Sep
22
Partial Tylenol Recall
Filed Under Product Recalls | 2 Comments
Tylenol is issuing a “warehouse recall” on several different types of Infant and Children’s Tylenol due to a contamination. According to the folks at Babble, the drug is still safe, but you may want to call and find out if your bottle is part of the recall:
The best news? The drug is safe. It’s a voluntary recall, which according to NY Pediatrician Dr. Seth Gordon came because “examination of bulk raw material detected that one of the inactive ingredients contained gram-negative bacteria Burkholderia cepacia (B. cepacia). The portion of raw material in which the bacteria was found was isolated and was not used in the production of any finished product.”
You can read all of the details of the recall over at babble or check for your recalled items on Tylenol.com
Sep
15
Is your cell phone safe?
Filed Under Articles | 5 Comments
Remember when we were kids, phones were attached to the wall? You generally had one line for the whole house to share, and you had to practically cut the lines so your sister would let you use the phone already! Now we live in a day in age where just about everyone has a mobile phone. I have to admit, while it’s a bit pretentious and ridiculous to see these young kids with cell phones these days (and there are emergency only options), it’s a great way to keep track of your kids.
But, there’s the whole debate on whether or not your mobile phone is emitting radiation, and with phones being given to younger and younger kids, it begs the question. Is your phone safe? Think about it. Their generation has no idea that we actually had to share a phone with a rotary dial. They will never know life without a cell phone.
One of our favorite organizations, The EWG has put together a great guide on the best (and worst) cell phones, ranked by the amount of radiation emits. Sadly, my beloved iPhone is one of the highest emitting phones (of course it is). You can look up your current phone as well as find the best options for your family. Not eligible for an upgrade yet? EWG has also put together some great tips to reduce your exposure:
- Use a headset or speaker phone
- hold phone away from your body
- choose texting over talking
Read all 8 tips on reducing your exposure over at Environmental Working Group as well as much more information on the risks of children using mobile phones.
Sep
14
Rocky Mountain Soap Company (Review & Giveaway)
Filed Under Giveaways Coupons, Product Reviews, Skin Care | 76 Comments
As I get more particular about what products touch my kids skin, the less options I seem to find myself faced with. However, serendipitously I was contacted by Rocky Mountain Soap Company because a few of our wonderful readers contacted them asking if we’ve reviewed their products. You have been holding out on me folks! I was so thrilled to find their products were 100% natural using only essential oils and natural healing ingredients like vitamin E to help us moisturize and soften safely! Now, I have to say there was one product they sent me to try that I absolutely fell head over heels in love with which was their Tiny Tot Foaming Wash.
It works as both a shampoo and a body wash, and comes in a self foaming pump which makes bathing wiggly kids a little easier. It has a light chamomile scent and cleans great… even those grubby preschoolers will be squeaky clean after using it. You get a pretty big bottle – even after using it daily for the last 2 weeks I’ve only really begun to put a dent in it. There are no harsh ingredients or preservatives so they get a hearty thumbs up from SafeMama.com.
I tried out some of their fantastic Body Butter in Unscented which is designed for Eczema sufferers, but the ingredients lend themselves to moisturize just about any skin type. All their Body Butters come in tidy push up package that is totally recyclable. I kept in on my nightstand and used it to soften feet, elbows and especially knuckles due to the obsessive hand washing I’ve been doing lately.
I was also lucky enough to get a sample of their Baby Body Butter! Luckily my new little one has been blessed with perfect skin, no rough spots on that kid. So honestly I swiped it for myself. But after using it a few times (I love the scent) I think this would be the perfect thing for their little dry patches when they pop up. This one is a bit softer than the others so it makes applying easier. They recommend rubbing it on your arm first to warm it up.
Rocky Mountain Soap Company has tons of great products from skin care to aromatherapy and even deodorant (which I’m curious to test out!). They even carry hand soaps for those of you looking for a safe hand soap to keep near the skin. We get that question a lot! Rocky Mountain is a great place to start if you’re looking to replace a product with something safer and natural… here you don’t have to worry about hidden ingredients. They display ingredients lists for every product and you won’t find anything icky listed there. Thanks Rocky Mountain!
Giveaway!
Rocky Mountain provided us with some yummy products to give to our readers so we’ll be giving away some products here on SafeMama and some over on LovelyMama in the next day or so. But right here and now we’re giving away:
- A Baby Gift Set – This includes a full size Baby Body Butter, a bar of their delicious Baby Bear Soap and a cute little bath toy.
- Belly Body Butter – A grapefruit, lavender and rosewood scented full size butter to help keep your skin supple!
Contest Closed! Congrats Sarah!
Leave a comment on this entry after visiting RockyMountainSoap.com letting us know what products you’d like to try out!
For Extra Entries (please leave a comment for each extra task so we can count your extra entries):
- Follow us on Twitter (@safemama)
- Join our Facebook Group
- Tweet about the giveaway! (Example: @safemama Win bath goodies from Rocky Mountain Soap on SafeMama.com – http://tinyurl.com/oln6rz )
- Add our button to your website or blog
One winner will be selected at random. Entries will be accepted until midnight EST on September 18, 2009. Open to US residents. Good luck!
Sep
9
Do Lavender & Tea Tree Oils Mimic Hormones?
