Category archive: safety

May 15, 2012

Parenting Without A Neto

In New York over the weekend, I went to my friend Tanya Bonakdar's gallery to see my buddy Ernesto Neto's awesome-looking, new, climbable sculptures, and my buddy Ethan, almost literally the first thing out of his mouth when I...
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April 27, 2012

DT Friday Freakout: Class Edition

The Friday Freakout, a compendium of parenting headlines delivered all at once instead of dribbled out daily, to ruin just your weekend, a Daddy Types exclusive: During the Obama administration, the food and beverage industry has doubled the amount of...
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April 18, 2012

Maybe You Won't Forget To Check The Car Seat Now, Though

Especially as the weather gets warmer, someone on Reddit user Brickmaj's block in Brooklyn wants you and everyone around to remember to check the back seat when you get out of the car. Because forgetting the kid's back there...
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April 5, 2012

Baby Helmets And The Slippery Slope

I used to roll my eyes at the Baby Helmet but now I think _it depends on the baby_.— Tom Scocca (@tomscocca) April 5, 2012 Previously: Thudguard makes me more worried about the kid's inherited brainpower...
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April 2, 2012

Shady Baby: Maclaren's Secret Outlet Stores

Alright, here's the short version of this post: Farzad Rastegar's basically got two front operations in random condos in Norwalk, Connecticut to unload recalled Maclaren USA strollers online. Some of those strollers come from Maclaren USA, the subsidiary Rastegar put...
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March 30, 2012

DT Friday Freakout: ASD BPA CPSC Edition

A collection of--let's face it, a couple of--headlines from the worlds of health, science, and parenting designed to ruin your weekend, it's the DT Friday Freakout: "New Study Finds Skyrocketing Increase in Autism" could really be from any week now,...
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March 29, 2012

Oh, Those Kids! Helen Levitt Givin' Me A Heart Attack From The Grave

Our trip this weekend gave me and my mom a great chance to talk about how screwed up society is that we can't even let kids play outside anymore or whatever. And I think we can trace the beginning...
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March 16, 2012

DT Friday Freakout

Whether it's criticism of your choice of preschool art party clown or something weightier, like, say, your soon-to-be-born baby being poisoned by everything in your house, the DT Friday Freakout is your one-stop headline roundup for ruining your entire weekend:...
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March 9, 2012

Maclaren 'Regrets The Recent Confusion In The US Media'

No, Maclaren, I'm sorry. It's not you, it's me. Though they won't actually talk to anyone live, or answer any questions, Kids Today, the longtime trade journal for the juvenile products industry, reports that Bevin Gove, Maclaren's director of public...
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March 2, 2012

Traction: Maclaren Bankruptcy Story Hits NYT, WSJ

Well, that's a relief, to know that the Maclaren USA bankruptcy filing story is as unexpected, confusing, and confounding as I'd thought. The Wall Street Journal's Bankruptcy Beat blog has a post about Maclaren tonight, which is nice. And in...
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February 26, 2012

Maclaren Group: It's Not Us! We're Fine! Just Some Paperwork!

Alright, so there is some movement in the Maclaren bankruptcy story. A couple of other sites picked up the story of Maclaren USA's Ch 7. liquidation filing, including BabyGizmo who, on Friday night, was as shocked as DT was:We just...
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February 21, 2012

Wow, Why Has Maclaren Quietly Filed For Bankruptcy Liquidation?

Well. On December 29, 2011, Maclaren USA, the premium umbrella stroller company, quietly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Connecticut. The company's US headquarters is in Norwalk, where its owner, private equity investor Farzad Rastegar, lives. Chapter 7 is...
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February 7, 2012

Bisphenol A By Damien Hirst

image via sothebys.com, © Damien Hirst/ Science Ltd, 2012 Photography Prudence Cuming Associates There's a rather insane art exhibition on in the world right now, 331 of the existing Damien Hirst Spot Paintings are on view in all eleven...
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February 2, 2012

W[elsh] T[oddler] F Rockclimbing??

I hate this kind of story, or at least posting about it, because it feels like the only point is to provoke WTF outrage. And also because people are already freaking the hell out all over the Facebook, and the...
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January 16, 2012

The RAPEX Of Europa

Alright, the unrecalled Ikea Antilop high chair is becoming an endangered species. Did DT get it wrong before, when I said that Antilops made between 2006 and 2010 were being recalled for having ridiculously flimsy safety straps? Because the Daily...
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Laser-Cut Steel Dollhouse By Bunker Hill

Though he's mostly into Swedish pine and plywood lately, in the mid-to-late 2000's, Stockholm architect Daniel Franzen definitely had a laser-cut steel phase. One result is this awesome steel dollhouse inspired by the barn house he designed for Swedish...
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January 13, 2012

DT Friday Freakout: Disaster Edition

Well, I just had my calendar cleared, and ended up spending ten hours out with the kids. At one point, we just sat in the car. For like an hour. Just chilling when napping wouldn't do. And then there were...
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January 6, 2012

Ikea Antilop Recall! World's Greatest High Chair Has World's Flimsiest Straps

If there's one thing Ikea's famous for, it's meatballs. If there's two things, it's cheap, stylish furniture. The third thing? Value engineering the hell out that furniture year in and year out, to squeeze every possible penny of profit...
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December 23, 2011

DT Friday Freakout: Bears & Bees Edition

It's the DT Friday Freakout! A roundup of headlines from the worlds of health, science, and parenting to ruin your holiday weekend: The CPSC announced a recall of 7,260 Bugaboo Bees, all manufactured in 2011, to replace front swivel...
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December 5, 2011

Cup O' Noodles? Cup O' Scalding Toddler Torture!

