23 Aug, 2007
It seems there have been a recent outbreak of media frenzy regarding the constant product recalls and safety concerns of products that are made in China.
The following list provides a roundup of the top stories for the last couple of days:
It will be interesting to see how this pans out. It seems that the rapid growth of the Chinese economy has allowed companies to operate outside of the controls and regulations that are commonplace in a western society. China does not have health and safety standards that can enforced. However, the flip-side argument is that western companies have obviously given too much control and have too must trust in their Chinese manufacturing partners. I do not think the blame solely lies with China.
Some thoughts … Is this the tip of the iceberg ? Is this just a knee-jerk reaction ? Have toy and clothing companies been complacent with their quality controls ? Will this lead to increases in costs for parents ?
I welcome your comments on this issue …
21 Aug, 2007
In the last week, there has been an increase in articles discussing the potential dangers of Bisphenol-A (BPA), a plastic softener used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic. Many baby bottles are made from polycarbonate, and is causing alarm among the parenting communities.
Z Recommends has put together a very comprehensive article discussing the use of BPA in baby bottles, including a detailed report of the top bottle manufacturers. This is the first time I have seen an attempt to detail the use of BPA in specific baby bottles. Many articles do not help parents by demonstrating widespread the use of BPA is.
Whether or not the claims are true, it does cause concern and anxiety among the parenting community, especially at a time of widespread toy recalls due to the use of toxic paint.
20 Aug, 2007
Naming your baby can be one of the hardest and most stressful times during pregnancy. Whilst you will hear stories of people who think of a name very quickly or say that their son was always going to be called William, for most people it can mean hours of discussions, research and post-it notes!
Rather than discuss the various sources that are available (that can be another article), I will concentrate on one source of information, the Internet. The Internet provides a myriad of Web sites dedicated to baby names, many offering lists of popular names and providing the meaning of each name.
When people are searching in Google (or a similar search engine), they typically will only click on links from the first page. Therefore, I will review the top 5 search results when entering ‘baby names’ in Google. On the day of this article, the following sites were returned:
These sites are each reviewed below. Our son’s name James was used to provide consistency across sites, such as with the meaning of names.
Read the rest of this entry »
19 Aug, 2007
The Chicago Sun-Times has published an article written by Rachel Beck, offering a very insightful view concerning the recent recall of toys manufactured in China.
It does raise some interesting points about how modern businesses have been reducing costs to provide cheaper toys to the consumer. However, reducing costs has also reduced the product quality and removed many processes that provided quality assurance. To be honest, it was only a matter of time before the ‘Made In China’ brand becomes somewhat tarnished, as it is not just toys that are today manufactured to a lower quality than previously. It seems that many of todays clothing and consumer goods have a shorter and shorter shelf-life. Whilst the manufacturers are partly to blame (they want you to buy more products), manufacturing technology has improved to allow for higher quality products to be produced. Should this not balance itself out ?
Rachel Beck’s article is recommended reading for any parent.
It will be interested to see if we see a ‘Made In USA’ brand being pushed here ?
18 Aug, 2007
It is very relaxing for both you and your baby when listening to music with your baby or when playing music to your baby during pregnancy. Whilst music tastes are very subjective, it is widely believed that listening to easy-listening and classical music can be very calming. It is also reported that it will give your baby a greater appreciation of music and improve their creative and cognitive skills. Obviously the jury is out regarding how intelligent it will make your baby!
If you are already a listener of easy-listening and classical music, then it may just be a matter for you to create a compilation of your favorite tracks. This can be as simple as creating a tape or burning a CD with your favorite tracks. However, it you do not have a great collection, or if burning a CD sounds a bit dangerous, there are many CDs available that offer compilations of classical music that are specifically for babies and during pregnancy.
We have attempted to consolidate our recommendations down to 5 (a hard task considering the hundreds of available titles.) We have found that the following CDs offer the best collection of music for both you and your baby. We have also tried to include a wide selection of styles. We have included links to the respective pages on Amazon where you can listen to track samples.