Filed Under Skin Care | Comments Off
I had heard a while ago that both lavender and tea tree oils can be estrogenic and cause breast tissue to develop in young boys. An article floated around about a study done in the New England Journal of Medicine regarding a case of 3 boys who developed gynecomastia and apparently all had one thing in common: They all used bath products containing lavender and tea tree. Our favorite ingredients expert Stephanie gives us a fair look at this one (and apparently only) study conducted.
From Stephanie’s Bubble & Bee Blog:
“…what other estrogen mimickers were present in these products used on the young boys? Parabens? Phthalates? The ingredients are not documented and could be a number of things–even from using bottles made with BPA.
But what about the laboratory tests they did on petri dishes of human cells? If you look carefully at their study, you’ll notice they didn’t apply pure lavender or tea tree essential oil on the cells they were testing, they used a solvent to dilute the oils. The solvent is dimethylsulfoxide—which, as it turns out, is an estrogen mimicker! (as documented here.)”
Just like with evidence on any ingredient, there is always two sides to the argument and usually you can’t just take the word of one study. My personal stance on the use of lavender and tea tree is that it’s perfectly safe – or at least a FAR safer choice than something containing chemicals that may or may not be contaminated with carcinogens. The evidence showing phthalates or BPA to mimic estrogen is stacked much higher than one unusual report.
But if you’re concerned about these or any ingredient just use your head and don’t use a ton of it! There are an abundance of baby products containing lavender since its a calming pleasant safe oil, but its not the only option. I’ve found tons of baby products that are unscented or use citrus or chamomile and work just as well. A little lavender here and there isn’t going to make your baby grow breasts but following the “moderation” rule (less is more!) with ALL skin care is best.
Thank you Stephanie for addressing that issue!
Sep
8
BlackBerry Visor Mount Speakerphone
Filed Under Car Safety, Giveaways Coupons, Product Reviews | 40 Comments
I don’t normally post electronics to SafeMama™ but this one I decided to review because one of my biggest pet peeves of drivers is people who talk on their phones and drive at the same time… not that I don’t expect anyone to ever do it, it’s just that so many people are BAD at it. My husband is guilty of it and I ream him about it often. With kids in the car it’s just plain dangerous (in fact SafeMama recommends not talking on the phone at all while you’re driving) and now that we’re all shuffling the kids to school and activities (and the Pediatrician) we’re bound to need the phone enroute to somewhere. BlackBerry sent us their new Visor Mount Speakerphone to test out. I handed it over to my husband who is the resident BlackBerry user in this house and he went to work checking it out.
The device consists of the Visor Mounted speaker which is pretty slick looking, as most BlackBerry products are, and it slips nicely on to most standard visors with a wire clip. Once you set up your BlueTooth on your phone (it’ll work with any BlueTooth enabled phone) you can enjoy hands free conversations without having to hold on to your phone. The calls come in clear and you don’t need to shout to be heard. The people we called to test it out weren’t aware of our hands free device… it’s was mostly undetectable.
You can answer calls with one touch and receive verbal caller IDs. The Visor Mount Speakerphone also can stream music from your BlackBerry over the car stereo! Sweet! Get your own at ShopBlackBerry.com.
Giveaway!!! Win One!
Win one of your very own BlackBerry Visor Mount Speakerphones! One lucky reader will take one home… just in time for the school year.
To Enter:
Leave a comment on this entry after visiting ShopBlackBerry.com letting us know what BlackBerry accessory might be useful to you!
For Extra Entries (please leave a comment for each extra task so we can count your extra entries):
- Follow us on Twitter (@safemama)
- Join our Facebook Group
- Tweet about the giveaway! (Example: @safemama Win a BlackBerry Visor Mount Speakerphone on SafeMama.com – http://tinyurl.com/mk98vd )
- Add our button to your website or blog
One winner will be selected at random. Entries will be accepted until midnight EST on September 26, 2009. Good luck! Giveaway Closed. Congratulations Erin!
Sep
4
Review: Bumboosa Wipes
Filed Under Product Safety | 3 Comments
I have to admit, since having my daughter, I’ve been a bit lazy (read: frazzled and learning to balance life and being a mom of two) about using the cloth wipes, like I was using for my son. I don’t like that I’m using more of my share of disposable diapers and wipes these days, but right now, getting through a day unscathed is my ultimate goal.
So, I’m glad that there’s another bamboo wipe option out there for me to take advantage of, making me feel less guilty about my impact on the environment.
Enter Bumboosa. Bumboosa wipes are great because they’re made of bamboo, which is is not only naturally sustainable, but the wipes themselves are biodegradable. No trees are harmed in the making of these wipes. They’re soft, with a nice orange smell to them and they don’t seem to dry out the way regular wipes do. I mean, yes, they dry out, but it seems to be a slower process. This is nice, because do you know how many times I’ve left half a wipe hanging out of the package?
Overall, they’re not a bad wipe, but if I to make a short wish list of things I’d like to see in these wipes, it would be:
A slightly bigger and thicker wipe. Kids make big messes. My daughter saves up the poop and then unleashes it in one diaper, resulting in me using practically an entire package of wipes. Sustainable or not, I don’t want to use a package of wipes every time I see the tell tale signs of the arrival of a dirty diaper.
A little less fragrant: This is just a personal choice. They don’t smell bad, but the smell is strong.
Get it: You can order Bumboosa by the case at Amazon.com.
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