We interrupt this unobtainable German minivan caroling special to bring you a special DT Monday Freakout: NPR has blown the lid on a nationwide epidemic of toddler terror: apparently, cups of instant soup are designed so that they can tip...
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December 1, 2011

A Children's Treasury Of Playground Near Nuclear Power Plant Photos

I can't figure out what's going on in these photographs Eric Vance took. I mean, they're labeled "environmental justice," and they were taken in 2007. For the EPA. During the Bush Administration. So I can only assume they are...
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November 11, 2011

DT Friday Freakout: Lollipox Edition

Sometimes it's hard not to freak out over these stories when they're dribbled out by media. But then, that's exactly why Daddy Types bundles them up into one, giant Friday Freakout, so they can ruin your weekend, not your whole...
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November 4, 2011

RECALL NOTICE: Stupid-Dangerousest Disney Trikes Ever Made

Sometimes a toy is so obviously, stupidly dangerous, you hope it inspires extra attention and caution on the part of the adults around it. Take, for example, one of my favorite old Creative Playthings toys, the Inquarium In-Crib Aquarium. It...
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October 21, 2011

DT Friday Freakout

Instead of following the publicists' plan to schedule science, health, and research-related news releases one a day, thereby freaking you out all week, Daddy Types saves them all until Friday, so you can freakout over them all at once. All...
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October 14, 2011

DT Friday Freakout: Occupy Sesame Street Edition

Personally, my weekend's already ruined, full of regret for not doing more with the Occupy Sesame Street concept. Or maybe I'll just work in my Photoshop skills. [tauntr] As for the rest of you, here are a few headlines from...
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October 2, 2011

WTF Cosmo Noah Tsunami Shelter/Playhouse

Oh, man, Shoji Tanaka, the CEO of Cosmo Power, says his company's latest invention, the floatable, fiberglass Noah tsunami shelter [JPY200-300,000], can "also be used as a toy house for children." It says it seats four adults, but I'm...
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September 15, 2011

Crib Bumpers Banned In The City Where They Were Born

The Chicago City Council last week voted to ban the sale of crib bumpers because they are pose a suffocation risk to infants who get their faces lodged against them. The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association released a statement urging the...
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September 2, 2011

DT Friday Freakout: Big Gulp Edition

Some news from the worlds of science, education, health, politics and parenting, designed to freak you out and ruin your long weekend. I confess, I watched Wall-E with K2 this week, so I've already got a head start on the...
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August 26, 2011

DT Friday Freakout: I Got Nothin' Edition

Seriously? What freakouts could the worlds of science, education, or parenting propose to ruin your weekend that earthquakes and hurricanes haven't already got beat? As luck would have it, we checked our "go bag," which we call our 72-hour bag,...
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August 12, 2011

DT Friday Freakout: Hot Dog Edition

Has it been far too long since inflammatory stories from the worlds of science, health, education, and parenting filled your weekend with Freakout? Well, clear the picnic table: Your bologna has a middle name, it's D-I-A-B-E-T-E-S. A daily serving of...
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August 10, 2011

Big Daddy Drew Is Not Happy With Big Car Seat

A flash thunderstorm blew through Emerald Isle last night just at dinner time, and took about 15 degrees with it. So to turn the heat back up while I head out to the beach with the kids and my new...
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July 15, 2011

DT Friday Freakout: Best Buy Edition

Holy crap, who needs science to freakout over, when there are crazies on the loose? First the 8yo kid murdered by some random stranger in Brooklyn, and now some dude who says he was high on PCP started freaking out...
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July 13, 2011

Computer Could Start By Removing All The Extraneous Bedding

Computer system designed to prevent SIDS deaths [gizmag via dt reader dt, who also wrote the unimprovable headline]...
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July 4, 2011

Phil & Teds & The Recall Down Under

It looks like the Phil & Teds recall of two models that began its home country of New Zealand a couple of weeks ago has spread to neighboring Australia. Kind of. Actually, no, not at all. Not even close. The...
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June 25, 2011

This Vintage Prop Crib Of Death Is Fantastic

What better way to advertise a beautifully crafted, obsolete, and probably unsafe product like quilted crib bumpers, than with an awesome, vintage crib with exactly the kind of deadly-wide gaps that crib bumpers were invented to protect from? It's...
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May 12, 2011

Maclarens Keep Chopping Fingers, CPSC Keeps Recalling Maclarens

18 months ago, in an extraordinary recall event we've come to call Macopalypse 2009, Maclaren and the CPSC recalled basically all the Maclaren umbrella-style strollers sold in the US through 2009, after the company received multiple reports of the exposed...
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May 10, 2011

Global Automakers Lobbying For Pool Noodles

The industry association. What a racket. Earn millions of dollars a year saying things about politics your corporate members are too embarrassed to have come out of their own PR flacks' mouths. And so we come to "Global Automakers"...
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May 7, 2011

Phil&Teds: Metoo High Chair? I Don't Recall. CPSC: And That's Gonna Be A Problem

From the Department of Whoa That's Never Happened Before, So I got a personal email request from the CPSC yesterday. Not some mailing list alert, or even a "Dear Momblogger," pitch. A straight up, "Hi Greg, I know that you...
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April 29, 2011

ducduc Announces A Very Exclusive Crib Recall

The CPSC and Ducduc have announced what may be the most exclusive crib recall ever, even more exclusive than the Netto Collection Recall of 2007. Five crib models [AJ, Austin, Parker, Cabana, and my favorite, Campaign, above] have been...
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April 21, 2011

Leggero Ventolino: Eine Kleine Wooden Bike Trailer

Leggero was the first European bike kid trailer like 20 years ago, and then something happened, press releases don't say what, just that "Now, the pioneer is back - with the Leggero Vento," which is manufactured in Switzerland, and...
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April 18, 2011

Boy In The Plastic Bubble Not A Toy

As winter turns to spring, and Americans start venturing out of doors and out of their SUVs again, the CPSC has found it necessary to warn parents not to seal their children in plastic and throw them in the water...
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February 11, 2011

DT Friday Freakout

it's been a while since we've had a good, old-fashioned round-up of freakouts from the worlds of safety, science, and parenting to ruin your weekend, so here goes: You might as well let the kid drink Coke, because diet soda...
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February 2, 2011

'Wee Felix' Got His Finger Whacked By A Dash

A 2-yo in New Zealand got his fingertip near chopped off by a Phil & Teds Dash, which is not one of the models that have been recalled [again] recently for fingerchopping.:"The tip of his finger was 90 per cent...
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February 1, 2011

It's Getting Slightly Harder Out There For A Crib Bumper Pimp

The CPSC is reversing its 2010 decision and will begin a review of the safety of crib bumpers, possibly with an eye to banning the useless, obsolete, and potentially deadly fashion accessories. Consumer Agency Tightens Scrutiny of Baby Sleep Products...
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January 25, 2011

Don't Stick Your Finger In There, Because Phil & Teds Will Chop It Right Off

The Phil & Teds folding mechanism has always been a counter-intuitive, gotta-see-it-to-get-it deal; but that's the genius of it. It's how they manage to stack a second kid underneath like a Pringle. Now, because three parents out of thousands--tens of...
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December 14, 2010

DTQ: Can We Come Up With A Deadlier Name For Crib Bumpers?

