Traveling With Baby: Baby Travel Gear

We recently took our first family vacation, and because it was two weeks long, there was a lot of preparation on my part. Some things that we took were completely unnecessary and then there were others that I wish I would've thought of before hand.

The Best Baby Travel Gear

Graco Car Seat Tip!

This post is going to be no great work of litearature... I just wanted to share a small little tip about the Graco car seats!  

Many Graco car seats were recalled due to the clasp getting stuck. Our model was not one recalled, but it still was hard to undo sometimes. (And it frustrated my husband to no end!) This is no big revelation, but when I figured it out I was very pleased! :) It certainly does make it a bit easier. 

So here's the tip: Instead of pushing the button and then pulling the two straps up and out of the clasp (as we used to do), push the button and pull that piece down.  This also means that you can undo the clasp with only one hand! If you try to unclasp the buckle by pulling the straps up and out of the button piece, it requires two hands. And for us and our car seat, sometimes we had to pull pretty hard and really fight with it to get the buckle to release!

I was able to both unclasp the car seat and take a photo at the same time! Talk about multitasking! :P

Though it's not the most amazing tip ever given, hopefully it will save someone else a little grief and time. :)

Update 06.02.14:  I tweeted about my unbuckling tip, and Graco tweeted back with another tip!

@elrussell10 Thank you for the great tips, Laura. It also helps to press firmly on the small dimple located at the top of the red button.
— Graco (@GracoBaby) June 2, 2014

You can't see it in my photo, but the small "dimple" that Graco mentioned is about the size of a pin and is at the very top, under my fingernail.
I love that they replied and offered some help! :)

Recalls

So this morning I found an article about a popular toddler toy that has not been recalled despite serious safety concerns and fire hazard. After reading that, I decided to look up other worrisome toys and baby things.


First, here is the hazardous toy that has not been recalled:

Fisher Price Soothe & Glow Seahorse

The article on the fire safety concerns
The article says it is the 7th best-selling toddler toy on Amazon, but as of this writing (March 1, 2014), it is actually the 4th best-selling toddler toy on Amazon.

University of Denver electrical engineering professor Dr. David Gao investigated a toy brought to him by parents and experienced the same problems as many consumers. After putting in new batteries, "the coil began to burn. It turned bright red, smoke poured out of the compartment, and the plastic casing around it began to melt." If left burning to keep going, the battery may explode. "Dr. Gao said the burn risk isn't the only problem. He said the fumes from the melting plastic can be poisonous, and overheated batteries are dangerous, too. He believes the problem with the Soothe & Glow Seahorse is a design flaw that involves the battery coil, metal, wiring, and soldering inside the toy."

Despite at least 10 complaints being filed to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Fisher-Price refuses to issue a recall, asserting that the toy is safe. They have apparently made changes to the design - originally the toy required 3 batteries, now it only takes 2. Dr. Gao says that may help the problem, but the company should still recall the old models and replace them.


Now, onto the items that have been recalled: