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What is a French baby registry?
In France it is called a liste de naissance, a birth list, and it works like an American registry: a list at a baby shop, a department store or online, shared with family and friends. The difference is in what goes on it. French lists tend to be shorter on gadgets and longer on the bathroom shelf, the sleeping bag and a few good clothes.
The French state has its own version. Since February 2022, maternity wards have handed new parents a free bag with a baby sleeping bag, a picture book, a bar of natural soap and a cream for the mother, part of its programme for a baby’s first thousand days (Connexion France, January 2022).
The changing table
The most French thing on the list. Instead of wipes, French parents clean a baby’s bottom with liniment oléo-calcaire, a lotion of olive oil and lime water, put on with a cotton pad. It cleans, protects and does not need rinsing. Every French pharmacy sells it. More in what is liniment.
For the list: Mustela’s liniment cleanser, Mustela’s 1 2 3 diaper cream, Avène’s Cicalfate+ for small irritations, and Propre Baby, a brand started in Paris by an American mother, which sells French diaper-care kits with liniment and cotton pads. Add a big bag of cotton rounds. You will use more than you think.
The bath
French baby care is mostly pharmacy care. A gentle cleansing gel (Mustela, Bioderma’s ABCDerm), a hydrating cream, and sérum physiologique: small single-use pods of saline for stuffy noses and sticky eyes, which every French parent keeps in every bag. Our guide to what to buy in a French pharmacy has the adult side of the shelf.
Sleep
French babies sleep in a gigoteuse, a wearable sleeping bag, rather than under a blanket. It is the first thing the state put in its newborn bag. Put two on the list, in the right weight for the season, and one size up for later.
Bedtime itself is the other French habit: early, the same every night, and not much negotiation. More in the French bedtime routine.
This or that
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The French idea is that babies learn to eat what the family eats, starting with vegetables. Solids usually begin between four and six months, with purée made at home, one vegetable at a time. The Babycook, made by the French brand Béaba, steams and blends in one bowl and is on almost every French list.
The long view is in why French kids eat what adults eat.
The first wardrobe
A few good pieces rather than a drawer of logos. Petit Bateau bodysuits, the French basic since the 1890s, in white and stripes. A Saint James stripe for the photos. A Tartine et Chocolat outfit for the grandparents’ visit. Then leave room: babies grow out of everything.
The first toys
The doudou, a soft comforter, is the most important object in a French childhood. Buy two identical ones and hide the second; the day the first is lost will come. Moulin Roty makes the classic ones.
Then Sophie la girafe, the rubber teether launched in France on 25 May 1961, Saint Sophie’s day. It is still French-designed; since around 2013 it has been made in China, which Mediapart reported in May 2026. Wooden toys from Djeco, Janod and Vilac come next, for later.
Out the door
One very good, very small stroller rather than three. The Babyzen YOYO, designed in France, folds small enough for a Paris café or an overhead bin. A good changing bag, and the saline pods, and the cotton.
For the mother
The state’s bag included a cream for the mother, and so should yours. A Caudalie or Avène hydrating cream, a good robe, and on the list for visitors: a dinner, delivered.
Questions, answered
What is a French baby registry called?
A liste de naissance, literally a birth list. It works like an American registry, at a shop or online.
What do French parents use instead of baby wipes?
Liniment oléo-calcaire, a lotion of olive oil and lime water, applied with a cotton pad. It does not need rinsing and is sold in every French pharmacy.
What is a gigoteuse?
A wearable baby sleeping bag. French babies sleep in one instead of under a loose blanket.
When do French babies start solid food?
Usually between four and six months, with vegetable purées made at home, one vegetable at a time.
Is Sophie la girafe French?
Yes. Sophie la girafe was launched in France on 25 May 1961. It is French-designed but has been made in China since around 2013.
Still wondering?
Ask my French husband.
A short ruling in a few seconds. Written by AI from our Journal, in his voice.
He judges America weekly on Instagram, and Le Bulletin collects the best of it.
Before you go
Do You Parent French or American?
Bedtime, snacks, the playground. Which side of the Atlantic are you on?
