While we’re not fans of hands-on pat-downs from security, we understand that they exist as an alternative or a supplement to being screened at a scanner. But one Consumerist reader wants to know why a pat-down would be viewed as a way to ensure that he’s not carrying explosive materials in baby food jars. [More]
babies
Graco Replaces Our Baby Swing That Had Electronic Freak-Out
By 4.8.13
Joshua and his wife moved their first child’s Graco Sweetpeace swing downstairs from storage in order to rock their adorable new son. They added fresh batteries to the two-year-old toy and fired it up. They were alarmed when the swing began to play music, the lights flashed, and the swing suddenly sped up, all without anyone touching the controls. Was the newest Joshua Jr. some kind of demon baby, or was the swing defective? Had other parents experienced the nightmare of having their newborns in a smoking rogue swing? Josh went online to find out. [More]
Should OnStar Have Helped A Non-Subscriber Who Locked Baby And Keys In The Car?
By 3.26.13 — Updated: 3.27.13
When is it a moral imperative for a company to make an exception for someone? What if you’re a company that provides subscription-based in-car emergency services, and someone who chose not to subscribe calls you with an emergency? [More]
When It Comes To Children, 10 Pounds Actually Makes A Big Difference
By 3.4.13
10 pounds doesn’t seem like much of a weight difference, unless you’re talking about the difference between a 15-pound infant and a 25-pound toddler. Reader O. had this problem when shopping for a playard (does no one say “play pen” anymore?) with a bassinet and changing table included. The shelf tag for the changing table claimed that it was good for up to 25 pounds: not bad. Except it is kind of bad, because it’s not true. [More]
Walmart Sold Us A High Chair Covered With Food And Mold As New
By 12.28.12
Part of the delight of Christmas morning is opening up fresh, shiny, untouched gifts. Our new stuff gets wrapped in colorful paper outside of the boxes and layers of protective plastic by the Asian teenagers who made them for us. Jan’s great-grandson is still a baby, so he probably didn’t care one way or the other about the condition of his gifts, but the grown-up family members did. The high chair they bought him had been used. Used a lot. And it was covered with food and mold. It should be their baby who has the privilege of throwing spaghetti on his high chair, not someone else’s. [More]
Makers Of Recalled Nap Nanny Sued By CPSC Following Deaths Of 5 Infants
By 12.5.12
In 2010, the death of an infant in a Nap Nanny baby recliner led to the recall of 30,000 of the devices. But since then, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has learned of additional fatalities and more than 70 potentially harmful incidents involving the Nap Nanny. [More]
October Recall Roundup: High Chairs, Herring, And Metal Shards
By 10.16.12
In this months’ recalls: wood cleaner sprays users in the face, wooden porch swings collapse, there’s Listeria everywhere, and an unusual number of herring products are recalled for unrelated reasons That number: two. [More]
Potty Training Your Kids At The Restaurant Table Might Possibly Upset Nearby Diners
By 9.5.12
Whatever you might think of mom’s breastfeeding their young children in public, there are generally laws protecting those women. The same can’t be said for potty training your kids in the middle of a restaurant. [More]
Parents Of Twin Tots Appease Fellow Travelers By Handing Out Bags Of Candy, Ear Plugs
By 9.4.12
There is nothing like the experience of being stuck thousands of feet in the air in a tiny metal tube with screaming newborns. Knowing this, it appears that the parents of one set of twin babies wanted to get in the good graces of their fellow travelers by handing out bags of candy — and offering free earplugs to — the people around them. [More]
This Toys 'R' Us Coupon Excludes Toys. No, Really
By 8.20.12
Phillip and his wife set up a Babies ‘R’ Us/Toys ‘R’ Us registry for their soon-to-arrive new baby. After all of the fun of zapping items in the store with guns, they received a registry completion coupon in the mail. After the shower and baby gifts stop coming, they could buy anything left on the registry for 10% off. These coupons are pretty common, and come in handy. Well, unless you’re Phillip’s family. Their registry completion coupon isn’t very handy at all, because it excludes just about everything on their registry. [More]
Medela Concerned About Milk Emergencies, Overnights Free AC Adapter For Breast Pump
By 8.17.12
Medela is a company that makes medical equipment and supplies for breastfeeding. Most notably, electric pumps that, at times, make mothers feel a little like dairy cattle. Scott just welcomed a new family member, and the family pulled their pump from their first child out of storage. The AC adapter wasn’t working, so they called up Medela to see whether they could buy a replacement. Instead, a new adapter was on its way, shipped overnight via UPS. [More]
Recall: Babies Fall Out Of Bumbo Seats At Ground Level, Too
By 8.15.12
Babies: they comprise the future of our species, and they’re awfully cute, but they’re top-heavy. And early in their lives, their muscle control is pretty poor. The Bumbo baby seat is an adorable piece of molded plastic designed to let your baby sit up and look around before it has developed sufficient muscle control to sit up on its own for extended periods. They’re immensely popular, but frequently misused, and not wriggle-proof. So the Consumer Products Safety Commission has announced yet another voluntary recall on the seats. [More]
Pay Bill In Full Right Now, Score A Hospital Discount
By 8.2.12
Phil Villarreal, a familiar face to Consumerist readers, recently welcomed a new baby into his family. Almost as exciting to him as the creation of new life and the addition to his adorable brood was the opportunity to play hardball with the hospital regarding the bill. He had to pay a substantial part of it, see, but had a proposition for the hospital. If he paid it all right that very moment in full, he knew that he would get a discount. Only navigating the hospital’s administrative structure stood in his way. [More]
A Few More Recalls: Bunny Sippy Cups, Plastic Rattles, And Instant Knives
By 4.27.12
The Consumer Products Safety Commission announced these three recalls were announced too late to make yesterday’s Recall Roundup, but we wanted to share them as soon as possible since two of them could affect small children. We don’t want to see anyone get hurt, ever, but a little kid getting poked in the eye by an Easter-themed sippy cup shaped like a smiling bunny? That’s particularly undignified. [More]
An Argument For Cloth Diapers
By 1.12.12
Every time your baby heeds nature’s call, he’s costing you a quarter. Disposable diapers, which can cost 25 cents or so apiece, are among the first of the infinite ways in which kids siphon money from parents’ wallets, but they’re not a necessity. [More]
Bus Driver Accused Of Giving The Boot To Mom & Crying Baby
By 10.3.11
While we’ve done many stories about crying babies on airplanes, we’ve never really looked into how people handle screaming tots on that lowest level of the public transportation food chain, the city bus. [More]
10 Carry-On Essentials For Flying With Babies & Toddlers
By 9.7.11
Traveling anywhere with a very young child can be taxing, and it becomes even more complicated when you’re hampered by the limits of air travel. You can only bring so much on to the plane with you, so it helps to know just the essentials. [More]
Comment Of The Day: What Are Babies Made Of?
AstroPig7: Babies are either made of magical, wonderful materials or they’re dead boogers that learned how to scream. It all depends on whom you ask. [More]