Just a few days ago, we told you about an Associated Press investigation of children's jewelry and metal toys manufactured in China that revealed high levels of the toxic metal cadmium in several mass produced kids' products. In response…
In 2007, a rash of recalls of mass-produced children's toys , clothes, and jewelry, many containing lead, most of which had been cheaply manufactured in China, inspired us to create our first-ever Cool Mom Picks Safer Toy Guide . Since t…
My 4 year old daughter is very into dressing up--including the make-up. Do you know if there are safer kids' make-up products out there? Maybe I'm paranoid, but I worry about the $5 variety available at the toy store--do I need to worry …
The ordinary rubber duck received a needed makeover a few years back, when BUD luxury rubber ducks started invading bathtubs. Funky and fun, they didn't just look cool, these Australian born duckies ditched the phthalates long before any…
Well, it's officially Christmas cookie baking season . And while I now know to look out for things like peanuts and eggs, I was surprised to learn recently just how many kids have sensitivities to artificial colors and food dyes. Then I …
We tend not to post too many recalls here of brands we don't tend to cover because, ugh, there are a lot of recalls. But in this case, today's Stork Craft crib recall of 2.1 million units is the largest crib recall ever, so it seems to w…
I don't know why I've spent all this time thinking about BPA in plastics but it never once crossed my mind to look into what's in my kids' toothbrushes. (Of course our friend Jen at the Smart Mama was thinking about BPA in kids toothbrus…
Yes, I know that you can use a Sharpie to scribble kids' names on their drink cups at birthday parties. But for a more stylish option, consider the reusable drink stickers from clinQs . My favorites for kids are the colorful Happy Birthd…
When I first had a baby, I kind of thought that a baby feeding set was one of those silly, outdated keepsake gifts that sits on the shelf. As it turns out, my toddler and my four year-old still fight over the "teeny spoon." Because you k…
Food Content Alerts may have a dry name but it's not at all a dry idea -- a website and mobile app that helps you navigate the difficult and sometimes scary world of "no, he can't eat that either but thanks." I'm lucky that my kids are (…
Now's the time in the school year that moms are figuring out whether that cool lunchbox you bought for your kid actually does the trick, or whether it was more cute than functional. Luckily, I fared pretty well (thanks Cool Mom Picks - h…
When my son comes back with his Halloween haul I scour the bag for candy that I don't approve of (and want to swipe for myself). For me it's a matter of avoiding high-impact sugar infusions, but for parents of children with food allergie…
A handful of readers have written to us asking for BPA-free food storage options, and I think it's so great that there's such heightened awareness of safety issues surrounding some plastics that manufacturers are responding. Case in poin…
The first thing that struck me when I saw Cleanup Soap was how cool the shape was - graphic, and symmetrical and...wait a minute. Is that a...land mine? Indeed, these naturally scented, paraben-free soaps were created by Parsons design s…
Since the recent revelation that SIGG bottle liners contain BPA, we've been on the look out for more alternatives made of stainless steel and not aluminum, which requires a liner in the first place. There's the Safe Sporter which we've f…
Like so many of you, we were super bummed to discover last week that SIGG bottles are not BPA-free. But after a few minutes of being bummed, we had this idea: What if, instead of everyone just tossing out their bottles, we ask one of our…
It's disheartening to support a brand like SIGG for making safer, BPA-free drinking bottles for kids and adults when it turns out that nope, that wasn't the situation at all. Or as the old saying goes, "we was played." News broke this we…
I pack school lunches for my kids every day. I don't mind actually making the lunches; it's the packaging that gets me, all those little plastic bags bound for the trash, stored in a garish character tie-in lunchbox. That part is depress…
With my oldest daughter's recent transition from sippy cups to regular cups, I'm having to scrounge around for our collection of BPA-free IKEA plastic cups that tend to end up in our bath tub as play toys instead of filled with milk on o…
It seems like every week there is a new list of chemicals that I should make sure are not in my family's bath products, and frankly it gets hard for me to keep track. But Original Sprout has got worried moms covered. They have a fabulous…
When my daughter turned five last month, we decided to be completely done with any cups with a top. That's all fine and dandy when we're home, but it does make life a little difficult when we're on the road . So instead of buying stock i…
Who knew, back when we were kids that there would be a lunchbox alternative besides those little metal numbers with the latch, the wobbly handle, and, if you were me, an illustration of the Partridge Family on the front. The contemporary…
Let me start off with the disclaimer: Shea butter scares me. I have tried out any number of shea butter moisturizers for review because I hear of its miraculous benefits, and yet one leaves me feeling slimier and smellier than the next. …
Can I mention that I'm sort of freaking out about this whole packing a lunch in an actual lunch box thing, which is completely silly because it's just a lunch for goodness sake. So, I'm relying on my daughter's new Laptop Lunch box and b…