Product Safety Resource Guide

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We’ve all been there: Standing at a baby supply store lost in a world of aisles thick with strollers, car seats, high chairs, cribs, and more. Maybe it was easier for our parents to choose these items for us when we were babies – there were fewer choices a few decades ago. These days, the market is flooded with baby supplies and most mothers prioritize safety as the number one factor when choosing a product. Here is a helpful list of good, reliable, credible sites to go to in order to find out whether the product you are looking for meets your safety guidelines. Don’t forget about your childcare arrangements as well. Your childcare nanny should be made aware of any recalls and they themselves should know about the latest recalls to ensure the family’s safety.

Strollers, High Chairs, Cribs, Baby Carriers, Car Seats

A few helpful websites to help you find the safest products for the money you have to spend.

At the Consumer Reports site, you can compare car seats, strollers, high chairs, cribs, and baby carriers by brand. To see a full list of ratings, you must pay for a subscription and register with the site. To find additional free check sites for car seats, you can go to SeatCheck.org or call (866) 732-8243. Before you buy a car seat, experts also recommend checking with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall database. Four out of five car seats are improperly installed, so get your seat installation checked by professionals. Many fire and police stations offer free inspections; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website has a list of participating stations.

To find a list of safety ratings and comparitive pricing for other products, including high chairs, strollers, cribs, and baby carriers, you can visit consumer reports, as mentioned above, which charges a fee for subscription to their lists.

If you want similar information for free, try visiting Consumer Search. This website offers a search option for you to type in the product you are shopping for, and it also offers information about each product’s safety rating.

The American Academy of Pediatrics sponsors a site called HealthyChildren.org. This site has an article about car seat information 2010 as well as review guides and checklists of what to look for when choosing child-safe products such as cribs, strollers, and high chairs.

Make sure your full-time or part time nanny is aware of recalls when they occur to avoid these products.