Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › LEAD in Melissa and doug toys!
New Posts  All Forums:
 

LEAD in Melissa and doug toys!

post #1 of 122
11/19/07 at 11:27am
Thread Starter 
my dd had high lead levels a year ago and we did eveything we could, even hired a lead inspector and he found nothing in our house.but her levels werent going down.
then from something i heard somewhere and just an odd gut feeling i got rid of all our MELISSA AND DOUG TOYS. that is the only thing i changed and removed from our home. we went back in and her lead level dropped to 3 she was in the clear!!! i thought maybe it was just a coincidence but then my friend's dd had high lead levels, she too only removed melissa and doug toys from her home and VOILA! lead levels dropped to the safe/normal range.
NOW, a diferent friend of mine went to her local tv station b/c they had an expensive lead testing machine and she brought a few toys including MELISSA AND DOUG and what do you know- trace amounts of lead were found!
now knowing it's not just a coincidence I felt like I should let everyone know!!!

ETA:
my friend runs a local oy store and melisa and doug ere trying to get her to carry their toys. she questioned them aboutthe safety of their paint and all they said was "we've had no compliants"
also i called and e-mailed them at least 20 times and they neevr once got back to me

You may also like:

Sitting or Squatting: What's Really Best in the Bathroom?
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
post #2 of 122
11/19/07 at 11:47am
: Some of ds' favorite toys are M&D and he had borderline high lead levels at his 1 year appointment. We, too, had no idea where that could be coming from. I am having him retested at a checkup in a few weeks. Thanks for the heads-up. I know home tests can be unreliable but we are going to get one right away and check up all of his toys anyway. Did you have a lot of M&D toys? Do you remember any of the ones that you tossed? I am sure that it can vary but maybe if we have some of the same ones I can keep an extra close eye on those. We have the Chomp & Clack Alligator Push Toy, the My First Vehicles truck, car and airplane, the Pound & Roll Ball Toy, the My First Animals magnetic book and the Rainbow Stacker stacking ring.

I had a bad feeling about M&D but I shook it off anyway because I thought I was being too difficult by expressing our preference for wooden toys and then turning my nose up at the ones that are widely available and affordable.
post #3 of 122
11/19/07 at 11:56am
Thread Starter 
i know what you mean mama
the store bought lead tests never found lead in my m&d toys but maybe that's b/c the lead is underneath?
we had a decent amount of melissa and doug toys, a lot of them chipping i can't rememebr them all off hand i do remember an abacus,shape sorter/stacker,jacobs ladder...
post #4 of 122
11/19/07 at 11:57am
Crap! My TRU just started carring these! I was so excited to send everyone there for easy Christmas shopping for the kids

What now???
post #5 of 122
11/19/07 at 12:06pm
Thread Starter 
i dunno we stopped buying toys MIC and only stick with the natural unpainetd wooden ones like from www.threesisters.com
post #6 of 122
11/19/07 at 12:18pm
Did the tv station do an expose? I'd love to see someone publish results...
post #7 of 122
11/19/07 at 12:19pm
Thread Starter 
hmm i dunno actually.. lemme ask her she's in another state.
post #8 of 122
11/19/07 at 12:22pm
This is a great blog that has a lot of info about toys:

http://saras-toy-box.blogspot.com/

If you scroll down on the front page she talks about Melissa & Doug toys and also Plan Toys. We have some Plan Toys that are similar in price to the M&D but I think a much higher quality. The "paint" is actually a thin dye that doesn't flake off like the M&D paint does. You can see the wood grain through the paint and they are more attractive and seem to hold up better.

I think that I am going to be cautious going forward about the M&D, not buying it for ourselves and taking the precaution that she mentions in her blog of not keeping any M&D that is going to be mouthed. After this thread I am highly suspicious of our M&D ring stacker which was chewed on quite a bit by ds and ended up with flaking paint, especially on the red ring. I got rid of it a long time ago but I wonder if it was a contributor to his lead levels.

