Hit By a Train

One of the toy brands that moms recommended to me when I first fell in a family way was Melissa & Doug. So, dutifully, I ordered two of their wooden, safe looking toys. They arrived, and then I saw those three little words that strike terror into my red, white and blue heart: Made In China.

Right.

So I did a search for their toys and “recall”, just to see….

Seek and Ye Shall Find.

Seems that the above Melissa & Doug stackable train was recalled last year for having …”barium in excess of the allowable limit.”  Um. BARIUM? Isn’t that one of those makes you glow in the dark things?  Egads.  And was that a one time rare as a man emptying the dishwasher without being prompted recall? Nope. They had an earlier one, also as a result of barium.

That’s all I needed to know. Into the bin (don’t tell my husband), went the two Melissa & Doug toys that I had bought jr., and my sister, who had the above train since last year, chucked hers last night.  Of course, my beautiful 2 year old niece had already gnawed on it for a year. Expletive.

Once again. Don’t bother with items Made In China. They always disappoint.  And read the safety/product information pages on the sites of the manufacturers you buy from like a tax document: CAREFULLY.

Oh. And Barium? Totally a glow in the dark element.

And we thought it was just that my niece was “olive”….

Update: I just found this brilliant posting from www.SafBaby.com, where the author wrote to several toy companies asking, point blank, what their products contained. The company answers are posted in full. Remember “we meet or exceed all Federal regulations” means “we do use toxic ingredients, but it’s legal”.