Baby Products and Trends
Here’s a quick peek at what you’re apt to find:
More functional designs
Manufacturers have decided that functionality is essential to success, and they’re right. The best products are not only safe, they’re durable, user-friendly, and tailored to your busy lifestyle. You’ll find ergonomic strollers with comfort features such as cup holders for parents, built-in containers for baby wipes, and customized storage. Many products today are developed with several uses in mind: dressers that do double duty as changing tables and play yards that function as portable bassinets and changing tables.
More stylish choices
Manufacturers have upped the style ante. You’ll find products from cutesy to sophisticated, inspired by popular children’s television and movie characters, and chic lines that fit your sense of style. You’ll find all-terrain strollers in today’s hottest colors–chartreuse, periwinkle, orange, cognac and black. You’ll also find baby products sold in collections: car seats, strollers, play yards, and swings all in the same French country, camouflage, African, or nautically-inspired fabric, designed to blend in with your home dcor and satisfy the strong nesting instinct that manufacturers believe pervades today’s culture.
Greater attention to safety
Safety is a major concern among product manufacturers, and safer designs continue to evolve while new safety-related products continually are added to the mix. You’ll find an array of products — supermarket cart covers, high chair covers for restaurants, and disposable place mats — designed to keep babies safe from germs.
Overall, products marketed specifically for babies are generally safe, partly because of government regulations. They’re approved for safety or certified as meeting safety requirements mandated by federal regulations, or enforced voluntarily by manufacturers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, for example, regulates some baby equipment and oversees recalls. It enforces industry standards that apply to most product categories, as well as mandatory government standards for a few specific categories, such as cribs and clothing.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sets mandatory safety standards for the crash performance of child car seats. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates baby formula and most baby food, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture monitors baby food containing meat, poultry and eggs.
Industry groups such as the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association administers a program that certifies manufacturers that make products that meet voluntary safety standards. Consumer organizations such as Consumers Union work to refine those standards. Consumer Reports regularly tests cribs, crib mattresses, car seats, diapers, infant carriers, strollers, play yards, gates, toys, and baby monitors. They often hold products to more rigorous standards than the government requires or that manufacturers and retailers must meet to comply with voluntary industry standards. You’ll find results of their safety tests throughout their Web site.
Other children’s products may be certified by an independent laboratory as meeting safety standards, or a company may test its own product and vouch that they meet the safety standards. Those products may be just as safe as products certified under the JPMA program, but the JPMA seal is a good guide to safety for consumers–look for it on product packaging.
By: Lee Brochstein
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www.yourcouturekid.com
There’s more information on the following pages: Baby Playard – Baby Playpens – Pak-n-Play Travel Beds – Baby Play Pen – Cribs & Play Yards – Portable Baby Crib Bedding – Todays Kids Play Yard – Baby Bed & Bedding - Infant Play Yard – Eddie Bauer Play Yard.
Baby girl’s new playpen
My daughter is 6 months old and she is not quite sitting up totally on her own yet. I mean… she sits on her own but then she will randomly decide to arch her back and throw her head backwards.
Playful Playpen – droolicious
If you’re looking for a simple option that is reminiscent of the playpens of yesteryear, yet much much safer, take a look at this treasure from Sorelle, the Soft N Play Playpen. The colors are bright and cheery with cute little sun.
The Benefits of Playpen Time
Back to playpen time! What is playpen time? Babywise II describes the playpen as "an essential tool for your child’s safety and an effective aid to your child’s learning. It fosters the most basic learning skills of life: sitting, (…)
Know about Play Pens
In that case you can set up a play pen, so that the baby is engaged and you have ample time to finish your tasks. The good thing about the play pens is that you can keep an eye on the baby while working. You can also take the play pen (…)
Playpens: Timber or Plastic?
I’m in the middle of a fierce debate at work. I am a nanny, and I also work part time at a day care center. The woman who owns the center thinks that plastic playpens are the way to go; they easy to clean, (…)
Having a playpen for your baby can make a big difference in how your day goes.
You can do these things while knowing where your baby is at all times. He is safe in his playpen and you don’t have to worry about any unforeseen dangers. However, you do need to remember that the playpen is only as safe as you make it and you do need to follow some baby playpen safety tips to ensure his safety.
Baby playpens are a great help during your busy day, but don’t make a habit of leaving your baby in one for very long periods of time. They need to crawl around on the floor some and experience other types of environments.
A portable crib would be the best place for baby to sleep when you are away from home. They can be easily transported anywhere as they usually have wheels and can be easily folded into a compact size. A portable crib is usually made of wood or metal. Vertical slats may also be found on its sides.
When selecting a Portable crib, safety features should be your number one consideration. Portable cribs do not follow same safety standards as the full size cribs. As a matter of fact, the manufacturers often use same safety standards required for baby playpens. As parents, you must ensure that the portable crib you are purchasing is safe for baby.
1. Be sure that it is constructed using high grade material. The construction should be sturdy and would not sway when an adult leans on it.
Many parents only have a vague idea of all of the baby gear they’ll need for their baby. The basics include a car seat (assuming you have a vehicle), a stroller (unless you plan to wear your baby in a wrap, and even then most babies are too heavy to wear by the time they are a year old), an infant seat or high chair (somewhere to place your baby for feeding time and snack time), and a place to sleep.
Most parents will tell you that the best solution for sleeping is a crib outfitted with luxury baby bedding. A crib grows with your baby, and many convert into toddler beds and even full-sized or queen-sized beds. The crib is the queen of baby furniture, simply because it lasts so long and provides a truly safe haven for your baby.
Toddler travel beds are becoming an increasingly popular child sleep aid for parents on the go or for kids who need a little extra comfort in an unfamiliar environment.
Many parents have experienced the ease and uniqueness of having portable travel bedding in their possession. When one is filled with air, a helpful sleep aid is created for children who are traveling on vacation, visiting a friend’s house, or would like to sleep in different parts of their own home. With raised edges (similar to a lifeboat), this bedding choice makes sure a safe night of slumber awaits your little one.
To keep infants safe and secure, the Peapod Travel Bed is an inflatable mattress that offers a little extra in its design. Surrounded by a zipper pocket, the mattress is covered by a fold-down design that pops up and twists into a comforting shelter for your toddler. When placed into its compact position, the Peapod is easy to transport, as well as clean. The sleeping pad is washable and the entire unit can be used for both indoor and outdoor adventures.
As far as a bassinet goes it is up to you remember that a baby will not use this very long.