Up until yesterday, 4-month-old Alex Lange was considered uninsurable by Rocky Mountain Health Plans because he was above the 95th percentile for height and weight for his age—that gave him a pre-existing condition of obesity, and earned him a stamp of rejection.
infants
Giving Birth And Covered By Health Insurance? $22,000, Please
By 8.5.09
The individual health insurance market can be a scary place for Americans who turn to it for health coverage. If they’re accepted to a plan at all, patients often find that their coverage isn’t quite what they were promised, and limits and restrictions lead to high medical bills for covered services that aren’t really covered.
Babies R Us Accused Of Price Fixing
By 7.22.09
If you feel like had to pay too much for baby supplies this past decade, look to Babies R Us. Time reports that last week, “the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia granted class-action status to a complaint that Babies ‘R’ Us coerced manufacturers of high-end strollers, car seats, high chairs, strap carriers and breast pumps into preventing Internet retailers from discounting their products.”
By 7.8.09
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More than one million play yards made by Kolcraft and sold under a variety of names have been recalled. Brands include Kolcraft, Carter’s, Sesame Street, Jeep, Contours, Care Bears and Eric Carle. There’s a problem with the side rail, and children can fall out. Check to see if yours is affected at the CPSC.
By 6.20.09
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Don’t know how to take your new baby’s temperature? Babyglow will take care of it for you! These new $35 outfits, which seem to be coming out in the U.K. only, change color when your infant has a fever. This makes a lot more sense than wrapping the baby in a blanket made out of color-changing coffee mugs.(Also: doesn’t babyglow+fever sound radioactive?) [OhGizmo!]
Grocery Shrink Ray Affects Innocent Eyeballs and Adorable Babies
By 4.29.09
Reader Dan noticed something different when buying a new can of formula for his daughter (at left.) Her delicious colic-preventing formula had been hit by the dread grocery shrink ray. Waaah!
No More BPA Baby Bottles In US?
By 3.6.09
Philips Avent, the nation’s largest seller of baby bottles, announced today that it will voluntarily stop selling bottles containing the controversial chemical bisphenol A (BPA). Attorneys general from Connecticut and New Jersey had written a letter to several bottle makers asking them to stop, and the Washington Post says the six largest baby bottle manufacturers in the country have voluntarily complied.
Chinese Dairy Companies Apologize For Melamine Scandal Via Text Message
By 1.9.09
Twenty-two dairy companies sent out a text message to millions of Chinese consumers last week to apologize for selling tainted milk products. According to the BBC, it read, “We are deeply sorry for the harm caused to the children and the society. We sincerely apologise for that and we beg your forgiveness.”
CPSC Says Company Refuses To Recall Bassinets That Strangled Two Infants
By 8.29.08
The CPSC has issued a consumer alert, urging you to stop using Simplicity Inc.’s “close-sleeper/bedside sleeper” bassinets after two infants died after being strangled by the product’s metal bars. The company is refusing to cooperate with the CPSC and will not recall the product.
By 6.20.08
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It’s been a few weeks without a BPA story, so here goes: Four parents in Ohio have sued Evenflo, Avent America, Handicraft, Playtex Products, and Novartis for using bisphenol A in their baby products. They’re seeking class action status. [Washington Post]
Who's Got Good Service? Does Summer Infant Have Good Service? Yes, They Do! Yes, They Do!
By 6.1.08
Eric’s Summer Infant baby gate finally broke after four years of pummeling from his two hyperactive little gate crashers. When Eric called to ask about a replacement part, Summer Infant’s response caught him off guard…
TSA Won't Let Parents Bring Extra Baby Food In Anticipation Of Delays
By 2.20.08
Two Boston doctors brought, by their admission, “probably two and a half times as much as we’d need” of baby food on a recent flight from Chicago Midway Airport to Manchester, N.H. The TSA agent told them it was above the official limit and confiscated it. The parents argued that in light of record delays, winter weather, and stranded-on-the-tarmac stories, they wanted to be fully prepared. The TSA officers told them they’d need a doctor’s note to bring that much food on board—but, um, from another doctor who wasn’t one of the parents.
Glass Baby Bottles Hit The Market To Answer Concerned Parents' Fears Of Plastic
By 2.16.08
Earlier this month, several consumer groups announced that heated plastic baby bottles leach bisphenol A “in amounts that were within the range shown to cause harm in animal studies.” Now a reader writes in to tell us that companies are already starting to respond to the issue with announcements that they’ll be releasing glass bottles in addition to plastic versions.
By 12.19.07
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If you have babies visiting you this holiday season, don’t let them sleep on air mattresses, says the CPSC. They’ve received several reports of suffocation deaths because the mattresses can be too soft for infants. The same goes for waterbeds, although if you have a waterbed then you’re probably living in 1982 and this blog hasn’t been invented yet. [CPSC]
Should You Give Your Kids Probiotic Pills?
By 10.27.07
Consumer Reports asked an expert’s opinion on probiotic supplements and live culture yogurt products geared especially toward kids. There’s preliminary evidence out there that says it can help relieve infants and toddlers suffering from diarrhea caused by antibiotics or gastrointestinal illnesses. But there’s also a chance the bacteria can cause illness in infants or those with weakened immune systems.
Do Consumers Actually Participate In Recalls? (No.)
By 10.10.07
Despite all the hand-wringing on our part, we consumers don’t actually participate in recalls at a very high level. This leaves both manufacturers and the CPSC in the dark about whether their warnings are reaching the right people—which is why the House approved a bill this Tuesday that would require manufacturers of certain infant and toddler products to keep registration info on their customers.
"Parents, Don't Use Crib Bumpers" Says Study
By 9.20.07
From 1985 to 2005, crib bumpers—the soft padded things parents use to protect their little bundles of dna from injury—have caused 27 deaths and 25 injuries in babies 2-years-old or younger, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Two universities are now cautioning that crib bumpers may not be worth the risk.
Delta Dehydrates Babies To Fight Terrorism
By 8.29.06
And here’s the reason why banning liquids from flights makes people less safe, not more so: an infant from County Monaghan in Ireland dehydrated and almost died after being denied liquids on a Delta flight.
