September is Baby Safety Month!

Did you know that September is Baby Safety Month? Underwriters Laboratories (UL), an independent product safety certification organization, is asking parents and caregivers this month to take a minute to learn some valuable at-home safety tips to keep your babies safe and sound at home!

Will you accept UL's challenge to commit to learning its top 10 babyproofing tips? UL cited the alarming statistic that over 2.5 million children are injured in their homes every year, so help keep your babies and children safe by checking out the this very informative article on the website, Baby Zone.

Sleep Positioners- Read This Warning

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are urging parents and caregivers to stop using sleep positioners.

A sleep positioner is a product used to keep babies on their backs while sleeping. These products are marketed as an aid to help with food digestion and reflux, ease colic, and prevent flat head syndrome. Sleep positioners are also marketed as a way to help reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death syndrome (SIDS) by keeping babies on their backs.

There have been more than 12 reports over the past 13 years of infants (between the ages of one and four months old) who have died when they suffocated in a sleep positioner. In some of these instances, the babies died when they became trapped between the sleep positioner and the side of the crib or bassinet.

"In most instances, these products provide no real benefit and the risk of harm when they are used is significantly greater," said FDA deputy commissioner Joshua Sharfstein.

Parents need to remember that the safest way to put a baby to sleep in a crib is for the crib to only have a mattress and a tight-fitting sheet. Also, babies should always be placed on their backs.

According to these organizations, parents should stop using sleep positioners or any device to hold an infant on his or her back or side for sleep. These are unnecessary and can pose a suffocation risk to your baby.

For more information on the CPSC and the FDA’s warning, please click here.

We at Pure and Honest Kids like to try to stay abreast on safety issues involving children's products. As we continue to learn more about this issue, we will share it with our readers.

Car Safety- When Can Your Child Ride in the Front Seat of a Car

A sad but true fact: Car crashes are the number one cause of death and serious injury for children. To keep our kids as safe as possible in cars, have them ride in the backseat of the car for as long as possible. Why you ask? Riding in the front simply isn’t as safe as riding in the back.

According to http://www.car-safety.org/, children 12 and under should ride in the backseat of a car, but many passenger safety organizations recommend going even further by keeping your child in the backseat until your child is ready to get their drivers license.

Check out these statistics from BabyCenter about car safety:

- Buckling a child into the backseat instead of the front reduces by a third his risk of death in a collision.

- In a head-on crash (the most common and deadly type of collision), a child in the front seat is more likely to be thrown into your car's dashboard or through the windshield.

- Even if your child is properly buckled in, he's at much greater risk for being harmed by objects intruding into the car in the front than in the back.

- In cars with passenger air bags (which includes most newer models), the air bags deploy with such force that they can cause severe head and neck injuries to a child. Nationwide, more than a hundred children have been killed by air bags in recent years, and many of these deaths were in slow-speed collisions that should have been minor.

Not convinced yet? Read this editorial on MSN. I don’t know about you, but my kids will stay in the back for years and years to come.

Important Safety Messages Regarding Slings

Due to recent press about the Consumer Product Safety Commission's investigation about three infant deaths last year associated with sling-style infant carriers, we wanted to share with our customers the following information from companies whose slings we carry at Pure and Honest Kids.

Both Serena & Lily and ERGOBaby wish to let our customers know that babywearing is very beneficial for nurturing infants and for the emotional development of babies and toddlers. However, it is imperative for parents to follow all safety instructions and to use correct positioning when babywearing.

Both Serena & Lily and ERGOBaby ensure its compliance with safety regulations for all of their products.

For more safety information from Serena & Lily, please click on the following link, and then select the Important Safety Warning link.

For more safety information from ERGOBaby, please click here.

Your child's safety is our number one priority at Pure and Honest Kids. We will report any findings we discover on all safety issues regarding children and the products they use.

An Ounce of Prevention…

With the number of people contracting the H1N1 flu on the rise and with the seasonal flu season looming just around the corner, most moms are thinking of ways to keep their kids healthy and how to keep germs at bay. Pure and Honest Kids want to help you do just that with these really great products designed to help guard against germs.

