Judy Aagard of Tiny Tots contributed this article for our recent “Shopping for Baby” resource guide. Space was limited in the guide and we used a condensed version. The full article is below. If you haven’t picked up the Baby News “Shopping for Baby” resource guide stop by Tiny Tots or your local Baby News store and pick it up for free.

Diapering Choices
by Judy Aagard of Tiny Tots

There are many diapering choices available to a new parent. Knowledge will help you make an informed decision. The trained and helpful staff at your local Baby News shop can help you determine what will function well for you based upon your specific, personal needs.

In most areas, there are three diapering options available. 1) using reusable diapers and laundering them yourself, 2) using reusable diapers through a local diaper service and 3) using single-use paper diapers. Many parent’s find that using a combination of methods works well for their lifestyle.

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Choosing the correct stroller can be a daunting task. Richard Woo of Cititkids, San Francisco wrote an excellent article for our Baby News “Shopping for Baby” resource guide. These points will help you determine what type of stroller will suit your needs best. If you haven’t done so already, and are in Citikids neighborhood, stop by and pick up the newest “Shopping for Baby” resource guide or find your local Baby News store and pick up the resource guide.

The Most Important Tings to Consider When Purchasing a Stroller
by Richard Woo of Citikids

1) Where do you plan on strolling? People who live in rural areas where the stroller will be used on dirt trails have different needs than a person who uses it on concrete sidewalks. Strollers come with wheel sizes from 3” diameter plastic to 16” aluminum alloy wheels with air filled tires.

2) Are most of your trips car trips or is the stroller being used primarily in your neighborhood? People who use their cars a lot should consider the size of the stroller when folded to maximize the space left for other things that share the trunk with the stroller. Picture a couple of bags of groceries and a few cases of diapers or toilet paper fitting with your stroller. Strollers that are used from the garage to the street can be larger and heavier than ones that need to be folded and lifted into the car. Bring your car with you on your stroller shopping trip.

3) Will the stroller user be tall, short, average, have long legs, or have a bad back? Every stroller is different. Try them to see if you have enough room to walk comfortably without kicking the back of the stroller. Some strollers have adjustable height handles for both shorter and taller adults. Standing tall when strolling is always more comfortable than hunching over. Make sure your stroller fits you.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with Baby Matters LLC, of Berwyn, Pa., is announcing the voluntary recall of 30,000 Nap Nanny® portable baby recliners. CPSC is investigating a report of a 4-month-old girl from Royal Oak, Mich. who died in a Nap Nanny® that was being used in a crib. According to preliminary reports, the infant was in her harness and found hanging over the side of the product, caught between the Nap Nanny® and the crib bumper.

CPSC and Baby Matters are aware of one other incident in which an infant became entrapped when the Nap Nanny was used in a crib, contrary to the product instructions. In that incident, the infant fell over the side of the Nap Nanny®, despite being harnessed in, and was caught between the baby recliner and the side of the crib. The infant sustained a cut to the forehead.

CPSC and the firm have received 22 reports of infants, primarily younger than 5-months-old, hanging or falling out over the side of the Nap Nanny® despite most of the infants being placed in the harness. One infant received a bruise as a result of hanging over the side of the product.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada (HC), in cooperation with Tots in Mind Inc., of Salem, N.H., is announcing the voluntary recall today of about 20,000 (and 85 in Canada) Cozy Indoor Outdoor Portable Playard Tents Plus Cabana Kits

Clips that attach the tent to the top of the playard can break or be removed by a child. A child can lift the tent and become entrapped at the neck between the rigid playard frame and the metal base rod of the tent, posing a strangulation hazard.

CPSC is aware of a death of a 2-year-old boy in December 2008 in Vinalhaven, Maine. The boy was found hanging with his neck entrapped between the playard frame and the metal base rod of the tent that had been partially tied by pieces of nylon rope and partially attached by clips. The tent was tied to the playard because the child was able to pop off the clips. Apparently, the child became entrapped while attempting to climb out of the playard. In three other incidents, children were able to remove one or more clips and place their necks between the tent and the playard. The children were not injured.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 28, 2010 — Britax today announced a full redesign and relaunch of its line of best-selling convertible car seats. The new line offers Superior 360 Degree Protection with Revolutionary Head Safety Technology that dramatically reduces the risk of head injury and provides complete protection from all sides in the event of a vehicle crash.

 Head safety is critical because even tiny increases in head excursion — the distance the head travels forward during the crash — can exponentially increase the risk of head injury. Head injury is the leading cause of death for children up to 12 years old involved in vehicle crashes and comprises 65 percent of injuries in both frontal and side impact crashes, according to Child Injury Led Design and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. With this in mind, Britax designed its new line to help prevent real world injury for children and make it that much easier for parents and caregivers to use their children’s car seats correctly each and every time. 

 Unprecedented Head Safety

 “Many parents don’t realize the violence of a crash. Even if a child is restrained in a car seat, his head can be thrown violently forward in a collision. Should his head make contact with the back of the front seat he can be seriously injured,” said Ron Marsilio, vice president of engineering and new product development for Britax. “We are on a never-ending mission to engineer car seats to be as safe as they can possibly be, especially when it comes to protecting the head. That’s why we designed Britax Revolutionary Head Safety Technology to minimize head excursion and help protect the child from injury.”

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Industry Launches New Initiative to Secure Drop Sides with Free Immobilization Devices

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), with the cooperation of seven firms, is announcing voluntary recalls of more than two million cribs to address drop-side hazards and other hazards that affect the safety of young children. The recalling firms are providing consumers with free repair kits to immobilize the drop sides or other remedies. Do not attempt to fix these cribs with homemade remedies.

