My First Day of Blog & Carseats

Armed with “WordPress for Dummies”, I will attempt to blog about all of the new baby products and nursery items that I have selected, and why. Hopefully, this will save new moms, (and her friends and family), from agonizing recalls, and from seeing their product on the nightly news with the words “toxic”, ”dangerous” or “surprising new research” in the headline. I hope that this will actually help moms create far safer baby registries. I’ll start with the product that started it all for me, three years ago: the carseat. My dear friend, a very busy and very pregnant lawyer, asked if I would help her find a carseat. Honestly, what could be simpler? Before lunch, I answered confidently.

Good thing I didn’t specify the day of that lunch.

What, I thought, could possibly more regulated, reviewed or safer than a carseat? I was honestly more concerned with finding her an adorable one – as they must all be terribly safe, and the ones I had seen had the style of one of Kim Jung Ils jumpsuits. I was wrong, and not for the last time.

During my search I came across www.HealthyCar.org.  These cats analyze cars and carseats to determine their levels of chemicals such as lead, mercury, bromine, chlorine and other scary sounding heavy metals, allergens and carcinogenens – all of which we breathe when we are in our (usually newer) cars and carseats, and which bioaccumulate in our bloodstreams and brains. (Warning: After you visit this site, you’ll never buy a new car again.)  HealthCar.org analyzes hundreds of carseats, and then gives them a rating, based on their toxicity.  (You just can’t make this stuff up.) So…after getting over the utter shock of realizing that our government allows these chemicals in carseats, into which newborns and children are placed every second of every day – as would be my godson – I called my friend and explained that she would need to choose a very ugly, but very safe carseat. And I never assumed children’s product safety again.

Lesson #1: Despite the struggle to accept how little government regulation there is for ANY product, including for our most vunerable citizens, and that the burden is NOT on the manufacturer to prove safety before it’s sold to trusting parents – know this: even if it is something you remember from your own nursery, do not assume that ANYTHING is safe. (Wait until I tell you about that baby oil that you and I grew up with…)

Carseat I chose: Because of it’s lowest chemical rating on HealthyCar.org, we chose the Sunshine Kids Radian 65.  (Link: http://www.healthycar.org/carseat.mostleast.php)  Available on Amazon.com for approximately $200.