Maclaren Recalls 1 Million Strollers — Ours Is Probably One of Them

Miss Magnolia -- showing off her summer birthday pedi -- in our Maclaren.

Maclaren hasn’t even officially announced the news yet, but according to various reports today, they’re set to announce on Tuesday a massive recall of 1 million umbrella strollers sold between 1999 and the present. Crap.

They’ll release specific model numbers tomorrow, but if the number is that huge, and if it’s really ALL of their umbrella strollers, I’m betting that my 2003 Volo (it’s old! it’s been through two kids!) will be among those recalled. The reason for the recall? A faulty hinge has accidentally cut off the fingertips of 12+ kids as the stroller is being opened or closed — !!! The company plans to make stroller repair kits that will fix the problem available to parents through their web site. (The Maclaren U.S. site appears to be up and down today, no doubt due to overwhelming traffic.)

Although Magnolia is 3, we do still use the stroller. Without it, walks that normally take 15 minutes would take twice as long, at least. Luckily, she doesn’t have the roaming, prying little baby fingers that would be so likely to get caught. But, still — we’ll have to be careful until we get that repair kit. And we will get it if our stroller is one of the faulty ones.

Do you have a Maclaren? Are you worried about the rumored recall?

UPDATE: It’s official now. So, here are the deets on the recall, including a list of the models being recalled. But, basically, if you have a folding Maclaren stroller from 1999 or later, it’s on the list.

And here’s an interview with Bahman Kia, the President of the Company, via the big-time baby gear gurus at Baby Bargains.

Travel Buddies Neck Pillow: Traveling with Toddlers

Hippo Travel Buddies neck pillow, $15, amazon.com

My kids no longer officially nap. (Insert image of me crying into my iced coffee and pounding my fist on the dining room table here.) It’s a sad thing.

But they do still catch the occasional snooze in the car when they’re strapped into car seats and we’re out for a long drive. It’s great — I’ll take a few minutes of peace and quiet whenever and wherever I can get it — except that they look so uncomfortable. Their heavy heads loll to one side or lean forward and bob around pathetically — the car naps just can’t be good for their little necks.

So while we were on vacation, we bought these awesome, lightweight, super-soft travel pillows called Travel Buddies, from a company called NoodleHead. They’re like a cute, kid-sized version of those neck pillows adults use on airplanes, and they will only set you back $15. Let your kids pick the animal they want (there are a bunch to choose from); ours went for the horse and the blue dog. (The pillows are pretty petite, so they’re probably best for the 6 and under set.)

The hippo‘s pictured here; snag it at amazon.com.

Toddler Safety: Kids on a Boat

My turn to drive!

Both of our kids’ grandfathers own boats, so in our family, boat rides are a given in the warm summer months. Jasper and Magnolia each had their first ride before they could walk. And boat safety is a whole other animal when little kids who can’t swim are involved. Amps the potential “danger!” factor way up.

So, here, courtesy of Discover Boating, are a few tips on keeping toddlers safe on a boat:

Do a little childproofing — move all potentially dangerous boat paraphernalia (winches, ropes, gear boxes, flares) out of reach of the kids, but accessible to the captain or other people helping run the sail- or power boat in case they need them.

Drop some bucks on a good, age-appropriate life jacket for all kids who’ll be on board — They aren’t inexpensive; we just had to upgrade since the kids are older and weigh more, and we spent $70+ on each jacket. Ouch. But sticker shock beats the heck out of the alternative. Look for a jacket that will turn the child face-up in the water (there’s an extra floating flap behind the neck) and has a handle on the collar. Bring the child with you when you go to make your purchase to ensure a good fit.

Keep everyone hydrated (ie: pack plenty of drinks and bottles!), especially if you’ll be out on a long ride or sail.

And have fun! We’ve been loving our rides this summer (thanks, Grampie!).

I Knew the Island of Sodor Was in Trouble….

Up ahead, there was confusion and delay.