DT reader Seth is onto something here:Even referring to them as bumpers is misleading as the name implies (as with cars) some added element of safety or protection.So if you wanted to accurately reflect the safety risks they pose to...
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December 13, 2010

Hidden Hazard? Hidden From Whom? CPSC Finally Launching A Crib Bumper Investigation

Crib bumpers were invented by ace salesman Leo Koltun because after selling every returning GI's knocked up wife a playpen pad made from WWII surplus padding, he still had a shitload of padding left over. The company he founded, Kolcraft,...
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October 29, 2010

DT Friday Freakout: 4yo Can Be Sued From The Grave Edition

Holy crap, I don't know what's more freakout-able: that two 4-year-olds riding their training wheel bikes on an East Side sidewalk, knocked over an 87-year-old neighbor, who died three weeks months later from complications related to hip fracture surgery. Or...
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October 17, 2010

DT Friday Freakout: Sunday Supplement Edition

On the bright side, if the Friday Freakout doesn't come out until Sunday night, maybe it only ruins my weekend. Here are some devastating headlines from the worlds of science, education, safety, and parenting: Sleep positioners have been implicated in...
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October 15, 2010

Ai Weiwei Not A Highway

It's been a long, black & white streak here at Daddy Types the last day or two. But this story has some international color. That grey beach those two darling British moppets are frolicking on is actually an artwork,...
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September 30, 2010

Genital Bleeding! Does The CPSC Have Your Attention For The Fisher-Price Mega-Recall Now?

In its great, revitalized mission to rid the world below our knees of potentially injurious protrusions, the CPSC has recalled more than 10 million Fisher-Price trikes, playsets, and high chairs. The biggest news is the 7 million kids' trikes--sold...
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September 27, 2010

But What Does The Constitution Say About Car Seats?

Let's just look at the FACTS, shall we? FACT: Big Governmentocrats claim that the use of car seats and booster seats caused the 3% drop in 2009 of traffic accident fatalities for kids under 14. BUT overall traffic fatalities dropped...
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September 17, 2010

DT Friday Freakout: Pedo Edition

I missed last weekend, so maybe you've already freaked out over some of these headlines from the worlds of science, education, health, and parenting? Let's rip that scab off and freak out all over again! You walk out that door,...
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August 24, 2010

Yesterday In Baby Carrier History

So yesterday archaeo-anthropologist Timothy Taylor explained to Gizmodo that the discovery of 2.5 million-year-old chipped stone tools that are at least 300,000 years older than the oldest known homo fossils suggests that not only did humans not invent tools, tools...
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July 21, 2010

CPSIA Still More Annoying Than Its Tea Baggiest Victims

I guess if it's the kind of speaking out that's necessary to get Congress to pay attention and to amend the pointless, unfair, and poorly designed testing standards of the CPSIA, then I'll have to put up with it. But...
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July 15, 2010

Alright, We Get It. The CPSC's Gonna Ban Dropside Cribs.

Big news from the CPSC today: they are making a couple of procedural changes to the safety testing protocols for both full-size and compact cribs! Actually, I think this huge announcement--accompanied as it is by statements from each of the...
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June 30, 2010

United We Etsy! Handmade Toy Alliance

The Handmade Toy Alliance is getting a boost from Etsy, which makes sense, because Etsy gets such a boost from the army of craftspeople and small business owners whose livelihoods are still set to be snuffed out by the industrial-scale...
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June 28, 2010

Metafilter Answers: Before There Were Car Seats

A very amusing discussion on Ask Metafilter about how kids rode in cars before there were safety regulations or car seats. Or seat belts. I'd find it more awesome if ANY of the many ingenious-but-deadly inventions featured on DT over...
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June 24, 2010

Cribocalypse Now Redux: CPSC Recalls TWO MILLION Cheap Cribs

Wow, does this mean the CPSC has finally cleared their Bush-era Cribs Of Death cold case file? The CPSC issued recalls for over two million cribs, mostly dropside but also fixed-side models, from seven manufacturers. The recalls are based on...
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May 11, 2010

Ritmo Wonders: Is It Possible To Sell Prenatal Music System Without Being A Lying Quack?

Look, don't think I don't believe fetuses can hear in the womb, or that I think it's useless or pointless to know this well-documented reality. Talk away! Sing, chat, drum along with the radio! Introduce the family! Enjoy! My...
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May 4, 2010

Baby Recall Infographic

I know you read, and thus stay on top of all the latest baby product recall announcements, but many parents don't. So as a service to the children of those unfortunates, why not print out HugaMonkey's handy baby product recall...
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April 13, 2010

Crazy Old Playthings

They're starting to bubble up, photos of some of the crazy old playthings our great-grandparents made. That our grandparents managed to survive playing with. So they could eventually bring our own parents forth, and so on, and so on, until...
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April 12, 2010

Get In The Habit Of Checking Whether Your Kid Is In The Back Seat

It's spring, not too hot yet. And the Gene Weingarten's March 2009 story for the Washington Post just won the Pulitzer Prize. Which makes it an excellent time for every parent to get in the habit of checking, every single...
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April 9, 2010

It's The Little Differences, Ch. 1, Cont'd: The Bubble Bum

Is this all because RyanAir is charging £20 to bring a carseat on a plane? Where are all these Britons going without their carseats, anyway? It turns out inflatable booster seats are proliferating across England faster than CCTV cameras...
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March 30, 2010

