While raising a child more naturally does involve buying more organic and nontoxic products, it's also about fostering the kind of instinctive bond that's so easily lost in our high-stress, pre-packaged world.

Raising a natural baby in a chemical world is not so easy. Watchdog groups like Children's Health Environment Coalition (CHEC) and Environmental Working Group (EWG) regularly release frightening studies about the levels of toxins in everything from mother's breast milk to jarred baby food, from crib mattresses to pacifiers. It's a boon for the organic baby product machine, but overwhelming for already stressed-out eco-minded parents. While these organizations offer recommendations on how to steer a child's development in a healthier direction, nothing short of a chemical suit seems safe.

And it's not enough to worry how chemicals will affect one's child; how will all those products designed for bringing up baby exact a toll on the environment? The average baby poops and pees through some 8,000 diapers before potty training, a number that's on the rise with the increased social acceptability of pull-up diapers designed for toddlers. Then there are the baby food jars, the formula cans, the plastic containers of wipes, the scented disposable diaper bags, the plastic swings and teething rings and the crib with all its trimmings. And green varieties of every baby product are proliferating online and on supermarket shelves: from nontoxic cleaners to chlorine-free diapers and organic cotton crib mattresses minus the flame-retardant chemicals.

I gave birth to my first baby, a daughter, five months ago. There was no birthing tub or midwife; the labor ended in both an epidural and a Caesarean at a traditional hospital. But even though my vision of a "natural birth" was derailed by medical intervention, I found myself drawn to the idea of raising a natural baby. I carried little Eleanore everywhere. Despite borrowing a co-sleeper that attaches to the bed, Elli inevitably spent the night sleeping between me and my husband. She's used her crib only a handful of times and on those nights I slept terribly, listening to her ragged breathing over the monitor, waiting for the slightest whimper of discomfort. I breastfed Elli on demand, which presented a problem only at certain family gatherings. "One word: formula," said a cousin. I was given an expensive automatic swing, but I've used it reluctantly only on a couple occasions. A playpen, another gift, has been folded away. Read More

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