Gearhead Mom

Uplifting Article on Flame Retardants (Just Kidding About the Uplifting Part)

Jenny just sent me this Salon article about just how nasty flame retardants are.

Yuck.

More Meds Recalled

Oh look! Another recall. This one involves more products made at the troubled Johnson & Johnson plant, all four under the Pedicare label.

The products recalled over the Memorial Day weekend are sold by Blacksmith Brands. They include:

PediaCare Multi-Symptom Cold 4oz. UPC # 3 0045-0556-05 9
PediaCare Long Acting Cough 4oz. UPC# 3 0045-0465-04 7
PediaCare Decongestant 4oz. UPC# 3 0045-0554-04 8
PediaCare Allergy and Cold 4oz. UPC# 3 0045-0552-04 4

New Allergy Study

New NIH Study: Can Peanut Allergy Be Predicted in Infants with Egg or Milk Allergy?

Sy had a mild milk allergy as an infant, a hectic egg allergy (that’s still nasty at five) and is mildly allergic to peanuts. She could have written this study herself!

SPD Inclusion in the DSM-5

There are only four days left to encourage the American Psychiatric Association to include Sensory Processing Disorder in the DSM-5.

If you or someone you know is affected by SPD, please send your comments to the APA decision-making panel.

Help A Mother Out

Super-cool Whitney of Rookie Mom lore is throwing a humdinger of a diaper drive on May 2nd. If any of you readers live in the Bay Area, go check it out! If you live far away, but think it’s a good cause (and it IS!), you can also just send a donation on over.

Can you imagine not having enough diapers for your baby?  Did you know that diapers are not covered under safety net programs like food stamps or WIC? For many families in crisis this can mean being forced to choose between affording other basic human needs — shelter, food, medicine, or diapers.

Thanks for making a difference, Whitney and crew!

Sling Blamed In Infant Death

This is very sad news. Infantino issued a recall Wednesday of two baby slings, the “SlingRider” and the “Wendy Bellissimo,” offering customers replacement slings.

Cool Shop For Sensory Processing / Autism

If you have a kiddo with sensory integration/processing challenges, then hustle on over and check out this cool site, The Therapy Shoppe. Sy’s a big fan of the Safety Grip Scooter Board. They are used in OT for vestibular input, motor planning, bilateral coordination, and body strength/stability. My four year old just thinks they are fun as hell to ride around on.

Detox: Week Three

Oh my heavenly stars, how on Earth can I stilllll be doing this detox!?? I’m on day 16 and I have to admit, I feel great. I also really miss chewing - I only get to do it once a day after all.

Week One: peppered with delirium and headaches (hence my lack of reviews).
Week Two: lots of energy, resolve and determination (hence my lack of reviews, I was too busy re-organizing my baking cabinet, but why? It’s not like I can BAKE).
Week Three: complete boredom (hence my lack of reviews, I can only daydream about chewing). BUT. I feel great, really I do. It’s so very sad to me that I have to bid a very fond farewell to refined sugar and caffeine.

Stupid health food.

Happy New Year! Time To Cleanse!

Happy New Year, everyone. May 2010 be full of adventure for us all.

I was feeling incredibly run-down during the holidays and realized I had been putting a LOT of bad choices down the hatch. Some friends were going to do the Clean program,* so I decided to jump on board. This detox is no Master Cleanse, rather, a pretty sensible way to detox - liquid meal/solid meal/liquid meal. But it is three weeks long. Three weeks! I’m only on day three, but I have hope that I’ll keep on track. The first two days were punctuated by not much more than a growling stomach and a severe headache (I opted out of the Elmination Diet phase where you cut back on caffeine and sugar, etc). Ahem. Apparently I was incredibly addicted to coffee! And sugar. And coffee. And more coffee.

The good news: I feel GREAT today. The bad news: I am supposed to have a beet/celery/apple juice for dinner.

I’ll keep you posted. If anyone is doing this cleanse, jump in the comments section and share your fave recipes!

*I did not purchase the $350 supplement kit sold on the site. I bought the book, bought some supplements at Whole Foods and a LOT of kale, beets, celery, apples and a brand-new Breville juicer. By the way, that Breville Juice Fountain Plus is OFF THE HOOK. We made the most amazing apple juice out of one pink lady apple. Sy went bananas for it. It’s enormous and expensive (I got mine on major sale at Macy’s last week). You don’t even have to peel most of the fruits or vegies, just toss em in and whir it up. It takes about a minute to make juice for four people, and about eight minutes to clean the entire contraption. Most of it is dishwasher-safe, but I hand wash it since I’m using it so much right now.

In A Shocking Turn Of Events, Lead Is Found In Some Toys At Target

“WASHINGTON - Children’s toys carrying the Barbie and Disney logos have turned up with high levels of lead in them, according to a California-based advocacy group — a finding that may give consumers pause as they shop for the holiday season…Among those with high lead levels: a Barbie Bike Flair Accessory Kit and a Disney Tinkerbell Water Lily necklace. The group said it also found excessive lead in a Dora the Explorer Activity Tote, two pairs of children’s shoes, a boys belt and a kids’ poncho.”

See full story here.

Too Much Lead in Red Wine Vinegars

Lead in red wine vinegar is not new information, but daunting all the same. My daughter loves balsamic vinegar! Oh well, I am sure she loves her developing brain even more…

“Although the amount of lead in vinegar is small, experts say regularly consuming it may pose a risk, particularly to children. Eating one tablespoon a day of some balsamic or red wine vinegars can raise a young child’s lead level by more than 30 percent.” That’s nice.

Oreck Halo

Bear with me; this is a long post. Most of the products we review here at GHM are things my crew and I use on a daily basis with our kids. From time to time a company asks us to review a product. When this happens, we always make sure it is noted in the review that the product has been sent to us. I think we are much tougher critics on gear we’ve been asked to review, we feel like we owe it to our readers. So without further adieu, I give you the Oreck Halo.

A few months ago, I got a request to review the Oreck Halo vacuum. A device sent directly to me that will wage massive war on the copious amount of dust mites in my home, therefore giving my asthmatic-allergic-to-dust-mite-kid a break? Awesome! Sign me up. And so one incredibly heavy vacuum arrived on my doorstep.

What does a Halo have that my regular ol’ Kenmore doesn’t? “Incredible suction vacuums dirt and debris, while the patented Oreck Halo light chamber kills many microscopic germs, bacteria, viruses, mold, dust mite eggs, and flea eggs using UV-C light.” This sucker kills things like Anthrax, people. ANTHRAX. Bet you weren’t worrying about that festering in your living room, now were you?

Third-Party Safety Tests Not Required For Mattel

So what do you think about this, readers?

SIGG BPA Confession

I just read a very well-written (as usual) piece over at ZRecommends on SIGG’s confession that oh yeah, we did use BPA in our water bottles. Check it out here.

Time to Refill the Epi-Pen

It’s not even August yet, but Hey! Lookee! School’s just around the corner. Well, according to the mall, that is. Get back outside!

But if you are like me and have a kid that needs an EpiPen, I suggest you go for your refill now. Last year when Sy was starting school, three different pharmacies were out of stock because everyone refills for the school year at the same time. Labor Day will be here before you know it, and you’ll be glad to hit those BBQs armed with your favorite Epinephrine Auto-Injector.

photo via epipen.com