- Baby Einstein: Lullaby Classics
- UltraSound - Music for the Unborn Child
- Baby Einstein: Baby Mozart
- Mozart for Mothers-To-Be: Tender Lullabies for Mother and Child
- Beethoven for Babies
If you wish to look at other titles that are available, please follow the Baby Music
link.
Read the rest of this entry »
16 Aug, 2007
The parents of three year old Mia Bergman have created a new product after Mia’s fascination with burying items inside Play-Doh and then re-discovering them. Mia’s mother created Treasure Dough using her own recipe of lavender scented dough, available in a range of colors and themes, including ‘Princess Loot’, ‘Under The Sea’, ‘Zany Zoo’, and ‘Dino Diggers’ (see photos).
The dough is made from a harmless mixture of flour, water, salt, and lavender oil for the scent, and is provided in a large plastic bucket. Each bucket retails at 14 USD and includes around 12 small toys that children can discover to play with and rebury at will. As the items can be a choking hazard, Treasure Dough is recommended for children ages three and up and can be purchased online or pickup from the Denver area.
Check out Treasure Dough at Treasure Dough. It is really encouraging to see a small startup coming up with such a simple and effective idea. We wish them the best of luck.
16 Aug, 2007
An interesting new idea is being marketed in Germany. Lütte-Leihen is a German company that offers rental of newborn and baby clothing for a fixed monthly fee.
When your baby starts to grow out of their clothes, they can simply be exchanged for the next size up. Whilst the clothing may be used, they will have only been worn for such a short time, they are still ‘new’. It can save parents from the expense of buying clothing that will only be worn a few times.
The cost of the service is between 17 to 26 Euro (23 to 35 USD) per month. Clothing is 100% organic cotton and comes in a range of neutral colors and patterns. Clothing is available in 9 to 11 piece sets, and covers the range of essential styles that parents will need, from bodysuites and singlets to socks and hats.
Whilst this service is currently only being offered in Germany, it may take off on a global basis. Check out their (German) web site at www.luette-leihen.de. We will keep you informed if such a service becomes available here.
14 Aug, 2007
An interesting story is coming out of Australia. Each winter, Australia has a higher than normal incidence of flu (influenza), with flu vaccinations being regularly given to all residents, and not just the young or aged.
It seems that this year the number of cases where people become either seriously ill or die from flu has increased dramatically. The latest victim is a 2 year old toddler from Bathhurst, NSW, who died on friday 10th August. Five other children have died across Australia so far this year, with a total of 14 flu-related deaths. This is double the number recorded in the previous year, and is causing concern in the Australian health authorities.
With the emergence of bird flu over the last few years, it seems that the strength of traditional illnesses, such as flu, is becoming much greater, resulting in more serious illness and deaths.
Visit the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper for the full story.
13 Aug, 2007
A bottle warmer is a convenient and quick way of warming bottled breast, formula milk or food. A bottle warmer has many advantages over traditional methods such as using a microwave, as it can consistently heat liquids and solids. A microwave can create hot-spots, potentially resulting in areas of the liquid or food that are very hot. Whether you are bottle feeding or breast feeding (and need to express and store breast milk), a bottle warmer is an invaluable addition to your nursery. When you are starting with solids, many bottle warmers can also be used to warm food.
For heating liquids or solids, the Philips Avent Express Baby Food and Bottle Warmer works as expected. It can heat a typical bottle of milk in 5 - 10 minutes. However, after using the product a few times, a number of issues surface. My first criticism of the Philips Avant Express is that is does not keep and maintain the temperature when it is reached. Whilst this may not seem like an issue, when feeding your baby in the middle of the night, there are many others things to distract you and for you to loose track of time, therefore it can easily result in over-heated milk or food. If left on, the warmer can heat a bottle of milk to dangerously high temperatures. Whilst you should always test the milk before feeding to your baby, it does add a risk to feeding. Being cynical, putting the baby bottle in larger container of hot water also produces the same result!
Read the rest of this entry »
