Jennifer over at Tree Hugging family has a great post with information on non-toxic stuffed animals. I’m always looking for natural toy manufacturers, especially in light of recent news about baby bottle chemicals. I’ve started to adopt the mindset that if a product doesn’t explicitly state how safe or non-toxic it is that I should assume that it most likely is at least mildly toxic.
Anyway, I particularly liked the Mini Chunky stuffed sheep sold by one of the sites she references, ethicalsuperstore.com.

Not only is this toy (among others) hand-made of natural ingredients, it is socially responsible as well:

Hand knitted, …read more

This one may be somewhat similar to bulletproof backpacks, but British clothing maker Bladerunner is marketing kids GPS (global positioning system) jackets which allow parents to track their kids’ whereabouts.
This article describes how the jacket can be used to enforce a ‘geo-fence’ which alerts you when your child leaves a certain location via email or text message.
The appropriately named Bladerunner specializes in equipment for police and security services, and recently started offering a school uniform in slash-proof Kevlar. For the tracking jacket, it teamed with U.K. firm Asset Monitoring Solutions (AMS), a maker of tracking and security technologies.
…read more

Our new Graco stroller travel system arrived the other day and I couldn’t wait to get home from work to set it up. Why? Well, for one I love assembling and building things, and for two, I am incredibly excited about the forthcoming kid.
I walked out to get the box that was sitting on the front porch and as I leaned over to pick it up, I noticed the slogan on the side that said.
“Ask moms who know.”
I stopped for a second, a little surprised by this phrase. Are dads too stupid to know? Aren’t there any fathers or …read more

I’m trying not to be negative and almost don’t like posting recalls every time one occurs (especially because it seems to be happening every day), but I feel it is something of which people should be aware. However, an additional six toys were recalled yesterday (Oct. 11, 07, listed below).
At the suggestion of a commenter on a previous recall post, I would like to assemble a list of people’s favorite healthy and safe toys. If you’ve got favorite (homemade or purchased) toys, please contact me and let me know about them. Either leave a comment or email me at …read more

Drug makers voluntarily pulled infant cold medicines from the market today on the heels of an FDA suggestion that the products should not be used in infants under two years of age.
The products recalled include:
Johnson & Johnson Pediacare Infant Drops
Tylenol Concentrated Infants Drops
Wyeth’s Dimetapp Decongestant Infant Drops
Novartis’ Triaminic Infant & Toddler Thin Strips
Prestige Brands Holdings’ Little Colds Decongestant Plus Cough
A representative for the companies sites “rare instances of misuse” that could cause an overdose as the reason for the recall.
Full story on MSNBC.com

I remember way back in 1982 wanting an E.T.-decorated glass from Pizza Hut. The movie was all the rage and I had to have it. We didn’t eat fast food but once in a long while, so I was excited when I finally got my parents to consider taking me there so I could get my grail, er, E.T. glass.
However, I never saw that E.T. glass. Mom and dad told me we’d go in a few days and in that time all the E.T. decorated glasses were puled from the market due to high levels of paint on the …read more

I have posted before about toy recalls for high lead content, but it doesn’t seem to be stopping. Chief Family Officer has some info on the latest round of toys found in violation of safe level of lead.
On the most recent list of items I find the presence of a Baby Einstein product to be particularly interesting. The product name alone sound somewhat pretentious and it’s claims somewhat steep. However, the fact that it contains unsafe levels of lead means that there is a good chance it could affect children in a manner opposite to the claims of making …read more

Seeing as how many toys end up in kids mouths, it’s important to make sure that:
1. the toys are not from China
2. the toys are clean
While making sure that things are relatively clean is clearly important, what if the cleaning agent itself is harmful to a child? Over at GNMParents.com they’ve got a great post on cleaning kids toys naturally. In addition to these simple clean up steps, many people have the natural cleaning trifecta of lemon juice, vinegar and baking soda already in their homes.
If you’re worried about dust mites in things like stuffed animals, freeze them in …read more

The New York Times reports that there are yet more problems with lead levels in Chinese-manufactured toys.
“Amid a fresh wave of toy recalls yesterday, a consumer advocacy group said it had found hazardous levels of lead in many toys made out of vinyl plastic, potentially expanding the scope of testing and recalls of contaminated toys.
A random testing of more than 50 plastic toys found high lead content in 11 of them, according to Mike Schade, a campaigner for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, which helped organize the testing.”
Among the results of the …read more

My brother had said that many of the baby products out there are aimed at parents instead of children. Over at Babylune, they seem to agree that the true necessities for raising kids are on the minimal side of what many stores and manufacturers woud have you believe.
“The truth is that the only new things a baby needs are a crib matress and a carseat. They need about 3 outfits, a few sleepers and about 10 onesies/bodysuits at a given time.”
It’s an interesting comment made in light of a child’s birthday and subsequently “drowning in new toys.”