The drop-side and fixed-side crib recalls announced today are of units manufactured between 2000 and 2009 by the companies listed below. Consumers should contact these firms directly for the appropriate remedy:

• Child Craft, (this firm is out of business): Fixed-Side | Drop-Side
• Delta Enterprise Corp., of New York, N.Y.
• Evenflo, of Miamisburg, Ohio
• Jardine Enterprises, of Taipei, Taiwan
• LaJobi, of Cranbury, N.J.
• Million Dollar Baby, of Montebello, Calif.
• Simmons Juvenile Products Inc. (SJP), of New London, Wis.

“Cribs should be the safest place in the home for infants and toddlers,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. “CPSC is committed to addressing the hazards with cribs and to restoring parents’ confidence that their child will have a safe sleep.”

CPSC continues to actively investigate various cribs for potential drop-side and other hazards as part of a larger effort by the agency to rid the marketplace and homes of unsafe cribs. CPSC staff is also working on a new mandatory standard to make cribs safer, which is targeted for completion in 2010.

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) has also launched a new crib safety initiative. The listed manufacturers are providing free drop-side crib immobilization kits to prevent the drop side from detaching, plus replacement hardware and assembly instructions for cribs manufactured by participating firms. These materials are available free to any consumer by request.

The firms involved in today’s recalls are providing immobilization devices or other remedies as part of JPMA’s crib safety initiative. Consumers can visit JPMA’s website, www.cribsafety.org, for a list of participating manufacturers and for downloadable materials about ensuring that children have a safe sleep.

The immobilization devices, which will be available in the next few weeks, should be attached to keep the drop side from detaching from the cribs. Immobilization devices are not a solution for cribs with broken or damaged drop-side hardware. If your drop-side hardware is broken, contact the manufacturer for an alternative remedy.

CPSC issued a warning last month alerting parents and caregivers that there can be deadly hazards associated with drop-side cribs. Nine million drop-side cribs have been recalled over the past five years. CPSC staff has determined drop-side cribs generally have a tendency to be less structurally sound than cribs with four fixed sides.

Drop-side crib incidents can also occur due to incorrect assembly or age-related wear and tear. Age is a factor in the safety of any crib. At a minimum, CPSC staff recommends that you not use a crib that is older than 10 years. Many older cribs do not meet current voluntary standards and can have numerous safety problems.

Important Message from CPSC:

The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a crib or bassinet depending on their age. If your crib has been recalled or it has missing, broken or loose parts, find an alternate safe sleep environment intended for a baby. If your baby is less than six months old and is not yet able to push up to his/her hands and knees, you can put your baby to sleep in a bassinet. Make sure your bassinet has not been recalled. Here’s a list. Also, you can use a play yard.

Do not put additional bedding such as pillows, thick quilts, comforters or anything plush into your baby’s sleeping space. More babies die every year from suffocation in plush sleeping environments than from defective cribs. Always place your baby on his or her back to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Visit CPSC’s Crib Information Center for more information on Crib Safety and Recalls.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following product. Consumers should stop using products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of product: CYBEX 2.GO Infant Carriers

Units: About 2,700 in the United States and 400 in Canada

Distributor: Regal Lager Inc., of Kennesaw, Ga.

Hazard: A shoulder strap slider buckle can break, posing a fall hazard to babies.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received three reports of broken buckles. No injuries have been reported.

Description: This recall involves CYBEX 2.GO infant carriers. “CYBEX” is embroidered on the fabric covering on the top of the head support. “2.GO” is printed on an orange tag near the head support. They were sold in the following colors: chili, indigo, purple and slate.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 24, 2010 — Drawing on its history of thoughtful engineering, leading car seat and stroller manufacturer Britax introduced today the B-READY, a versatile and stylish modular stroller equipped to meet the growing family’s needs. The B-READY can be converted from a single child system to a two-child or twin system utilizing any combination of seats, bassinets and infant car seats in 14 possible configurations. This allows little ones to be secured comfortably in various appropriate positions on the stroller, also making it easy for parents to watch them as they rest or sleep. B-READY is the most comprehensive stroller on the market with single-child configurations and the option to expand it for infant twins or two children. As a result, this stroller helps ensure that parents will “be ready” as their families grow.

“For years parents and caregivers have relied on Britax for the thoughtful details that make life on the go easier and safer,” said Jon Chamberlain, president of Britax USA. “Our product designers know that parents want products with extended life spans that can grow with their family. The B-READY was designed with more options when traveling with one or two children. The result is a feature-rich and adaptive stroller design inspired by how parents hold and connect with their children.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted (5-0) to issue a final mandatory rule under section 104(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) for infant walkers.

The rule adopts the applicable voluntary industry standard, ASTM F 977-07, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Infant Walkers, and adds the following more stringent requirements:

• using the actual weight of a walker in a calculation to determine the launching distance for the stair fall test,
• specifying equipment used in the stair fall test,
• adding a parking brake test for walkers equipped with parking brakes.

These changes were made to strengthen the standard and reduce the risk of injury from these products. There has been an 88% reduction in injuries from 1994 to 2008, which may be attributed to the addition of a stair fall requirement included in the 1997 version of the ASTM voluntary standard.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 21, 2010

BabyLuxe announces the launch of its new website, babyluxebrands.com

Livermore, CA May 21, 2010 – BabyLuxe, a leading brand in bedding essentials for the juvenile products industry, announces the launch of their new website. The site, www.babyluxebrands.com was designed to showcase the extensive selection of product offerings and provide informative content for consumers.

Consumers can browse the full catalog of BabyLuxe products, learn about organic cotton and the certification process, and find a local or online store to purchase BabyLuxe products.

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