I don’t usually (or ever), post warnings likes this. But having had many younger family members and friends children play on these things (as did I, as a child) – I felt it may be of interest.

Bouncy “castles” and massive jumpy toys are irresponsibly toxic. From the Center for Environmental Health:

“CEH testing found one bounce house contained more than 70 times the federal limit for lead in children’s products under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Independent testing commissioned by CEH also showed that lead from bounce houses can expose children to the toxic chemical at levels that violate California law.”

(Read more: HERE)

Really? SEVENTY BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP TIMES?!?!

Luckily, a suit is in the making:

“It’s the PVC to blame for the lead content in these bounce houses. This “poison plastic” has prompted the California Attorney General Jerry Brown to file a lawsuit against companies that supply bounce houses.”

(Read more: HERE)

Being safe is a total buzz kill. I get that.

But 70x?!! It’s safer to give them a few Menthols for Pete’s sake.

That doesn’t really seem like anything to celebrate.

I can only imagine that if you are a parent, you already are signed up for several product recall sites – but if you are a friend or auntie, you may not be….

I almost bought this exact book for my beautiful ballet obsessed niece, before I got pregnant and learned that 90% of “cheap” costume jewelry is a) Made in China and b) full of lead.  This book was recalled last year for – surprise – having hazardous amounts of lead, after over 500, 000. units were sold.  How many of those childrens’ moms do you think knew of the recall?  Me too.

Please sign up for a product recall site.  Or just buy green or organic toys (I have a massive source list on the right).  It’s so not worth the guilt later….

Toy Recall Links:

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html

http://www.healthystuff.org/departments/toys/

http://www.safetoys.com/

Many people are fortunate enough to  have a family heirloom that they should like to have in their nursery, but that they are concerned is covered in generations of  lead paint. Right they are.  As many of us have read, removing lead paint releases toxic particles into the air, and just creates lead snow.  Not a brilliant thing to do. 

Though I recommend getting someone else to do this – there is a very affordable and safe (well, as safe as safe gets), way to strip Great Grandma Berthas rocking horse, painted Mexican avocado green in 1964: Soy Gel.

It seems that this goo, made of 100% American soy beans, is ideal for lead-based paint removal as the lead becomes encapsulated in the gel, preventing airborne particles and allowing for safe disposal. Further, it doesn’t contain methylene chloride.  (Rule of thumb: If you don’t know what it is, it’s bad for you.)

Again, if you are preggos, do NOT go anywhere NEAR lead anything.  Have a handy in-law do it for you.

And after the offending paint is removed, don’t forget to uses non-toxic finishes to prepare it for your little ones. Just please don’t use Avocado Green.

This is not a torture device – it is a bathtub, inspired by the tubs used by those eccentric Europeans.

Needless to say, it’s BPA, PVC, phthalate and lead free (yes, those things are in conventional plastic tubs), but, most importantly, it seems that babies love being in warm water up to their chests, and in the fetal position – both of which are accomplished in the Spa Baby.

I haven’t bought one of these space age looking things, but they are also BPA/PVC free. (My only concern would be that baby might reach up and touch a still warm spout.  I still have a scar from having done just that.) I do love the name: the Puj Tub (it makes me lust for a curry). It doesn’t seem that anything larger than a baby or Shih Tzu could fit in one, though.

And what to wash the dear one with?  Natural sea sponges (best brought back from the beach holiday you should squeeze in before the baby), and any soap (when he is old enough), that has a “0″  rating from the Skin Deep database.

For a yummy and cozy dry off, organic towels  from Under The Nile are just the thing.

Note: For those of us having winter babies, rather than worry about creams and lotions, just consider using extra virgin olive oil. It’s been the safe choice of mother’s for 4ooo year - and soaks in gorgeously apres bath. (Any oils that contain nuts, such as almond or sunflower, are to be avoided until they are cleared by the Doctor of not having nut allergies.) 

Let me know if you use the Raj, and love it.

As you buy toys for your wee ones, or others, I just wanted to give you a brilliant resource: www.HealthyToys.com. 

“HealthyToys.org includes test results for more than 2,200 toys and children’s products. This site is a first step in providing consumers with the information they need to make better choices when purchasing toys and other children’s products.”

Not only can you search their database when home in your bamboo slippers, but you can text them for safety ratings while you are in the toy store!

Why is this important? Well, aside from weekly toy recalls, 1 in 3 toys that HealthyToys.org tested last Christmas season had significant levels of toxic chemicals including lead, flame retardants, and arsenic.  Yes, that arsenic. The one Miss Marple seems to always discover was in the Vicars tea.

Bookmark the site on your Blackberry. You’ll be glad that you did.

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.