Tuffet Too Shopping Cart Cover
$64.00
Because it's a nasty world out there! This is the perfect solution for those yucky, dirty and germy shopping cart seats! The Tuffet Too is a super–cute, shopping cart seat cover made from top quality fabrics and wonderfully yummy trims. With its own safety strap and buckle, just pop it in the cart and you're ready to shop! So strap your little babycakes in and shop the day away! Makes a great addition to the Pure & Honest GiftList! Comes in Baby Stripe and Pink Chocolate.

Designer Diner
$22.00
Make mealtime fun with a Designer Diner! This funky, wipe clean placemat reverses to a reusable chalk mat for the perfect mix of fun and functionality! Think of it as a portable imagination station for your budding little artist and a traveling table for your little eater! Measures 18"x11" and includes a 12 piece box of non-toxic colored chalk and detachable chalk pouch. Check out all four designs available at Pure and Honest Kids here.

Bella Tunno Pacifier Clip
$8.00
Fashionable yet so functional, these stylish paci holders make a child and mom's life easier by keeping binkies clean and close at hand. Safety tested pacifier holders are 7/8 inch wide and 10 inches long. To check out all the designs offered of Bella Tunno Pacifier Clips, click here.

The Tuffet High Chair Cover
$52.99
Get this gear! The Tuffet is the absolute perfect solution for those yucky and dirty restaurant highchairs that you just hate to put your little one in. This super–cute, high chair cover is made from top quality fabrics and wonderful trims and easily reverses to show two beautiful patterns. It's simple to use, just strap your little one in using the existing high chair safety strap and enjoy an eating out experience that's a little less germy. Makes a great addition to your Pure & Honest GiftList! The high chair covers come in Baby Stripe and Paisley Punch.

Gentle Clean Cleansing Towelettes
$12.00
Gentle, soft & luxurious, these cleansing towelettes are a must-have for any new Mom! Keep baby clean from nose to toes with these soft, luxurious cleansing towelettes are effective enough to use nose to toes yet gentle enough to use even on irritated or sensitive skin. An alcohol-free blend of marine silk, vitamins E and B5, organic aloe and comfrey provides moisturizing and antioxidant benefits, while ginger and chamomile soothe and calm irritation. Baby’s skin on both sets of cheeks will be squeaky clean and silky soft! Contains 72 towelettes.

- Contains no phthalates, lanolin, mineral oil, petroleum, waxes, wheat or gluten
- Clinically tested & hypoallergenic
- Made in the USA
- No animal testing

Halloween Costume Tips- What Parents Should Look For!

The haunted holiday known as Halloween is right around the corner! If you and your little ones have not chosen the perfect Halloween costume yet, here are some costume buying tips from Pure and Honest Kids!

• Choose costumes that are brightly colored so your children will be easily seen on Halloween night. If your child wants to dress up as something that requires dark clothing, be sure to use reflective tape somewhere on the costume so your little ghoul doesn’t blend in with the night too much!

• Check to see if your child’s costume is fire resistant. Remember you will most likely be walking by jack-o-lanterns lit up by candles, and you don’t want a cape or a long, flowing dress to catch fire while trick-or-treating.

• Make sure your child’s costume is not too long or too cumbersome. You don’t want a long princess dress or dragon tail to trip your child or anyone else!

• Comfortable footwear is essential to a successful trick-or-treat experience. You don’t want your children to fall or twist their ankles when climbing up and down your neighbors’ steps. Your little Cinderella may want to wear the dainty glass slippers, but your princess may not make it to trick-or-treat at many houses without some comfortable shoes!

• If your child’s costume requires a mask, make sure it fits properly. You do not want the mask to impair their vision or be too tight, causing lightheadedness or dizziness.

• Dress for the weather. If it is going to be a cool night, make sure your child layers and wears a long sleeve shirt under the costume or wears a coat on top of the costume. If it is going to be hot, make sure a heavy costume, such as a gorilla, has proper ventilation and breathability.

Happy Halloween from Pure and Honest Kids! We hope it is a fun and safe night for you and your kids!