Musings

15 Children-Safe House Plants For the Nursery

by Barbara-
children-safe-plants

My vision is to have plants in every area of the house. Zane’s nursery is no exception. As a new mom, and plant lover, I am interested in non-toxic plants and I would like to share with you the results of my research.

Zane’s nursery has a north-facing window and so the plants that are usually in there are close to the window. It originally has a mounted orchid and Staghorn fern. For the purposes of this blog I decorated the nursery with almost all the child-safe plants I had. I will provide a list of the plants at the bottom of this post.

The only plant which I do not have the ID is the plant above, which is a type of fern.  It has a soft, leathery and fuzzy feel. Although I don’t know the ID (therefore not sure if safe or not), I included it in the post so you, my wonderful readers can help me ID. Either way, you can keep it hanging high above, out of the child’s reach.

I couldn’t find any information on the toxicity of Pachyphytum oviferum (above), so again keep away from reach.

Hope you enjoyed Zane’s momentary plant-filled nursery.

List of children-safe plants in this post

  1. Baby rubber plant (peperomia, not Ficus elastica which is poisonous)
  2. Begonia
  3. Boston fern
  4. Donkey tail
  5. Fittonia
  6. Prayer plants
  7. Rabbit foot fern
  8. Rhipsalis
  9. Spider plant
  10. Staghorn fern
  11. Swedish ivy
  12. Thanksgiving cactus
  13. Airplants
  14. Wandering Jew
  15. Watermelon Peperomia

Sanseveria sp. (mother-in-law’s tongue) almost made this list because I read that although it is poisonous, its toxicity level is very low and will only cause significant unpleasantness if eaten in large quantities. However since the leaves are bitter, it makes it very unpalatable – hence your child will likely stop at one bite :).

This is by no means an exhaustive list of child-safe plants. Refer to this very helpful pdf document by the University of Wisconsin Health for a more comprehensive list of common plants and their toxicity. This document also lists Sanseveria sp as non-toxic.

*I always operate on the assumption that even safe plants can become unsafe if eaten in large quantities. (I doubt any of you will let your infants and toddlers munch on your Swedish ivy for lunch just because it’s ‘safe’ 🙂 ).  Please note that this list does not apply to pets. Some plants may be safe for humans but not safe for cats or dogs if ingested.

sign off

Barbara

Hi, I’m Barbara and I’m a little obsessed with house plants. I share my house plant adventures in the hopes of inspiring you to continue to enjoy the greens in your home. And if you have no plants (yet!) I hope this blog inspires you to add some green to your home. So go on! Try it! I think you might quite like it. And who knows? You may end up being … obsessed too.

9 Comments

  1. Lehana

    How do you water plants inside the material bags?

    28 . Aug . 2018
  2. Crystal

    Hi! What kind of soil do u use? I just bought some indoor plants with an irganic soil, and about a week later i had a fly infestation. Apoarently there were fly eggs in the soil that i used 🙁 i was wondering how others might avoid this. I definitely don’t want a fly infestation With the baby in the house!

    29 . Aug . 2017
    • Barbara

      Hi Crystal, I use miracle Gro potting mic, I get at my local garden center. I have had gnat infestation before when I tried a different potting mix so I just stick to this one. What I did was, 1. not water my plants as much (it was winter so I could get away with it)2. placed sticky paper traps around my plants and 3. sprinkled some cinammon on the soil surface. Worked very well. You should also change the soil to ensure no extra eggs will be hatching. I got rid of them that way. All the best.

      29 . Aug . 2017
  3. Claire

    Fantastic combo of plants, lighting, interior decorating, helpful tips, and photography skills! It helps that SBZ and his Mama are a beautiful pair 😉 My favourite is the last shot of him laughing and reaching upwards to the plant. Love you guys!

    14 . May . 2017
    • Barbara

      Thankyou Claire

      14 . May . 2017
  4. Kiki J

    Wow so beautiful. Inspired for my owm nursery!

    14 . May . 2017
  5. Jacqueline

    Beautiful plants, lovely baby, stunning mummy!

    29 . Apr . 2017
    • Barbara

      Awww Thankyou

      30 . Apr . 2017
    • Barbara

      THANK YOU 🙂

      02 . May . 2017

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