Flimsy Slats Not Just For Cribs Anymore! Evenflo Recalls 180,000 Stair Gates

We have no stairs, so unlike, say, the global pandemic of umbrella stroller finger amputations, the recall Friday of 180,000 Evenflo wooden Top-of-Stair gates feels a little far from my own parenting experience. But 142 reports of broken or...
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March 24, 2010

After Reports Of 3 Deaths, Infantino Recalls 1 Million Fugly Slings

Whether 'tis nobler to suffer the slings and--uh, no. It is not. The CPSC, Health Canada and Infantino just announced the recall of one million slings in the US and 15,000 in Canada [so few!] after reports of three...
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March 22, 2010

The Mothering Magazine Babywearing Agenda Is The CPSC's Babywearing Agenda

I haven't mentioned the CPSC's recent baby sling advisory notice, partly because I figure the hippieparentblogs have it well in hand. But then DT reader Sara forwarded the official response from Mothering Magazine, a longtime supporter of the babywearing and...
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March 11, 2010

Game Changer: CPSC Chairwoman Gives JPMA 'One Chance'

"Let's be frank - your seal of approval was on many of the recalled cribs in recent years." Wow, have you read the speech CPSC Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum made Wednesday at the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association "Washington Summit"? It's nothing...
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February 9, 2010

CPSC Goes Through The Archives, Recalls 500,000 More Dropside Cribs

Just when you thought you'd heard every possible CPSC recall of 500,000 cheap dropside cribs, they spring a new one on us. Today the agency recalled all dropside cribs made by Generation 2 Kids and branded either Generation 2...
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January 29, 2010

Just Some Princess And Some Frog Necklaces Recalled For Toxic Cadmium

FAF Inc. of Greenville, RI has charmed generations of children with their magical animated storytelling, their pioneering theme parks, and their unparalleled merchandise. In just a few short years, they created one of the most powerful little girl brands,...
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January 28, 2010

Wherein We Try To Figure Out Why Dorel Calls JPMA Certification 'Redundant'

OK, getting some clarification on why Dorel, one of the biggest crib makers in the country, and probably the most prominent member of the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, doesn't JPMA-Certify their cribs, and what that means about the safety...
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January 26, 2010

So Why Weren't Dorel Asia's Recalled Cribs JPMA-Certified?

[Note: see the update at the bottom of the post.] Last week's crib recall was 635,000 fixed and dropside cribs made by Dorel Asia SRL, and were sold at "K-Mart, Sears and Wal-Mart stores nationwide from January 2005 through...
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January 25, 2010

Highlights From The US House Hearing On Crib Safety

You know what the US House Committee On Energy And Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations needs? Publicists. The Committee held a hearing last Thursday titled, "Crib Safety: Assessing the Need for Better Oversight," and so far, I've only found...
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January 20, 2010

Uh-Oh, Better Recall Graco! For Their 1.5 Million, Non-Umbrella, Finger-Chopping Strollers

Shows what I know. Ever since the Million Maclaren Recall, I've been waiting for the CPSC to point out [sic] the fingertip amputation risk posed by the folding hinges on any/every other umbrella stroller, too. And yet, the next 1.5...
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January 19, 2010

Another Day, Another 635,000 Dorel Cribs Recalled

The CPSC and Dorel Asia--they're based in Barbados!--announced the recall of over 600,000 cribs sold at Wal-mart, K-mart, and Sears between January 2005 and December 2009, last month. The cribs pose a strangulation and suffocation hazard because of faulty dropside...
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January 17, 2010

DT Friday Freakout: Sunday S*(%storm Edition

If your house is anything like ours, it's hard to carve out even a couple of hours on Sunday in which to completely freak out over the week's health, science, safety, and parenting news: First up, Virginia is for Ass-Scratchers:...
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January 4, 2010

All Amby Baby Hammocks Recalled After Two Suffocation Deaths

As a designer/owner/parent of an atypical crib, I have always wondered what safety tests standards or tests are used for baby hammocks. They all seem so squishy soft and slingy, not qualities I'd associate with lowered suffocation or SIDS...
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January 1, 2010

DT Friday Freakout: Out With The Old Freakouts Edition

Part of me thought I should do a Top 10,000 Freakouts of 2009 List, but I realized there are really only three Freakouts, and they don't ever change: Your kid's gear is dangerous and/or deadly. Your kid's world is full...
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December 22, 2009

Whoops, Never Mind! IKEA Issues Worldwide Recall For Weird, New Leopard High Chair

Congratulations to IKEA for what may be the fastest baby product recall ever. The CPSC announced that the Swedish furniture giant has recalled the brand new--and freaky-looking--Leopard high chair worldwide barely two months after its release. Apparenty, the little...
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December 15, 2009

DTQ: Anyone Know How To Say 'Snow Fencing' In French?

So we're getting ready for our Christmas trip to France, should be gone a while. We've got the kids' new suitcases, the kid's bringing her recurring ear infection ["amoxycillin's amoxycillin, except they call it le amoxycillin."], and K2 is as...
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50 Million Roman Shades Recalled In A Day

Wow, and I thought the crib recall was epic. The CPSC has issued the biggest recall ever. Basically every Roman and roll-up blind and shade on the market, 50 million units at least, are being recalled because they pose a...
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December 4, 2009

ASTM? I Barely Knew'em!

As the massive baby furniture and gear recalls keep coming, and the voluntary ASTM safety standards regime the Baby Industrial Complex has fought long and hard to maintain is proving to be useless and even dangerous, the Juvenile Products Manufacturing...
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DT Friday Freakout: Mall Santa Edition

Even though a trip to any mall is enough to ruin your weekend, we'll expand the reach of the Freakout a bit, just to make sure: While the terrorist elf who threatened to blow up Mall Santa in Georgia has...
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November 28, 2009

Sleepin' With The Grizzlies

Not only do bears drive our cars and come into our kitchens to make themselves a sandwich, now they are officially certified by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association as an infant sleeping device! Z Recs has the scoop:The Juvenile...
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November 24, 2009

You Put Melamine In Chinese Formula, And'll Kill Ya

Wow, it was a bad week for convicted Chinese baby formula tainters. China executes two over tainted milk powder scandal [bbc via dt reader dt]...
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November 23, 2009

