Summer Infant Presents Baby Product as Organic, but Fills with Poison

New Moms Beware! Creating a toxin-free environment is one of the best things you can do for a newborn. It is also one of the most difficult. Now, 21st-century Moms must not only learn how to take care of her baby, she also must become part scientist, part detective and may end up needing a psychiatrist!

My daughter has spent untold hours online researching baby products in an effort to find organic, chemical-free substitutes for the baby items standardly sold in stores. IT'S NOT EASY - and everything is more expensive. She placed her baby registries online with Buy Buy Baby and Amazon organic baby. The selection is very limited - virtually nothing is available in regular retail stores. Family and friends did their best to order online, but when she opened the Natures Purest Playard, she broke down in tears - why? Because Summer Infant, the manufacturer, touted this item as organic, but lied about the materials used in this product. The baby mattress is made with POLYURETHANE! How dangerous is polyurethane to your baby? Read from this report in the journal, Archives of Environmental Health:

"...For example, some crib mattresses are constructed of polyurethane foam enclosed in vinyl covers. These plastic products are made by combining highly toxic chemicals together to form the final material. During the sleep process, the child's every breath pulls in air that is literally inches away from the petroleum chemical materials used in the manufacturing of the bed itself. This process begins at birth and continues day after day during the child's critical development periods. With each breath, these chemical molecules are pulled across the child's airways and then transferred to the blood from deep within the lungs..." . Read full report at: http://www.chem-tox.com/beds/frame-beds.htm

Summer Infant, however, has done a good job of CYA.

All of Summer Infant's advertising concentrates on the Natures Purest Collection. Natures Purest, a company based in the United Kingdom, has a superb line of organic cotton baby products. They are USDA certified organic.

Unfortunately, Natures Purest did not make the mattress.

In fact, the mattress is not even mentioned in any of Summer Infant's product descriptions.

Summer Infant is lying to consumers and has absolutely no concern at all for your baby. A lie is a lie whether you say it or hide it -- and Summer Infant hid the fact that the mattress included in the Natures Purest Playard is pure poison.

It's been many months since I've posted thoughts here, but that's not to say I haven't had any thoughts! So much has happened -- I moved to north Jersey, Andover, up in Sussex County. I found a job, worked my &%# off for four months and then was laid off. Such is life. But still "life is good" -- I'm going to be a grandmother in one short month, which is the best thing that has happened in my life since my daughter was born. This is why I moved from the Jersey shore up to the mountains and farmlands of northern N.J. This is where I belong.

Yes, this is where I belong, despite the fact that I no longer have a place for my garden. I now live in a condo, on the second floor, with no discernable yard space. Since I had been planning to move, I replanted most of my perennials in pots and brought them with me. They looked very nice arranged outside my front door and along the side of the building, but wait. I forgot about the deer.

My herbs, for the most part, were safe, but the Bee Balm and Black-Eyed Susans were demolished. Score 1 for the deer, but I was determined to have a garden. So I found tomato fencing and chicken wire -- started my vegetable seeds inside -- trimmed some of the bushes in front to make room for more plants -- Success! It's not exactly the kind of garden I'm used to growing. It's a lot smaller, but I have pole beans, cucumbers and even a pumpkin plant growing beautifully behind the fencing. Now I just hope the deer don't discover how easy it is to push the fencing over!