Made in China

[kep]

*I think the lounge is the most appropriate place for this post, since it doesn't specifically pertain to toys, clothes, or any one thing.*

To say that I am alarmed about all of the recent recalls on the various things made in China would be an understatement. I am annoyed, scared, angry, and confused. I am unsure of what action to take now. We have not had any items that have been on the actual recall list. Yet. I can't help but wonder if it's only a matter of time.

What lengths are you going to in order to protect your children? Are you willing to throw away all MIC toys as a precautionary measure? Never to buy MIC again? And what about clothing that is MIC? (No clothing in the US that has been MIC has been recalled as far as I know.) Cookware, dishes, food? How far do you take this?

I would love, in theory, to throw away all of our MIC toys. Most of them are absoluetly adored by both of my children, and have not been on the recall list. But they would be heartbroken, esepcially the 4 year old. And, I can't afford to go out at this time and replace them with good quality made in the USA toys. I am, however, deeply disturbed by the latest turn of events.

I am very interested in hearing what other moms & dads are doing about this. Thanks for your input!

Kelli

Proud Mommy to Lukey (2003). Weaned after 3 years of happy nursing!
And Mommy to our newest baby, Joseph, born 3 days after Christmas.

[brittone2]

nak-
there's info in Around the House about using the lead paint test kits available at Home Depot and similar. Not a perfect solution, but for now, we tested a few things I was concerned about. I've done a lot of early holiday/bday shopping for my kids this year and yes, I specifically made an effort to avoid MIC products. It isn't a guarantee, but faced with a variety of imperfect solutions, this is how we're choosing to handle it.

A poster here the other day (can't recall who it was now) said that this should be a wakeup call to consumers. Cheap doesn't equal better. More toys doesn't equal a better childhood. I couldn't agree more. Quality made toys are not inexpensive. The key IMO is buying fewer, better quality things with lasting play value, and things that are open-ended. If you try to replace each lower quality item with a more expensive, better made, Euro type toy, it becomes very, very expensive. I think the key is to buy less overall. Better for the environment, better for your wallet, better for your child's development, and I think it sends a message.

Granted, some of the MIC stuff that was recalled includes better brands (I don't think most of us ever envisioned Learning Curve having to recall their trains, especially not for the cost of those things!), and it is possible for made in the USA or made in Europe toys to be recalled as well.

I know I was somewhat conscious of focusing on USA and Euro made toys before. Now, I'm really making an effort to avoid the MIC stuff. It is time for us to cull some of the toy collection before DD's bday, Christmas, and soon after that DS's bday. I know my kids play best the fewer toys we have out. *I* have to resist the urge to buy more. So we'll be paring things down and some of the MIC stuff will be going. Not all, but the country of manufacture will be something I take into consideration. It isn't a guarantee by any stretch of the imagination, but it is the best solution for our family at this point in time.

I hope the toy manufacturers are watching boards like this closely.

[punkrockmama]

Wasn't there a post around here not long ago about an article on a family trying to live without anything made in China?

I think if I went thru my whole place and tossed all things MIC, I'd probably have a package of coffee filters, one sock, and some lint.

Look, to be honest I am not *freaking* out, and I am REALLY good at freaking out, even when I'm taking my meds.

Are the recalls scary? Yes. Am I concerned? Yes. The only one that hit us was the Thomas one. But we had those for ages, they were missing tons of paint and had bite marks all over. Both my kiddos tested fine for lead and I consider us lucky for it. We still have our other Thomas stuff.

Remember the occasional mad cow scare that happend a couple years ago? I *think* they traced the cow back to Cananda or something. But, I didn't stop eating beef during that time. There have been recent recalls of USA food (the spinach, chili sauce, a few years ago it was green onions) due to e.coli. I didn't stop going to the grocery store and buying other USA fruits and vegetables.

You can make informed decisions, you can be aware of the world around you, you can be cautious. But you can't live your life in a bubble. You can't sit round, wringing your hands about what might happen next. Your life will pass you by while you're doing that.

We have mostly wooden toys because most plastic toys annoy the crap out of me with the blinking and the sounds. I still have other plastic things, avoiding (or atleast trying to for the most part) the "most dangerous" plastics.

Anyway, that's my opinion on the whole thing.

[KBecks]

I am not freaking out either, but I am paying closer attention to what I bring into our house. I'm sure we'll still have and purchase plenty of items made in China, but I plan to buy fewer things, I'll look more for toys made in Europe or the US and toys that are not painted or metal, and probably do more with books and crafts and try to do more games without equipment.

I'm also being more mindful of the plastics concerns and plan to get glass containers for food storage. I am not going to try to be perfect (setting myself up for inevitable failure) but I will do what I can to minimize the risks I know of.

HTH,

[maestramommy]

I would be very hard pressed to find toys, clothes, and other baby gear (except my carriers) NOT made in China. Even my favorite brand, Carters, is made in China. As far as toys go, We could do spot lead testing on painted areas. My parents have advised me not to buy dried Asian food products from China, so I am trying to work with that. My mom was recently saying that some clothes she has made in China make her itch, so she's tossed them. Don't know if this is psychological (she did this after her friend told her she was experiencing skin problems) or if there is really something in the fabric.

I am really hoping that enough of a spotlight has been shed on China during the recent recalls. It may not make the Chinese govt clamp down more effectively, but perhaps it'll make the manufacturing companies think twice about who they contract out their work to, or how they want to go about safety testing. I keep coming back to toys because as it is we have very few, and almost every single one is secondhand. It would pretty easy to cull (personally I'd be surprised if Dora noticed. I sold her kitchen set to someone off Craigslist right in front of her, and she didn't even blink) our MIC toys, but I think it would be hard to come up with toys that Dora actually likes to play with that aren't MIC. At the moment she seems to dig the plastic toys that light up and make sounds when you push buttons and such. Even when we finally get our own place with a backyard, if I put a playset out there, the ones we are interested in are plastic, so most likely MIC. Dh and I would have to ask ourselves how we want to weigh the risk of something else going wrong against spending an arm and a leg on toys and play structures made elsewhere. Granted, they will probably be very well made, so I do realize you get what you pay for.