Despite announcing the product in January, toy giant Mattel has still not released the always-on, always-listening Aristotle kid monitor that has already raised red flags among privacy advocates. Now, a bipartisan pair of U.S. legislators are asking Mattel to address what they see as serious concerns about this connected-home device that is intended to track info about your kid from birth through adolescence. [More]
kids
Child Makes Adorable Case In Favor Of Toys ‘R’ Us
By 9.27.17
The filings in bankruptcy cases, especially large and complex ones, tend to be long and not terribly exciting reading. You can find important bits of information like store closing lists and gift card policies, but what one doesn’t expect to find among thousands of pages of legal forms is a handwritten letter from a child defending a chain retailer with 866 stores. [More]
Mom Spots 2-Year-Old In Hot Car At Target, Alerts Police
By 8.31.17
Even though summer is winding down, temperatures can still be pretty hot, and it’s especially dangerous to leave children or pets behind in your car. That’s why it was fortunate that one shopper at an Ontario, CA, Target store happened to notice a small child in the backseat of a locked car in the store’s parking lot. [More]
Report: Gymboree Could Close 350 Stores, Bankruptcy May Come Next Week
By 5.5.17
Kids’ clothing chain Gymboree isn’t failing, exactly, but it’s doing business under a massive debt load. Now “people familiar with the matter” say that the chain is planning to close up to 350 of its 1,300 stores, and that its bankruptcy filing could come as soon as next week. [More]
Family Accuses Delta Employee Of Smacking 12-Year-Old’s Hand During 17-Hour Delay
By 5.3.17
Facing a long airline delay during a trip to Florida with his family, a 12-year-old from New York state did what many Americans now do: He whipped out his iPhone to film the Delta Air Lines agent explaining the issue to angry customers. That’s when, according to a lawsuit filed by the family, the Delta employee told the pre-teen that shooting the video was illegal and swatted his hand. [More]
FDA Issues New Warning On Giving Kids Codeine Or Tramadol
By 4.25.17
The Food and Drug Administration warned that cough and pain medications containing codeine or tramadol should not be given to children after reports that the drugs caused life-threatening breathing problems. [More]
Hyland’s Officially Recalls All Homeopathic Baby Teething Tablets Over High Levels Of Belladonna
By 4.14.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Even though the Food and Drug Administration warned the public in 2016 about elevated levels of belladonna, a potentially dangerous toxin, in homeopathic teething tablets produced by Hyland’s — and then confirmed this risk in January — the products remained on store shelves and in family’s medicine cabinets. Now, under pressure from the FDA, Hyland’s has officially issued a recall for all of its homeopathic teething products. [More]
Gymboree Rumored To Be Prepping For Bankruptcy, So Use Your Gift Cards Now
By 4.11.17
Do you have a Gymboree gift card, or items to return or exchange? Stop putting that shopping trip off, because there are reports that the debt-laden children’s clothing retailer and enrichment class provider might be preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy soon. [More]
Whistleblower Claims Major Baby Formula Company Used Defective Packaging
By 2.10.17
The business pages are lighting up this morning with the news that baby formula biggie Mead Johnson Nutrition — makers of Enfamil — is being bought by Reckitt Benckhiser (whose brands include baby-stopping Durex condoms) for $16.6 billion, but we’re more interested in a new whistleblower lawsuit from a former Mead Johnson executive who claims the company ignored concerns about defective packaging and fired her for trying to get the problem addressed. [More]
FDA Once Again Finds Elevated Levels Of Belladonna In Some Hyland’s Homeopathic Teething Tablets
By 1.27.17
Your infant is in pain from sore gums, and you want to do something to ease that pain, so maybe you consider a homeopathic treatment, with its heavily diluted active ingredients. What you may not know is that this seemingly innocuous teething tablet might contain unsafe levels of potentially dangerous belladonna. [More]
Pricey Wearable Baby Monitors May Be Better At Giving Parents Anxiety Than Monitoring Babies
By 1.24.17 — Updated: 1.25.17
Raising a baby can be pretty nerve-wracking, especially for first-time parents. Babies make weird sounds, do bizarre things, and can’t describe when something’s actually wrong. Meanwhile, it’s 2017 and our solution to basically every old problem is: “Have you tried throwing new technology at it?” [More]
Parents Report Finding “Sophie The Giraffe” Toys Filled With Mold
By 1.16.17
Except for certain cheeses, you wouldn’t sit around and gnaw on something full of mold, and you wouldn’t want your child to do so, either. That’s why parents were horrified to see photos online of familiar Sophie the Giraffe toys full of mold. Mold! [More]
Tips For Keeping Your Kids Safe And Yourself Sane While Traveling For The Holidays
By 12.15.16
While you might now be a pro at traveling with kids for the holidays, remember that every year there are millions of new families making that trip with a toddler for the first time. So rather than scowl with derision at the parents trying to quiet their crying kid, let’s use this moment to share some tips that will help keep the young ones safe while protecting parents’ sanity. [More]
Court Overturns Federal Ban On Potentially Dangerous, High-Power Magnet Toys, Gadgets
By 11.23.16
Not that long ago, lots of us were going out on Black Friday weekend and buying Buckyballs or some other stocking stuffer that used tiny high-powered magnetic spheres. Then we learned that these doodads can do an awful lot of damage if swallowed. Since 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has been recalling these products and filing lawsuits against the companies that continue to make these potentially dangerous items. The CPSC even created a new safety standard that effectively bans the remaining magnetic products, but this week a federal appeals court overturned that rule. [More]
Amazon Must Issue Refunds, Not Gift Cards, To Parents Unfairly Billed For Kids’ In-App Purchases
By 11.11.16
Back in April, a federal court ruled that Amazon had not done enough to alert Kindle Fire owners — and users of Amazon’s Android appstore — that “Free” apps could still allow kids to make costly in-app transactions, but the ruling left unresolved exactly how much Amazon would need to pay to make customers whole again. Yesterday, the judge in the case determined that wronged Amazon customers must need to actively claim their refund, and that Amazon could not pay the refund in site credit or gift cards. [More]
Opioid Poisonings In Toddlers & Teens Tripled Over 15-Year Period
By 10.31.16
We’ve already seen how the opioid epidemic has spread like wildfire in the U.S. since the late ’90s, but a new study shows how children of every age group are increasingly being exposed (and exposing themselves) to dangerous levels of these painkillers. [More]
One Airline Now Offers Kid-Free “Quiet Zones” On Flights
By 10.24.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
For years airlines have toyed with the idea of separating sometimes fussy, loud children from adults on flights, either through flying nanny services or the ever-popular, but seldom instituted “kid-free zones.” Now, one airline is taking the plunge, offering separate “quiet zones” where passengers under the age of 12 aren’t allowed to sit. [More]