Stork-Craft Recalls 2.1 Million Drop-Side Cribs Of Doom In US & Canada

DT's favorite crib guru Scott said it would be big, and now we know just how big the biggest crib recall in history really is: it's as big as the whole freakin' North America, that's how big. The CPSC and...
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November 12, 2009

Macopalypse 2009 2004! Or, How Not To Sell A Stroller

So we're starting to fill in some of the dates on the timeline for Maclaren's Global War On Future Concert Pianists. When I spoke to Maclaren USA chairman Bahman Kia, he said the amputating hinge issue came to the company's...
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November 9, 2009

Macopalypse 2009: Recalled Maclaren Hinges An 'Industry-Wide Issue'

So clearly, the biggest stroller recall in history, of one of the most popular brands, for amputating children's fingers is a big deal. But then you realize that the actual threat posed to your kid's future as a concert...
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Macopalypse 2009: The CPSC Version

So here's the official CPSC recall announcement for the Maclaren Everythings, for your headline-comparing entertainment:Maclaren USA Recalls to Repair Strollers Following Fingertip Amputations WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today...
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Macopalypse 2009: The Maclaren Recall Press Release

Just got a press release from Maclaren's publicists reaffirming the company's "unwavering commitment to child safety," their "Zero Tolerance policy of safety issues," and that their "umbrella strollers meet all U.S. ASTM & JPMA compliance standards." Oh, also, they're recalling...
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November 8, 2009

One MILLION Strollers! Maclaren Will Recall EVERY Stroller Since 1999 After 12th Hinge-Related Amputation

Me, I would have guessed that the fingertip amputation threshold for a recall would be, say, 10. I mean, ten little fingers and ten little toes, right? As for the fingertip amputation threshold for a re-evaluation of a key element...
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November 5, 2009

Must Credit Dadcentric!! Ford Announces Inflatable Seat Belts

Jason Avant of Dadcentric is representin' for the dadblogging community at a lavish Ford Safety press event in the US Virgin Islands this weekend. Now that he's livetweeted the big news--inflatable rear seat belts!!--he has the entire weekend free...
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October 31, 2009

BRIO? Indies? Toy Casualties Mount In CPSIA Trainwreck

It's been a while since the CPSIA has been in the news, or at least since anyone's sent me anything about it. The CPSC's new lead and phthalates restrictions and testing requirements for childrens' products kicked in earlier this year,...
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October 16, 2009

Was That Kid Riding In A Love'N'Care Pram When He Got Run Over By That Train?

So you've probably already seen this video from a CCTV camera in Melbourne, Australia of a stroller with a 6-month-old kid in it, heading right over the edge of the platform just as the train comes. So you know...
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September 30, 2009

Fire Trucks And Marauding Pirate Ships: New Cambridge Playground The Awesomest EVER

Thank you, Cambridge! Finally, the days of boring, namby-pamby playgrounds designed by product liability lawyers is are [oy. should never have laid off my Harvard-trained copy editor. -ed.] OVER! They build them like they used to in Cambridge, Mass.,...
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September 3, 2009

Babyproofing With Martin Short

In 1993, Martin Short starred in Home Safe a 40-minute walkthrough of vital babyproofing advice and information. It's as funny as a heart attack baby swallowing a balloon. [Some context: that was two years after Father of the Bride,...
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August 29, 2009

Vinyl Wall Decal Not A Toy

By now I think it's clear to all concerned that die-cut vinyl stickers are no mere fad, but are a new, enduring classic. And as such, they deserve a place alongside flocked wallpaper, supergraphics, rag painting and feather marbleizing...
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August 26, 2009

CPSC Does Windows: 5.4 Million Blinds & Shades Recalled For Strangulation Danger

Whoa, now that's a recall. Six of them, actually. The CPSC has issued a sweeping set of recalls of window blinds, Roman shades, and roller shades sold at a whole bunch of major retailers and manufacturers, including Target, Ikea, Pottery...
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August 21, 2009

DT Friday Freakout: Fish Edition

I've got a vacationful of stucco wall-inflicted bruises and unsupervised children to freak out over this weekend. But in case that's not enough, here are a few headlines from the worlds of scary science and safety: Blow out the candles...
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August 7, 2009

DT Friday Freakout

Man, my browser tabs are ready to *POP* with all kinds of research and recalls ready to freak. you out: The next time you have to pay for your own C-section, go ahead and treat yourself. A news study shows...
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July 31, 2009

DT Friday Freakout: No Toms, Dustins Or Leos Edition

Have we got a pile of overhyped science and alarming news stories to ruin your parenting weekend! "Does Breastfeeding Cause Autism?" This insane headline is the reason the Freakout was created. It is also practically a quote from the UCSF...
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July 18, 2009

Creative Stranglings: CP Indoor Gym House [Of Strangulation] On eBay

Wow, you don't see these on eBay very often. Nowadays, the company known as Creative Playthings makes nothing but slides and playground sets. But back when Creative Playthings was Creative Playthings, this was about it. The Indoor Gym House...
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July 16, 2009

Special Delivery! DT Mommy Mailbag

It's not Monday, I know, but this seemed like such an important message to get out there right away. Dads, won't you help? Take a few minutes on the golf course this weekend and see if you can think of...
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Haha, Crocs CAN Sink

Crocs, the fugly foam shoes only an escalator-suing personal injury lawyer and a pediatric reconstructive plastic surgeon could love, are doomed. The company expanded like crazy to meet infinintely expanding global demand, only to find that no one replaces indestructible...
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July 10, 2009

DT Friday Freakout: Beach Edition

How about some alarming studies and news reports to fill your sunny parenting weekend with freakout and doom? Fat and lazy, true, but not dumb: child obesity researchers in East London found out some of their lazier test subjects were...
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July 6, 2009

4 Million Aqua Leisure Baby Floats Recalled For Drowning Risk [!]

If you thought reaching a live customer service rep at Aqua Leisure was hard before... The CPSC just issued a recall for over 4 million baby floats made by Aqua Leisure between 2002 and 2008 and sold until June...
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July 2, 2009

