How to make your nursery non-toxic

1. Don’t put off painting. Allow time for fumes from new paint, wallpaper, drapes, and carpeting to subside before baby comes home for the first time. Paint the nursery well in advance of your baby’s arrival and ventilate the room. A pregnant woman should not do the painting herself. Use a paint that has low volatile organic compounds or VOCs (less than 50 grams/liter VOCs); higher VOC levels may be irritating to your baby (and to some adults) and could theoretically affect the developing nervous system. To reduce fumes from other chemicals such as formaldehyde or phthalates, air out new carpet, furniture and anything made of soft plastic or wood.

2. Buy silicone pacifiers only. Babies can develop an allergy or sensitivity to latex.

3. Take extra care with new clothes and bedding. Launder all new baby clothes and bedding in a fragrance-free detergent once or twice to remove chemicals. Don’t use liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets; the fragrance may irritate baby’s skin and respiratory system. Liquid softener may also reduce the absorbency of cloth diapers. Likewise, air out any dry-cleaned clothes (but you'll likely have few of these!) before your baby wears them.

4. Buy a changing table with a drawer. It offers an advantage over open shelving because it can hide diaper-rash ointment and other supplies, which look like a treasure trove to the curious toddler your baby will become before you know it. However, it's important that a drawer be positioned high enough so that your baby doesn't use it to climb up onto the changing table once she's mobile. Also make sure the changing table has barriers or guide rails on all sides. If only two or three sides are protected instead of four, don't buy it.

5. Don’t use heirloom furniture, such as cribs and chests. They may have been coated with lead-containing paints, lacquers, or varnishes. All new cribs have very low and, therefore, safe, levels. You can check antique finishes with a lead-testing kit. If you detect lead in a piece of furniture, put it in storage until your baby gets older.

For more information, see our "Nursery decorating dos and don'ts" and "Clearing the air."

Health and safety reign supreme at Toy Fair in NYC

At the Toy Fair in New York City, aisles of booths are packed with the latest toys. The big guys like Hasbro and Mattel are here of course, but also represented are many smaller and newer companies. Some of the toys that caught my eye were Shnoozles (plush toys that help kids go to sleep), Tofu the Vegan Zombie (a “friendly zombie” who prefers grains to meat) Ugly Dolls (the “it” plush dolls popular with celebrity kids), Snacker Tracker (a magnet for your fridge that allows you to track your child's daily food intake), Blunders (a board game that helps kids mind their manners), Catnap Kitties, (a soft-bodied kitten that purrs like a real cat and can be a good option for kids with allergies), and Slumbersong Baby, (a doll for infants that plays a lullaby and is infused with a lavender scent that can calm fussy children).

A common sight throughout the show are signs that say  "Lead Free" and "Made in the USA” and "Phthalate Free” (noting toys that lack a chemical compound used to make plastic flexible). Certainly safety is front and center and can even be a selling point.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has a booth here, too. I stopped by and checked out some of the items that U.S. Customs had recently seized, including recalled Aqua Dots, fake Dora the Explorer dolls, and scarily realistic-looking toy automatic weapons missing the required orange ring at the end of their barrels that helps police officers know that they’re not the real thing.

I also listened in on the Toy Industry Association's presentation of "The Story of Toy Safety." Did you know that the first widespread toy recall happened in the mid-1950s, when some knockoff coonskin caps--a la Davy Crockett--were found to be a fire hazard? The TIA presentation cited "product misuse” as the major cause of many so-called toy-related injuries today, and emphasized the need for toy manufacturers and parents to "think like kids."

What’s ahead for 2008?
•    A new conformity assessment program to ensure that all toy manufacturers are following consistent manufacturing and testing guidelines.
•    A new safety assurance mark is under consideration that participating manufacturers could display on their wares.
•    A public information campaign, including the launch of a consumer Web site, www.toyinfo.org.

--Desiree Calamari, web associate editor

3 simple ways to go green and keep baby safer

Unplug charger packs for cell phones and laptop computers when they’re not in use. Besides reducing your electric bill, your baby will benefit. “The charger pack is a live wire if it’s plugged into the wall, but not into your cell phone or laptop, and your baby can get quite a shock, if not worse, if he puts the wire in his mouth,” says Rick Levinton, owner of Precious Baby Protectors, in Missouri City, Texas. It's best to keep all electronic equipment out of reach of young children.

Reduce the setting of your hot-water heater to 120° F. It could not only reduce your energy costs by an average of $24 per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 187 pounds, it’s better for your baby, too, since an infant’s skin burns much more easily than an adult’s.

Use cloth shopping bags. A non-green alternative--plastic bags--are suffocation hazards. If they do make their way into your house, tie plastic bags in knots before throwing them out. And keep plastic garbage bags, laundry bags, food storage or grocery bags, and bags used in packaging everything from dry cleaning to electronics on a high shelf or in a locked cupboard.

Carry your infant car seat safely

If you opt to use your infant car seat as a carrier, realize that it can be a killer on your wrists, elbow, lower back, and neck if you tote it by the handle or if you string it on your forearm like a handbag. “The greater the horizontal distance from the weight you’re carrying to your torso, the more stress on your joints, discs, ligaments, and muscles,” says Mary Ellen Modica, a physical therapist at Schwab STEPS Rehabilitation Clinics in Chicago, IL. “It’s equivalent to walking around with three or four full paint cans in one hand--something most people wouldn’t do, but they’ll carry a car seat that way.”

