest to an environmental charity!

Which rattle is your baby’s favorite?  We also have a post on natural teething products that  work great as stocking stuffers.  Can you recommend any other small eco-friendly gifts for baby this year?

What gifts are you going to bestow upon the new mother in your life this holiday season? My cousin wanted to put together a gift bag for her expecting sister-in-law. Because her sister-in-law planned to breast feed, my cousin chose a “nursing mother” theme. She was going to package everything in a cool eco-friendly diaper bag but ended up forgoing that idea. (Good thing, too, because her sister-in-law already had a couple!)

Bonus: Put all the new mother’s gifts inside this beautiful Eco-friendly Lassig diaper bag!

Here’s what my cousin ended up putting together:

The New Mother’s Gift Basket

• Wool nursing pads. (I reviewed them here in a vintage Green Baby Guide post!)
• DVDs of 30 Rock. Hours of entertainment for those first few months of marathon nursing sessions!
• Some fancy snacks. Did you know that nursing moms need 250-500 extra calories a day? Try handheld snacks like homemade cookies or muffins. Or check out Joy’s recipe for delicious, calorie-packed peanut butter balls!
• A magazine subscription. Kiwi magazine focuses on eco-friendly parenting—our top magazine pick!
• Mother’s Milk tea.
  
• A nursing tank. Both Joy and I preferred nursing tanks over nursing bras—they allow for a more discreet nursing experience by keeping that postpartum belly covered.

According to my cousin’s report, her sister-in-law loved this thoughtful gift. On Thursday we’ll have even more green ideas for a new mother.

This post is a part of Works for Me Wednesday, hosted by We are THAT Family. It’s the holiday gift edition, so head over there for more ideas!