Okay, Amalah makes me laugh until I cry when she does one of her Thomas the Tank Engine things. I don’t know how she comes up with this stuff, but her take on the Island of Sodor, all the gear — track, trains, tables, bridges, turntables etc etc etc — and the crraaazzzyyy love for that cheeky blue engine that little boys seem to feel is hilarious. But the best part is the night-before-Christmas, putting-the-toys-together, damn I’m frustrated, where’s my glass of wine, oh just forget it madness– those stressful earmarks of engineering a good island–that Amalah gets just right (complete with the grown -up comments).

If Thomas is in any way a part of your home, you have got to read her recent post. After I finished laughing until I was crying, I took a look at Jasper’s train table. Clearly I’ve missed a few shocking developments.

Big Bird after another bender in Knapford

Why I’m Leaving My Daughter in a Stroller Until She’s 18

Magnolia in motion

Our daughter’s a daredevil. Or not that bright yet about the cause and effect of actions and subsequent physical pain. Or both. We go through a LOT of Band Aids and spend more time on the phone with our pediatrician than we’d like.

Not long ago, it was a nasty knee scrape from a fall at the playground. That was on the mend until a rough fall during a run at full speed at her grandparents’ house tore off the big, nasty scab and resulted in lots of gushing blood. Then a day or two after that, she fell right in front of our house and conked her head on the sidewalk. Complete with a terrible, blunt, skull-on-concrete thud.

July 4th weekend she fell head-over-heels over her brother’s bike and busted a lip. Lots more gushing blood. It looked like maybe she’d bitten through her lip completely, so off to the ER we went. Luckily, it wasn’t at bad as we feared, but we did walk out of there with 2 stitches. Ugh.

She’ll jump off of anything — the greater the height, apparently, the greater the thrill. She terrifies Chrissy and me both. She’s not yet 3 and, I swear, the number of falls and bloodcurdling near misses so far — Oh, my God, she almost zoomed into traffic again! — has taken at least a year or two off my life.

Is your kid a fearless daredevil, too? Do you take any special measures (OK, not constant stroller confinement, but something else) to keep him or her safe? Or just hold your breath and hope for the best? If anyone reading has thoughts, please share!

Food glorious food

Is your kid a gastrokid?  Do you know what a gastrokid is?  If you answered no to both questions, or if you answered maybe and okay, I don’t know, then you are just like Melisa and I!

We received this book in the mail yesterday from a friend:

It’s written by one Welsh guy (thus the whole U.K. gastro-thing I assume) and a guy who writes for Bon Appetit.  They have a website, btw, called gastrokid.com.  Melisa and I thumbed through the book and found a lot of delicious sounding things.  Burrata and tomatoes and basil with extra virgin olive oil? Yes!  Japanese eggplant, grilled and tossed with haloumi and mint? Sounds tasty.  Sausage with sagey white beans?  Serve it up.  Moroccan chicken with olives and capers and pine nuts? Been meaning to make it for years.  Salmon saltimbocca, pasta with red pepper flakes, anchovies, and cauliflower, oh yeah…oh wait.  The kids won’t eat this.  I’m actually still on the fence about anchovies myself (I like them camouflaged- no need to see their fishy little bodies).

Anyway, I don’t know.  I’m not sure I agree anymore with the authors’ idea that every kid is born ready to like everything.  I might have gone with this based on kid 1 (remembering his first food tour of France as a big success),

Jasper chowing down in France- age 1

…but kid 2′s “everything” is a decidedly more discerning list.

That said, we are desperately trying to get out of the rut we are in.  You may recognize the rut: mac ‘n’ cheese, pizza, hot dogs, hummus, grilled chicken.  We WANT the kids to be adventurous eaters and love risotto and pancetta and shrimp and chorizo as much as we do. And exposure to new food seems to be a good way to start…

I think we’ll start  slow- maybe the zucchini hummus and cornflake chicken first, and then we’ll try working our way up to the parsley and pine nut pasta sauce, brussels sprout chiffonade and whole cooked branzino à la Bill Buford’s book Heat.

Stay tuned…

The kids table...maybe not the most appropriate image for this post, but cute!