Uh, Yes I HAVE Heard About The Boyfriend's Python Strangling The 2-Year-Old

What I hadn't heard was that the lid on Jason Darnell's pen for his 8.5-ft Burmese python was "a quilt and some rope." Un. freaking. believable. Also, Shaiunna? Or is it too soon to ask? OXFORD, FLORIDA -- Charges Possible...
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June 9, 2009

Plastic Bag, Not A Toy [Anymore]

Clearly, compared to previous generations of parents, we are overprotective wimps. "Better things, for better living...through Chemistry!" Cellophane makes the perfect gift, too! Cellophane: for fresher dead babies [copyranter]...
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June 2, 2009

BeeCall! Bugaboo Bee Recalled For Buggy Brakes

I hope that Bugaboo Bee that just passed by you had a parent attached to it. The CPSC has issued a recall announcement for the 22,500 Bugaboo Bees sold in the US since August 2007 because of a possible brake...
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June 1, 2009

WTD BPA Spokesmodel: Nice Cans, Pregnant A Plus, Some Travel Req.

Someone leaked the minutes of last Thursday's North American Metal Packaging Alliance BPA Joint Trade Association Meeting on Communications Strategy, or NAMPA BPA PR/BS HQ OMG WTF for short. It's like Treadstone for baby formula cans! Who is Jason Bourne??...
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May 30, 2009

DT Friday Freakout: Exercise Edition

Did someone say hidden health hazards? Yes, yes they did. After the terrible death of Mike Tyson's 4-year-old daughter this week, how could we freak out about anything other than the hidden health hazards around your house? This single CNN...
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May 28, 2009

We Mourn Not For Thee, Irvin The Magnificent, But For Us

Holy Smokes, people. Put down the sandwich, stop your Twittering, step out of the meeting, and call your parents RIGHT NOW to demand to know why they didn't love you enough to buy you an Irvin the Magnificent. Because...
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May 21, 2009

Bad Day At The Sit-n-Stroll Factory: NHTSA Recalls 55 Units For Faulty Harness Straps

Attention SkyMall Shoppers: Or buyers Sit-n-Strolls wherever you are. If you bought one of the Barcalounger-shaped stroller-carseat contraptions in the last year or so, check your manufacture date. NHTSA has just issued a recall for the 55 units made on...
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May 7, 2009

Simplicity/SFCA Out Of Business, Into Trouble

First things first: IF YOU HAVE ANY SIMPLICITY CRIBS, CO-SLEEPERS, OR PLAYARDS, CHECK THE CPSC RECALL NOTICES. THEN STOP USING THEM NO MATTER WHAT. THEN DESTROY THEM. DON'T PUT THEM ON CRAIGSLIST OR WHATEVER. AND REPORT ANY SAFETY INCIDENTS...
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May 1, 2009

Cheap Crib Recalls R Us: Dorel x BRU Cribocalypse Tally Climbs To 472,450

The CPSC added another 96,000 Jardine cribs to its existing recall yesterday, bringing the total to at least 472,450. Jardine is a brand name used exclusively at Babies R Us and Toys R Us to sell low-end cribs [mostly...
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April 24, 2009

Change Volvo Can Believe In? DOT Calls For Side Impact Standards, Mfr Car Seat Recommendations

Whoa, the Secretary of Transportation just posted the findings of NHTSA's wide-ranging review of US car seat safety standards policy [!] to his blog [!!], Welcome To The Fast Lane. The bullet points: "[N]ew side-impact standards as well as increased...
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April 21, 2009

The Volvo Britax Car Seat Series: What's Wrong With This Picture?

And I don't mean, "The kid has no legs," or "He's getting mud all over my leathers." Edmunds has a ridiculous article about how poor, helpless Volvo has launched "three new state-of-the-art child restraints," but they can't sell them...
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March 31, 2009

It's A Miracle! Giganta And Rocket Slides Are From The Same Company

It's obvious now, but until a couple of minutes ago, I had no idea Giganta the scary/awesome playground robot and the biggest, awesomest rocket-shaped playground structures were both made by the same company, Miracle Equipment Company of Grinnell, Iowa....
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March 19, 2009

Since Cheaper Ones Are Already Unsafe, Your Dropside Crib Will Probably Become Illegal

A tipster phoned this in yesterday, and I when I went to look up the Consumers' Union expert's phone number to get confirmation--hello!--it was already on their safety blog. The Baby Industrial Complex panel that works with the CPSC to...
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March 13, 2009

DT Friday Freakout: Lots More Tears Edition

Yes, in case you're keeping score at home, you've already noticed there was no Friday Freakout last week; because we freakin' went out of town for the weekend. So refreshing. But enough of that, let's get on with the overly...
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March 3, 2009

Whoa. Tuesday. Freakout. Car Seats Fly In Undisclosed Government Crash Tests

I'd say I hope you're sitting down when you read this, but there's probably an unpublished NHTSA crash test that shows your seat's a dangerous flying projectile, too. An investigation by the nation's de facto consumer safety authority, the...
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February 27, 2009

DT Friday Meta-Freakout: Intuitive Toxicology And The White Male Effect Edition

The regular DT Friday Freakout will return next week, so that we can present you with this special DT Friday Meta-Freakout. A couple of weeks ago, this NY Times reader's interest was understandably piqued by the lede for Peggy Orenstein's...
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February 25, 2009

DTQ: When's The Best Time To Install Safety Latches Under The Kitchen Sink?

It's funny, I get this question all the time, and I never would have said "G." Is the answer: A. As soon as you find out you're going to have a kid, so you can get used to opening the...
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February 13, 2009

What, Not Cable Guy? Adorable Electric Man Really Not Helping

Power cables and power strips are the #1 and #2 most popular toys around our house, to the point where I almost want to just give K2 my cell phone and video camera just to keep her away from...
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February 10, 2009

Hello, It's February 10th. Is The Phthalate Baby Product Industry Still With Us?

