More on the Practical Side- Toys

Here are some of the things we are doing as a result of the research published below. I'm using my best judgement as a mama and trying to figure out how to implement what I've learned in my own home. I'm not implying that you need to follow these same exact steps, but I know that it helps to have a practical picture to look at sometimes.

Toys-

We are getting rid of all plastic baby (infant) toys. I wrote to Sassy about the toys that we own and they replied letting me know that several of them were made with polycarbonate (leaches BPA), I'll post that correspondence separately. I decided that I don't want plastic in my baby's mouth anyway, so we're getting rid of all of them. Julia is getting some Haba toys for Christmas and I have a few organic cloth dolls that I've picked up for her. I am much more comfortable with these options and have a little woven basket I bought just to keep them all in. Viola! Natural baby. If only the rest of it were all that easy....

I'm getting rid of our Mega Blocks, because they contain embedded lead. Even though Lucy doesn't put toys in her mouth, I'm not comfortable with knowing specifically that this toy contains lead. We have plenty of Duplos and as per Sara's Toy Box info, Lego is a company that I respect. So, we're keeping the Duplos, ditching the Mega Blocks.

I went through my two year old's kitchen and pulled out the plastic stuff and am selling a set of dishes but letting her keep some of the baby feeding things she enjoys playing with. She got a nice wooden kitchen for her birthday that came with food and dishes so she's mostly set, I'm looking for a nice tea set to get her for Christmas. (this entails emailing several companies and trying to find a "safe" one... again, probably a seperate post on that)

I'm selling a lot of plastic toys on Craigslist that we had stored in our basement and using the money to buy a few quality things. For fun, I'll add the list of replacement toys I want later. Part of this is just the whole "less is more" and "our house is way to small for all this stuff" idea. I guess all this research and the recalls have made the plastic toys lose their appeal and I'm just ready to get rid of it.

Bath toys - I got rid of some pvc bath books and squirt toys, although I did keep the rubber duckies (what are they made of??). I am ok with the Sassy bath toys since the dont use pthalates. I have a little wooden bath toy boat on my wish list for the girls. I'm not sure about foam yet, like the letters that stick on the wall?

Wooden blocks - we have a large tub of older wooden blocks that I'm getting rid of and going to buy new ones I know are safe. These are such a multi-purpose fun toy to have around that I want to have some safe ones.

So... limiting the plastic we have, no plastic for babies, and buying natural toys from here on out is our game plan. We do still have plastic - Little People, fridge magnets, etc. As far as replacement toys or new toys that we are buying, I am being extremely picky. Melissa and Doug is in question right now as some mamas on MDC seem to have found lead in their toys, they're made in China, and the paint chips off easily. We have the slicing food and puzzles, but I dont think I would buy more of it.