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Secondhand Safety
Janelle Sorensen
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Mothers-to-be are often flooded with hand-me-down baby gear coming from in-laws, neighbors and friends. These items are better for your bank account, better for the planet, and have generally off-gassed harmful VOCs (that “new” smell). But are they always the safest option?
The March 2009 issue of ShopSmart, from the publisher of Consumer Reports, is placing pre-used cribs, toys, clothing and more under the microscope so you know when you can gratefully say yes and when you should gracefully say no thanks.
Here are their tips to spot unsafe hand-me-downs with some additional recommendations from Healthy Child:
Bath Products:
Safe: Used baby bathtubs are fine as long as the lining isn’t full of mold or mildew.
Not Safe: If the tub has an odor of either of these, say no thanks because they can be hard to remove. Also, skip secondhand bath seats, bath rings, and inflatable tubs since they have been responsible for many deaths among babies.
Healthy Child Recommendation: In addition to mold and mildew, look for scratches or other signs of wear and tear in the plastic. Old plastics are more apt to leach chemicals and the scratches can also harbor for bacteria.
Car Seats:
Safe: A car seat that has all its original parts and labels, has never been in a crash, and fits your car and child is OK.
Not Safe: Products more than six years old are outdated, and most likely too run down to be considered safe.
Healthy Child Recommendation: It is dangerous (and illegal in some states) to reuse a car seat that has been in an accident. Only accept a hand-me-down from someone you trust. Don’t ever buy one from a yard sale or thrift store.
Cribs:
Safe: Any crib that was manufactured after the year 2000 should be fine, as long as it is not broken or missing any pieces.
Not Safe: Prior to 2000, cribs were held to different safety standards, and will not be acceptable for your baby, even if you slept soundly in them. Any crib with cutouts in the headboard, and corner posts over sixteen inches pose serious risks for a child’s safety.
Healthy Child Recommendation: Use the money you saved on the crib for a nice organic mattress (or at least an organic mattress cover). Your baby will spend most of her daily hours with her face nestled into her mattress. Make it a healthy one.
High Chairs:
Safe: Say yes to a hand-me-down high chair if it has a five-point harness to prevent your child from climbing out and a fixed crotch post that prevents him/her from sliding out the bottom.
Not Safe: Old-fashioned wooden high chairs with removable trays or arms are considered dangerous and uncomfortable for the baby, in addition to not being up to newer product safety standards.
Strollers:
Safe: Strollers made after 2007 when new safety standard were published are safe.
Not Safe: Any stroller made prior to that date, or has missing, loose, or broken
pieces is not.
Healthy Child Recommendation: Accept the stroller, but ditch the PVC rain guard.
Toys:
Safe: Stuffed animals and most children’s books make fine hand-me-downs. In the case of lead in used toys, there are many home lead inspection kits which can be purchased for under twenty dollars which will tell you whether the toys have surface lead contamination.
Unsafe: Avoid any toys that are chipped, as well as any small parts that can fit through a tube of toilet paper, since they present serious choking hazards for small children.
Healthy Child Recommendation: Toss stuffed animals in a dryer on high heat or in a freezer for 48 hours to kill any dust mites (especially if your child has dust allergies or asthma). Make sure books don’t smell moldy. Politely decline plastic toys (especially if they are worn or if they are made from PVC (#3), PC (#7) or an unknown plastic).
Used Clothing:
Safe: As long as buttons and snaps are on tight and none of the thread is unraveling from the fabric, the used clothing is fine.
Unsafe: Don't accept any article of clothing with drawstrings because they pose a strangulation hazard.
Healthy Child Recommendation: Recently, many children developed rashes and skin burns from children’s tag-less clothing. Watch for these items and monitor your child for any reactions.
Clean your “new” treasures using mild (but still effective) disinfectants and other safer solutions.
Posted by dani on 02/04 at 09:20 AM
While you did mention a car seats lifespan, you didn’t mention that that if you turn a car seat upside down, on the back it will list the expiration date.
Posted by laura on 02/05 at 01:02 PM
I see that HC recommends that a car seat is no good after 6 years and someone above mentions 5 years. My son’s car seat is a little over 5 years old and I was planning to use for our new baby coming soon. I have looked at the stores and the safety features, etc look identical to the seat I have. I have taken good care of it and thought it was in great condition. Now I am concerned about using it.
Anyone have info that could help? I looked yesterday online and didn’t find anything good one way or another.
Thanks!
Posted by Janelle on 02/05 at 01:59 PM
Thanks for your responses!
These guidelines are simply that, guidelines. Use your own best judgement about items that you have a personal history with (like using the same stroller or high chair for siblings). I think you need to take more precautions with items from thrift stores and yard sales.
Regarding car seats, as Dani mentions, the manufacturer should have information about the seat’s safety. Also, the Amercian Academy of Pediatrics has great info about child seats (both new and used). Check it out at:
http://www.aap.org/family/Carseatguide.htm
Posted by Anonymous on 03/12 at 04:41 AM
I fully agree that you should just use your own judgment to determine whether these second hand baby items are usable. After all, they are not perishable goods and I wouldn’t be too hysterical about their manufacturing or expiration date. As long as they are in good condition and still strong structurally, I would continue to use them.
Posted by Reverse Phone Lookup on 05/14 at 03:11 AM
I always like to read something like this. That is usually a bit hard to find valuable information on the internet. And I found your post using Yahoo and I can say I the time spent was worth reading.
Posted by Reverse Phone Lookup on 07/03 at 04:46 PM
It’s about time that attention is given to the subject of protecting our kids. Well done blog in that regard.
Posted by Janessa on 08/14 at 07:37 PM
The Aveeno Baby lavender and vanilla calming comfort bath has a safety warning that states, “keep this product out of reach of children. Do not use without consulting a doctor if child has asthma or allergies or if there is a family history of either. Serious breathing problems could occur.”
Posted by Piles Treatment on 11/19 at 09:33 AM
Thanks so much for posting this! As a mom of two, both surprises, this was a major area of concern for me. Unfortunately, I had to do some serious digging to find the information and I had a TON of relatives wanting to give me absolutely everything. It was hard some days to gracefully say “No thanks”.
Two things I found can help with the social situation. The first is to accept the thing in question with a smile and ease it out the door later on. That works particularly well with worn plastic toys, stuffed animals and clothes. You can always say “I’m sorry, you know how hard kids are on stuff.”
The other tactic is for things like old fashioned wooden high chairs and other “heirloom” things. They are probably beautiful, or could be beautiful if someone paid a little attention to them, so keep them for their beauty and away from the kids. And explain it just like that if asked.
Posted by TRM on 01/29 at 02:39 PM
Thanks for posting this - I’d been wondering about the safety issue of secondhand baby items, especially toys. It’s a shame, though, that most baby gear is essentially rendered disposable by safety regulations. Car seats are only designed to be used for 5 years or so? Strollers just over a year old should be discarded? My son was born in 2007 and it sounds like some of his gear won’t be safe for use for his siblings, even.