Made in China

This whole made in China with lead thing has me a little freaked out. I'm not normally a chicken little, the sky is falling, kind of person. I don't buy organic stuff unless it happens to be on sale. I don't stress about the safety in the products we use in our home. However, having an 8 month old child has brought me a greater awareness of what I buy for him. I took a look at his bottles (made in China), his little plastic coated baby spoons (made in China), plastic bowls (made in China), etc etc. I watch him put all of his plastic toys and books in his mouth and I wonder if they have tested that product. Am I being paranoid? Maybe...but who wants to take a chance with their child?

So I went to my trusty friend, Google, and started looking for baby stuff not made in china. I guess I was naive when I expected more. I have found very very little stuff. I can switch to glass bottles, buy wooden toys, get stainless steel bowls and spoons but honestly I was pretty let down.

I know being a parent brings a heightened awareness of the danger around us. I watch the news and read toy recalls, contaminated food, baby cold medicine recalls, bassinets and cribs that are defective and I wonder how with all these federal regulations this stuff gets through. Then I think about the millions and millions of babies who are perfectly fine and use these products every day with no harm done.

I don't know the answer. I guess I will look at this new scare in China as a good thing. It brought about a new awareness and a renewed emphasis on safety. The government and toy companies will take a little closer look at what is coming into this country. A little bit of fear is a good thing. It keeps us on our guard.