Give Safer Toys this Holiday
every time. I also love The Glass Baby Bottle
and My Little Green Shop for baby toys, natural
gifts and unconventional presents for kids such
as safe sleeping bags without flame retardants or
art supplies. Wherever you like to shop online,
investigate their standards and ask questions.
Most shop owners are more than happy to tell
you what you need to know.
Online Tools
There are a couple of ways to do a little research
before you shop. These tools are the answer to
everything but they can help a little bit with toy
buying as well as monitoring the toys you already have.
HealthyStuff.org is an organization that tests
many children’s products including toys. You
can search by brand or toy name and find what
toxic chemicals or heavy metals have been detected such as lead, bromine, chlorine, arsenic
and mercury. You will be surprised at what you
might find! HealthyStuff.org also tests household products like cell phones and car seats. It’s
a site to keep on your radar this holiday season.
Consumer Products Safety Commission’s website might seem like a no-brainer when it comes
to checking into toy safety but even toys deemed
safe can be recalled later on without you knowing about it. You can subscribe to the Children’s
Products feed with a newsreader or have a digest
emailed to you weekly by submitting your email
address. You can choose what recalls you wish
to receive and select the infants/child recalls to
keep up with toys and kids products. You can
also search the database for past toy recalls.
Katherine Scoleri is the Editor, Writer and Mom
behind SafeMama.com, a website she started in
2007 to help parents get a handle on finding safer
products for their families without spending too
much time online.
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