How we make money, and how we don't.

The short version

The Mama Alliance is reader-supported. Many of the product links on this site are affiliate links, which means if you click one and end up buying the product, we earn a small commission from the retailer — at no extra cost to you. That commission is how we keep the lights on, pay our writers, and keep the site free to read.

We only recommend things we have used ourselves, or that someone we trust has used and reported back on. We do not accept payment in exchange for a recommendation, and we do not let brands review our coverage before it goes live.

What an affiliate link looks like

On every product page, the purchase button reads "Purchase from Amazon" or "Purchase from {retailer}". Any link that says Purchase from is an affiliate link. Some inline links inside our journal essays are also affiliate links — where that's the case, we mark the link or note it nearby.

If a product link earns us nothing — for example, a small independent maker who isn't part of any affiliate program — we'll often say so out loud. We don't want you to assume we're being paid when we're not.

Programs we participate in

The Mama Alliance is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. We also participate in affiliate programs run by a small number of boutique baby and parenting retailers. We add new partners only when a retailer we already trust offers a program — never the other way around.

What we won't do

• We won't take payment, free product, or sponsorship in exchange for a placement on a list.
• We won't write a review of something we haven't used, or had used by a trusted contributor.
• We won't recommend a more expensive option when a cheaper one would do, just because the commission is higher.
• We won't share your email, your reading history, or anything else with the retailers we link to. They only know that someone clicked through from our site.

Editorial independence

Our recommendations are made by our editors and contributors. Affiliate revenue does not factor into what makes a list or what doesn't. If a retailer drops their affiliate program, our recommendation of their product stays exactly as it was.

If a product we've recommended turns out to have a safety recall or a meaningful problem, we update or remove the recommendation as soon as we can. You can always see when a list was last updated at the top of the list page.

Questions

If you ever have a question about why something is on a list, or whether a particular link is an affiliate link, write to us at hello@themamaalliance.com. We read everything.

Thank you for trusting us with a small part of one of the biggest things you'll ever do.