4 Safe Swaps for Dangerous Baby Products

There are so many things to consider when you bring a new baby into the world. I was so scared I would trip on air and drop our newborn on the ground for the longest time. It’s important to vet the products you get for your baby because technology, standards, and science are making huge advancements yearly! 

That baby lounger your mom loved for you 30 years ago, probably isn't a safe option for your child now. When our oldest was born we used a rock n’ play to set him down and frequently nap in. By the time our second was born, 2 years later, that product was on recall due to baby’s suffocating! You can truly never be too cautious. 

Here’s 4 products to beware of:

1. Infant Loungers: Much like the Rock N’ Play I used with my oldest, infant loungers are pillowy on the sides and can cause suffocation! They look cute, but don’t be fooled! Safety experts recommend “putting their babies down to play in products that carry mandatory safety rules, like bouncers, and ensuring that they nap only in approved products for sleep such as a play yard, crib, or bassinet.”
2. Otteroo Neck Floats: If you are wanting to take your little one to the pool in their first few months, do NOT use an Otteroo Neck Float. There have been dozens of reports where babies heads will suddenly slip through the float. Instead, use a waterproof baby carrier, hold your baby, or simply avoid large bodies of water until they are a little bigger.
3. Weighted Sleep Sacks: Any weight added to a tiny baby can be dangerous. It can inhibit breathing or prevent them from getting out of an unsafe sleeping position. Instead, use a cotton, bamboo, or muslim sleepsack to make sure baby is always safe!
4. Pacifier Clips: Most clips are made with wooden or silicone beads that are non-toxic, Phthalate & BPA-Free. This sounds great, but the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission says “that toys or products with small parts present a choking hazard to children under the age of three. A “small part” can be a whole or piece of a toy or article that “fits completely into a specially designed test cylinder 2.25 inches long by 1.25 inches wide that approximates the size of the fully expanded throat of a child under three years old.” The beads on pacifier clips are usually smaller than 1 inch. 

Not only are pacifier clips a choking hazard, but they are also a strangulation hazard. Always monitor your child when they are wearing a pacifier clip! Use at your own comfort and consider attaching to areas of the clothing far away from their throats (but also close enough it reaches their mouth). 

Instead, your baby should use the Ingy Bingy Band. The Ingy Bingy Band is a pacifier wristband that works with any type of newborn pacifier. Infant pacifiers easily attach and detach to the buttery soft pacifier wristband! This pacifier wristband velcros around baby’s wrist to help them self-soothe from as early as 4 months!  

Pacifier clips help eliminate the frustration of searching for pacifiers all over because you at least know where it fell to, but babies still cannot get the pacifier into their mouth on their own! The Ingy Bingy Band, a pacifier bracelet saves you time and frustration because you won’t be constantly looking for it and cleaning it when the newborn pacifier keeps falling out!