Instead, “Carry the car seat in front of you so that you have both hands on the handle,” advises Diane Dalton, orthopedic clinical specialist at Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation, in Boston, Mass. With the weight of the seat and your baby centered and close to your trunk, the force on your body will be reduced, Dalton says. For your child’s sake, be sure that she is securely harnessed into the carrier and that the handle is securely locked in the position appropriate for carrying.

Another option: Leave the infant seat in your car and transfer your baby to a soft infant carrier, a stroller, or travel system. Or simply carry your baby in your arms, and your baby and you will both benefit. Infants transported that way use their head, neck, and shoulder muscles to stabilize themselves and establish stronger trunk stability. Those muscles may develop sooner in babies who aren’t carried around in a car seat.

3 ways to save on kids' birthday gifts

Whether it’s your own kids or their little friends, it’s easy for parents to become birthday-partied-out. Three money- and sanity-saving ideas:

1.    Buy ’em by the stack. A mother of triplets shared this strategy with us. She picks up a pile of presents each time she hits the toy store, often with no particular kid in mind. That way she not only takes advantage of sales but doesn’t waste time and gasoline running to the mall every time an invitation arrives in the mail. Best bets: timeless gifts like craft sets, games, sports gear--and anything that both boys and girls like. Designate a particular closet shelf so you won’t forget where your booty is stored.

2.    Think outside the gift box. Kids tear the wrapping paper off their gifts so fast that it’s all a blur anyway. So why pay $2.95 or more for a roll? With a little cheap creativity, you can wrap your gifts for next to nothing. The Sunday comics from your local paper are one colorful option. Tissue paper is another. One frugal father on our staff admits he’ll often go through the pile of discarded wrapping paper after his kids have ripped into their presents to salvage any pieces big and unwrinkled enough for another use.

3.    Play your cards right. Unless you want to enrich some cartoon character who is probably a lot wealthier than you are, why spend $1.95 or more for a card that the birthday boy or girl will barely read? Have your kids make their own cards instead. A few crayons, a sticker or two, and a sheet of paper folded in half or in quarters is all they need. Older kids, who may cringe at the sight of a crayon, can make cards on the computer. 

Do you have some good ideas of your own for saving on kids’ birthday gifts? Share them with us--we’d love to hear from you!

Pet Turtles Are Salmonella Magnets

An affectionate lick from the family cat isn’t likely to make your child sick. Even doggie kisses are basically benign. But handling pet turtles and other reptiles can be risky because their outer skin and shell carry salmonella bacteria, which can cause serious or even life-threatening infections. The 2007 death of a 4-week-old Florida baby was linked to salmonella from a small turtle. Young children are especially susceptible to harmful germ spread because they don’t know right from risk. No matter how much you remind them not to, they’re bound to scoop up a small pet turtle, even put it in their mouths, or put their hands in their mouths after holding it. Letting the turtle roam the house, use the family swimming pool, or even cleaning the turtle tank in the kitchen sink, can put everyone’s health in jeopardy because salmonella from its shell and skin can cross-contaminate food, kitchen or eating utensils, or areas of the house that you and your children contact, such as countertops, floors, and carpet.

Because of the health risk, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prohibited the sale of small turtles with a shell less than four inches long. That ban, which has been in effect since 1975, prevents 100,000 salmonella infections in children each year in the U.S. Still, according to the FDA, salmonella infections are on the rise, infecting 103 people--mostly children--in 33 states from May 2007 to January 2008 because of a resurgence in the sale of small turtles by some pet shops, flea markets, street vendors, and online stores.

Germ Defense: Don’t buy small turtles for pets or as gifts. If you have kids under age 5 or a baby on the way, remove any pet turtle (or other reptile or amphibian) from your home. If you have older children who can’t imagine parting with their turtle pet, set some ground rules:

•    Don’t let the turtle out of its tank.
•    If you or your kids touch the turtle, its tank or supplies, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water afterwards. That advice applies anywhere your child touches a turtle, such as at a maritime aquarium, daycare, or petting zoo.
•    Clean the turtle tank and supplies in the tub (not in the kitchen sink) and disinfect it with bleach afterwards.

Why does one stroller cost $100 and another $750?

Several things drive up the price tag. First off, you’re paying for the cachet of the high-end brand name. Some higher-end strollers are made with high-grade, lighter-weight aluminum, which make them easier to lift in and out of a car. The seat is cushier, and is likely to be made of high-quality fabric. Higher-end strollers are sometimes easier to push, especially over rough terrain, which includes anything from uneven sidewalks to bumpy dirt paths and grass, so babies get a smoother ride.

Bigger-ticket strollers often have such comfy amenities as adjustable handles, which can save your back if you’re tall, but so do a number of cheaper models. But that doesn’t mean a lower-end stroller won’t serve you well. A lot depends on where and how much you’ll be using the stroller. For infrequent travel or trips to the mall, a lower-end umbrella stroller (less than $100) may be all you need, for a child six months or older. But if you’re going to be strolling more often and through all kinds of weather and conditions, consider spending more. Good-quality strollers start around $100. That said, a higher price doesn't always mean higher quality. Consumer Reports’ tests have shown that some economical strollers can perform as well as or even better than models costing hundreds of dollars more. Even the most sophisticated models can suffer flaws such as malfunctioning wheels, frames that bend out of shape, locking mechanisms that fail, safety belts that come loose, or buckles that break. See our latest stroller ratings.