Any shuttered stores? Stopped assembly lines? Quarantined shipping containers? Empty shelves in the teething ring aisle? Tumbleweeds on etsy.com? Wire service photos of despairing phthalate futures traders clapping their foreheads? Though they're not being enforced officially, today is the...
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February 5, 2009

Everything Must Not Go! Court Spanks CPSC, Upholds CPSIA Phthalate Ban

Short story: If you make or sell plastic or vinyl children's products, you can forget whatever plans you made for the weekend. Slightly longer story: The Natural Resources Defense Council and Public Citizen sued the CPSC over exceptions the Commission...
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January 30, 2009

DT Friday Chillout: CPSIA, Eats Dirt Edition

Is this how it's gonna be now in the Obama Era? All our Freakouts are turned to Chillouts, and our weekends are our own? We used to feed David Patterson--he lived across the street--David Patterson's baby brother dirt sandwiches all...
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UPDATE: Dwell Studio For Target Cribs NOT Part Of Stork Craft's Massive Recall After All

A reassuring piece of news to the folks who bought Dwell Studio cribs at Target: despite what Target may have told you, the Dwell cribs are not included in the massive recall of Stork Craft cribs. Here's an email I...
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January 23, 2009

Did Rahm Emanuel Just Suspend The CPSIA Or The Fix?

Alright, I just got an official "no comment" from the CPSC spokesperson, but from the text of Rahm Emanuel's memo, it sounds clear to me that the rulemaking and details of the CPSIA's new lead testing and certification standards are...
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January 22, 2009

Why Does Consumer Reports Want To Kill The Used Bugaboo Market??

The March issue of ShopSmart, the no-ads shopping guide published by the Consumer Reports folks, includes some tips for figuring out which used baby gear is still considered safe to use. [Get the pdf of the article here.] Though the...
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Hmm, Does The Stork Craft Crib Mega-Recall Include The Dwell For Target Cribs?

1/30 UPDATE: The short answer is NO. Totally different design and parts. Target's notification to Dwell buyers was a mistake. Details below Last week, the CPSC issued the first giant crib recall of the year [um, yeah?] covering over...
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So What Are Congress And The JPMA Saying About CPSIA?

We're just three weeks away from the CPSIA-induced small business apocalypse. Will Obama save us? Will Congress? Will the JPMA? The short answer to each of those questions is easy: nobody knows! The longer answers: On Tuesday, within hours of...
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January 19, 2009

Don't Let Your Child Choke On Those Plush Ovaries

As soon as Los Angeles plush artist Wendy Bryan found out that the plush ovaries and Fallopian tubes on her I Heart Guts plush uterus posed a choke hazard, she immediately announced a recall. Even though the plush uteri...
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January 12, 2009

CES WTF V2.0: Lok8u Nu•M8 GPS Child Locator

I've largely ignored CES this year; I find that my interest in baby-related gadgets and my tolerance of trade show hype shrink in direct inverse proportion to my accumulated experience as a parent. Frankly, it's an alarming position to...
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January 8, 2009

CPSC Tells Junksellers: CPSIA Is Not The Big One, We're Not Coming For You

The CPSC says the "clarification" issued today about the new CPSIA lead-testing regulations which go into effect Feb. 10. is "Intended for Resellers of Children's Products, Thrift and Consignment Stores." But it's also great news for thrifters, eBay sellers, craigslisters,...
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January 6, 2009

She's A Children's Product! Burn Her!

I want to fix the CPSIA, the CPSC's new lead testing law, and save all the various children's product industries from regulation-induced bankruptcy and collapse on February 10th as much as the next guy. But I would like to do...
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December 28, 2008

A. "Just Give'em Benadryl."

So you're a pharmaceutical industry executive. And not only has the FDA muscled you into a "voluntary" withdrawal from the lucrative children's over-the-counter cold & flu medicine market. But your leading antihistamine brand is also the default, one-word punchline for...
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December 18, 2008

CPSIAm So Screwed! Update: What Can Be Done NOW To Fix The New CPSC Lead Testing Law?

Good news for the small children's manufacturers, handmade toy and clothing makers, etsy crafters, and everyone else about to be driven out of business by the exorbitant cost of the CPSC's expansive lead testing regulations that go into effect next...
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December 17, 2008

It's Official: Phil & Teds Recalls The First Dash Batch

Back in September, just as the first shipments of the new Phil & Teds Dash were hitting the streets--and then collapsing when you pushed down on the handle--distributor Regal Lager suggested that customers not use the strollers, but instead return...
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December 15, 2008

New Crib Safety Standards [Finally] In The Works?

Am I missing something here, or is everyone? Or is this just the way discovering a couple million defective cribs in the market turns up the fire on a pre-existing but slow-simmering process? The CPSC Watchdog at the Chicago Tribune...
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December 11, 2008

Make Your Own "Traveling Playpen"!

DT reader Moni flagged this in the September 1951 issue of Popular Mechanics. It's a do-it-yourself "traveling playpen" made from a couple of pieces of hinged plywood, custom fitted to the dimensions of your car's rear seat. The article...
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December 10, 2008

Is CPSC's New Lead Regulation Going To Wipe Out The Baby Non-Industrial Complex Next February?

It figures, doesn't it? You wait decades for the Consumer Products Safety Commission to finally get some legislative spine, and what happens? Their brand new lead testing regulations drive every maker of children's products--except for Mattel and Dorel--out of business...
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December 7, 2008

WTF? WTFstralia Arrests Guy For Uploading WTFistani Babyswinging Video

Yeah, so that insane video of that random foreigner guy swinging that baby like a rag doll that was posted to YouTube for a couple of hours? The guy who originally posted it, a liveleak.com user with the name biggles9,...
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December 5, 2008

DT Freakout Friday: No Strollers, No Peace Edition

What's the baby and parenting world coming to? Well for one thing, if you joke about the Obama inauguration's stroller ban to a Washington Post reporter, a hundred irate strangers will email you, calling you a shallow, self-centered parent so...
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November 16, 2008

Friday Freakout: Argentine Time Edition

The wife's in Argentina, and I hear everything starts late in there. Though I also accept that it's hard to ruin your weekend with alarming parenting news and way-too preliminary research findings if I'm only getting the post out on...
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November 6, 2008

Beaba Babycook By Svan: The Innovation Award Is For Actually Answering The BPA Question

So early in the summer, Williams-Sonoma began selling the Beaba Babycook, a miraculous food processor/steamer/reheater from France that had been a grey market importing sensation for a couple of years. The only problem: Bisphenol-A [BPA] awareness had kicked in...
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October 30, 2008

