I recently read an article in the AAP News that the US Customer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) listed three products that can cause injury. I’m all against injury, but I wonder if the UPSC’s world isn’t too dangerous for any kid to survive! Following are my thoughts on these products.
Go Gaga Squeeze & Teethe Coco the Monkey teething toy: This “toy” is defective because the monkey’s tail may come off and be a choking hazard. Great! If you have one throw it away! The company will replace it for you with a “safe” one, but who in the heck needs a “teething toy”? Multiple studies have shown that “teething” does not cause pain, fever, or other symptoms! And it goes without saying that if “teething” did cause gum pain, chewing would make that pain worse. Yet, we all know babies chew on everything and anything they can get into their mouths. Hands, feet, toys, pacifiers, are all objects that babies learn about by “examining” them with their mouths – their primary learning center. My suggestion is not to block this “library door” with anything including pacifiers, teething rings or monkeys! Let them learn during this “oral stage” of development!
BebeLove walkers model number 358 and 368: Model 358 is “…narrow enough to fit through a doorway and is not designed to stop at the edge of a step. Let me know if there is a pediatrician who has not seen a baby take a walker down the stairs. A newspaper article recently reported a baby who drove one of these killers into his grandparents pool. Imagine their anguish at his funeral. Return this one to the store and demand your money back. Model number 368 has, ”leg openings that allow the child to slip down until the child’s head can become trapped at the neck.“ Return this one, too. Don’t replace it! All baby walkers are dangerous . If God wanted babies to walk at 6 months he would have made that happen. Crawling and creeping are dangerous enough. These activities are essential to babies development but, require constant parental vigilance.
Runestone children’s shoes: These shoes, boots actually, have metal rivets around the string holes to facilitate lacing. The rivets have, “…sharp edges which can cut children.” I have not seen these shoes, but the picture looks safe enough. I would not have bought my child these shoes because they are ugly. If the rivets are like the ones on my boots and the shoes I have seen, there is no way they could cut a kid unless he somehow fell and slid across his friends shoes. I suppose if he were wearing them while playing third base a runner might be able to slide into them. But a sliding runner can get hurt sliding into any base and I suspect cleats on the baseman’s shoes might be more of a problem. Anyhow, have a look at your kids shoes and if you think they are reasonable dangerous take them back, or don’t buy them in the first place.
I am surprised the CPSC doesn’t ban table legs, or doors. I have seen many kids get hurt on all kinds of furniture legs and heaven knows many of us have slammed our fingers in a door! My point is we can overdo the safety thing until we keep out kids in a plastic bubble to protect them. As a parent you know what is dangerous and what is not. My advice is to ask yourself two questions before you buy any product for your family.
1) Is it needed? I would argue that most of the things we see advertised on TV are not necessary. The first two products above fit that category, so do baby monitors, all teething toys, most all baby care products, lotion, powder, diaper creams and ointments, cold and cough medicines, even baby shoes! If a product is truly needed, companies wouldn’t need to advertise it, at least not more than once.
2) Is the product generally safe or will it bring harm to my child? You don’t need someone to tell you not to buy your baby a razor blade or give your 1 year old a skate board. Parents know much more about your child and what’s safe for him that agencies do! Make use of your own good judgment and things will be fine!
Follow these two principals and save yourself lots of money, much stress, and your child will be much the better for it!