I'm so anxious to see what ds' levels look like right now.
post #9 of 122
11/19/07 at 12:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by True Blue View Post
Did the tv station do an expose? I'd love to see someone publish results...
The news station said they hope to have the full list of what came back safe & unsafe on the web within the week.

the website is: http://www.wbns10tv.com/


thank you for that blog!!
post #10 of 122
11/19/07 at 12:48pm
Thanks, I can't wait to see the results!!!
post #11 of 122
11/19/07 at 5:37pm
That does not surprise me. Melissa and Doug toys are cheaper than their competition equivalents and some are Made in China, if not all.
You can not trust anything made in China PERIOD. I would even go so far as to not buy any toys out of Asia as a whole.
Our desires as a nation for CHEAP, is Killing our Children SLOWLY.
post #12 of 122
11/19/07 at 5:40pm
So is plastic safer than wood with lead paint?
post #13 of 122
11/19/07 at 5:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoMariposa View Post
That does not surprise me. Melissa and Doug toys are cheaper than their competition equivalents and some are Made in China, if not all.
You can not trust anything made in China PERIOD. I would even go so far as to not buy any toys out of Asia as a whole.
Our desires as a nation for CHEAP, is Killing our Children SLOWLY.

So how do you propose to never buy anything made in China? This would include, you realize- teas, paints used on toys and other things, etc etc etc.
post #14 of 122
11/19/07 at 5:48pm
I am freaking out right now! I am a m/d retailer. I researched them and questioned them point blank about lead and they guarantee their products are safe. My aunt actually did get a reply from them when she emailed them about it and they told her the same thing. ya da ya da about outside inspectors, non-toxic dyes/paints. my local AP moms group are my best customers. So now I am dealing with this anxiety that I am poisoning their kids?

How do I go about getting my kids tested? About 75% of our toys are m/d. I already went through out toys and threw quite a bit away due to the recalls.

Seriously, I am freaking out! I have a sudden knot in my stomach just thinking about this.
post #15 of 122
11/19/07 at 6:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoMariposa View Post
That does not surprise me. Melissa and Doug toys are cheaper than their competition equivalents and some are Made in China, if not all.
You can not trust anything made in China PERIOD. I would even go so far as to not buy any toys out of Asia as a whole.
Our desires as a nation for CHEAP, is Killing our Children SLOWLY.
yep we only buy made in usa, germany and canada stuff. any m&d we had was gifts.
post #16 of 122
11/19/07 at 6:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by spsmom View Post
I am freaking out right now! I am a m/d retailer. I researched them and questioned them point blank about lead and they guarantee their products are safe. My aunt actually did get a reply from them when she emailed them about it and they told her the same thing. ya da ya da about outside inspectors, non-toxic dyes/paints. my local AP moms group are my best customers. So now I am dealing with this anxiety that I am poisoning their kids?

How do I go about getting my kids tested? About 75% of our toys are m/d. I already went through out toys and threw quite a bit away due to the recalls.

Seriously, I am freaking out! I have a sudden knot in my stomach just thinking about this.

my dd was tested at her 1 year check up it was a routine thing.
post #17 of 122
11/19/07 at 6:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leilalu View Post
So how do you propose to never buy anything made in China? This would include, you realize- teas, paints used on toys and other things, etc etc etc.
We are a China Free Home. So, yes, I realize exactly what that means.
post #18 of 122
11/19/07 at 6:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spsmom View Post
I am freaking out right now! I am a m/d retailer. I researched them and questioned them point blank about lead and they guarantee their products are safe. My aunt actually did get a reply from them when she emailed them about it and they told her the same thing. ya da ya da about outside inspectors, non-toxic dyes/paints. my local AP moms group are my best customers. So now I am dealing with this anxiety that I am poisoning their kids?

How do I go about getting my kids tested? About 75% of our toys are m/d. I already went through out toys and threw quite a bit away due to the recalls.

Seriously, I am freaking out! I have a sudden knot in my stomach just thinking about this.

Same here. I feel sick. I just called our Pedi and he will be writing a script for the boys to get tested for lead.
post #19 of 122
11/19/07 at 6:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoMariposa View Post
We are a China Free Home. So, yes, I realize exactly what that means.
I would love to get a list of places you shop and such. So many things are from China.
post #20 of 122
11/19/07 at 6:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kleine Hexe View Post
I would love to get a list of places you shop and such. So many things are from China.
exactly. How can you be sure that ingredients and paints and such are not manufactured in china?
New Posts  All Forums:
 
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: The Mindful Home

You may also like:

Sitting or Squatting: What's Really Best in the Bathroom?
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › LEAD in Melissa and doug toys!