Toys, Toys, Toys!

Being a mom I know a little bit about toys. I know they are always on my floor and under my feet to trip over and always in my sons mouth. With that in mind I took special interest in recent reports that there are many toys available with lead paint on them.


Lead can be especially dangerous to small children because lead attacks the brain and central nervous system. Children with even modest elevations of blood lead levels can exhibit attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities and developmental delays. This made me think about the things I give my child to play with. To date most of the things that have been a lead concern have been plastic toys. I currently have a love hate relationship with plastic as it is. I try to eliminate the "bad" plastics from my home but as budget allows I would like to rid my home of most of its plastic.


While the jury is still out on whether or not BPA (bisphenol A- a chemical that leaches from plastic baby bottles, food/beverage cans, and many other products) is harmful I believe that anything coming directly from oil has to be at some point toxic. They note that BPA acts like the sex hormone estrogen -- indeed, BPA was originally developed as a chemical estrogen. These researchers worry that BPA is behind hormone-linked trends in human health such as increased abnormal penis development in males, earlier sexual development in females, increases in neurodevelopmental diseases such as ADHD and autism, increased child obesity, decreased sperm count, and more breast and prostate cancers.


I personally don't want my child exposed to artificial hormones or other chemicals. That is why I buy mostly organic meat (mostly cause sometimes Zack shops and I can't control all of his purchases) dairy and especially milk. We as parents try to the best for our children. Its the little things like their toys that should be the least of our worries but unfortunately they aren't.


Recently, there was a baby/ child resale event where you can sell all your outgrown clothes and toys and buy "new" ones from other people. I love these events! This time I got rid of most of Grayson's toys. Pretty much anything plastic met its demise. (Leap frog, Playschool, Tonka, Little tykes were all safe) And when I shopped I looked for wooden toys and more educational toys.


Which brings me to my point (long time getting there I know- sorry) I found these two great sites www.rosiehippo.com and www.magiccabin.com that I am going to start buying more of G's toys from. Grayson would ideally not receive any more plastic as gift either but alas I cannot control others choices. (hint hint) Happy shopping friends.