Eine Kleine Matchbox Zoo

This awesome vintage toy zoo from Germany fits into eight beautifully designed matchboxes. The pieces are so small, you have to wonder if they might actually not even be a choke hazard; just wash'em down with an extra bottle....
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October 29, 2008

FDA Science Panel: This Week, BPA Is Dangerous, Study Is Flawed Again

The scientific-sounding arguments about the health risks to infants and toddlers from Bisphenol-A just bounce slowly. from. damning. revelation. to. exoneration. and. back. again. It's like watching Pong on the world's slowest computer. Or like playing chess by mail with...
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October 25, 2008

DT Friday Freakout: Uh, Better Late Than Never? Edition

You know, these days it just seems like there's no shortage of things to freakout over--but here are a few more kid- and parenting-related bits of news and research to ruin your weekend quicker'n a rainstorm at the World Series:...
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October 16, 2008

Dad Fights The Car Seats, And The Car Seats Win

David is a new dad and one of the car guys [little c, little g, Magliozzis, relax.] at Cars.com. Well, the kid's six months old now, and Dave's care-free days of swapping the bases for his son's infant car seat...
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October 7, 2008

Study: Fans Definitely Create Breezes, May Reduce SIDS Risk

The Friday Freakout is so far away, and we'll be traveling for the holiday anyway. Besides, this is happy extremely preliminary science: Some Bay Area physicians have published a study showing that the use of a fan--and/or an "open window"...
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September 29, 2008

The Okbaby No Shock: Finally, A Crawling Helmet That Doesn't Make Your Kid Look Like An Overprotected Dork!

Haha, just kidding, it totally does! On the plus side, he looks like an overprotected, dorky equestrian. Okbaby is, of course, the Italian firm that brought us the Colibri, the largest portable [sic] changing pad in the world--for moms....
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September 19, 2008

DT Friday Freakout: Coming Soon Edition

I'm sure this week's Freakout will involve the ever-expanding poisoned Chinese formula crisis; BPA--especially in liquid formula cans, not that you can realistically avoid it completely anyway--the asthma risk associated with kids taking paracetamol--fortunately, we use acetominophen in this country,...
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September 16, 2008

You Say Football Net, I Say Soccer Net, CPSC Finally Says It's A Freakin' Deathtrap, Get Rid Of It

Almost 200,000 MacGregor and Mitre toy soccer goals of death have been sold in the US since 2002. But now the CPSC has issued a recall, following news that a 21-month-old boy died while trying to climb one. I should...
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September 15, 2008

Seriously, Do NOT Give The Kid Chinese Formula

The Friday Freakout continues. At least two deaths, 1,253 hospitalized kids, and parental complaints dating back to as early as March. The Chinese Health Ministry has finally ordered a recall of Sanlu baby formula after the additive melamine was found...
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September 11, 2008

Breaking, Literally: Phil & Teds Dash Going Back To Starting Line?

9/12 UPDATE: I just got off the phone with a spokesman from Regal Lager, confirming that they are "asking consumers" not to use the Dash and to return it to the retailer. Details below. Just got an email from...
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Lipstick On A Deadly Pig: 200,000 Graco Bassinets Are Actually Simplicity

WTF CPSC?? The Chicago Tribune's Patricia Callahan is reporting that even as it was expanding a consumer warning last week about 300,000 deadly Simplicity bassinets, the Consumer Products Safety Commission and Graco stayed quiet about 200,000 more bassinets of the...
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September 6, 2008

Toys R Us Imports Sweet Crib Safety Standards, Demands Its Cribmakers Share Them

What else can I say? The CPSC's investigative function has been replaced by the Chicago Tribune, and now the agency's safety standard-setting responsibilities are apparently being taken over by freakin' big box retailers. The Chicago Tribune reports that Toys R...
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September 2, 2008

Heckuva Job, SFCA! Simplicity Bassinets Of Death Still On Sale--From The "New" Simplicity

The scale of the danger posed by Simplicity's 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 bassinets is becoming clearer: over 900,000 bassinets have been sold with a dangerous design flaw that has led to at least two strangulation deaths in the last year. And...
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August 29, 2008

Big Phil & Teds Recall: Better Get That Folding Joint Fixed Chop-Chop!

Hey, is the CPSC muscling in on my Friday Freakout action? Regal Lager, the US distributor of Phil & Teds strollers, has issued a voluntary recall in conjunction with the CPSC covering a whopping 44,000 strollers. They're not a threat...
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August 28, 2008

After Two Strangulations And Corporate Shrugging, CPSC Orders Retailers Pull Simplicity Co-Sleepers Off Market

Normally when a product is found to cause injury or death, the Consumer Product Safety Commission works with the manufacturer to issue a recall and provide either a fix or a replacement product. But when two kids in the...
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August 16, 2008

Visionary Obama, Protector Of American Children, Threatens To Ban All Chinese-Made Toys

Finally, a leader who refuses to pander to the giant corporations and foreign demons who threaten the greatness of this Nation! On December 19th, at a campaign appearance in Concord, NH, Senator Barack Obama boldly answered a citizen's question--a question...
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August 5, 2008

Kung Fu Pander: McCain Threatens To Ban All Chinese-Made Toys

Don't know how I missed this, from an April 2008 Bloomberg report of a John McCain townhall meeting in Youngstown, Ohio:"I have to tell you, if I were president of the United States, the next toy that came into this...
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June 27, 2008

DT Friday Freakout: M-I-C, Vitamin C Is A Trademark Of The Disney Corporation Edition

Oddly, there's no alarming research to freakout over this week. Which only means we're not looking closely enough: The CPSC recalled 320,000 Jardine cribs sold at Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Geoffrey's World, and KidsWorld. There have been multiple...
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May 23, 2008

DT Friday Freakout: Allergies, Bread & Crib Bumpers

BPA. Phthalates. Sugar-spiked formula. Mercury in sushi. There's always some new study or story that stokes parental anxiety and powerless fear in the face of a threatening world, but the uncertainty of when they come out is nervewracking! Which is...
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