ERGObaby Statement After Reccent Baby Carrier Recalls

ERGObaby has worked hard to promote Babywearing because of the tremendous benefit to our global family. Education is paramount in helping parents make the best decisions for themselves and their babies and it has always been a part of our mission. We are very saddened by the loss of babies over the years from suffocation in bag slings. It is our responsibility as a manufacturer to stress the incredible benefits of keeping our babies close to us in a safe and secure manner.

ERGObaby is taking the following steps to respond to the negative press:

1. One of the greatest gifts anyone can be given is the opportunity to be a parent. I remember when my son was only a few days old, sound asleep in his bassinet; my strong desire to pick him up and hold him close to my heart dominated any other need. My mothering instinct to keep him safe, secure and content has always been my driving force, and when I started ERGObaby, my intention was to create a product that would promote and enhance the ability of parents to safely and comfortably keep their babies close to them as often as possible. Eight years later, my research into the science behind babywearing has affirmed my mothering instincts. I know, beyond a doubt, that bonding with and nurturing our babies from infancy with the help of babywearing is absolutely the best way. read more...

2. We have clearly defined the three categories of carriers: Soft Structured Carriers, Wraps and Slings.

3. We are bringing to the forefront our significant research and certifications.

4. We are highlighting our perspective on safety issues with an essay on safety and information on correct positioning in slings.

We hope you find this helpful in answering any questions you might be receiving regarding the recent warnings.

Click this link to learn more about the ERGOBaby Carriers.

Bugaboo statement on Graco® SnugRide® 35 Infant Car Seat

Bugaboo has discovered that the latest Graco SnugRide 35 Infant Car Seat does not have a smooth fit with the two Bugaboo car seat adapters for Graco. Although the Graco SnugRide 35 Infant Car Seat fits onto the adapters, it requires more force than Bugaboo considers to be user-friendly and to properly click the infant car seat onto the adapters. Bugaboo is designing new car seat adapters that will give the most user-friendly connection between all Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seats and the adapters. The expected launch of these adapters is scheduled for Summer 2010. In the meantime, Bugaboo’s current adapters for the Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seats can still be sold. Consumers who are using Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seats in combination with Bugaboo adapters must at all times make sure they hear a click as proof of proper attachment, as described in the user guide. If these clicks do not occur, the Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat might not be safely attached to the Bugaboo stroller.

Question & Answers

Does this affect the Bugaboo car seat adapters for all strollers? It does affect the car seat adapters for the Bugaboo Cameleon/Bugaboo Frog and the Bugaboo Bee. The adapter for the new Bugaboo Bee + will have the revised design.

Do retailers have to swap their stock? No, the current Bugaboo car seat adapters can still be sold. Consumers who are using a Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat in combination with Bugaboo adapters must at all times make sure they hear two clicks as proof of proper attachment, as described in the user guide.

Will consumers having purchased the current adapters for use in combination with the Graco SnugRide 35 Infant Car Seat be able to exchange it with new adapters? No, the current Bugaboo adapter can be used in combination with the Graco SnugRide 35 Infant Car Seat if properly attached by hearing two clicks. There is no need to exchange this adapter.

Which Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seats require more force than normal to click onto the car seat adapters? The Graco SnugRide 35 and the Graco SnugRide 32 Infant Car Seats require more force than Bugaboo considers to be user-friendly. The Graco Snugride 22 Infant Car Seat does give optimal consumer-friendliness.

Monterey Booster Seat wins the PTPA Media Inc. Seal of Approval

SUMNER, WA – March 12, 2010 – Sunshine Kids Juvenile Products is proud to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious PTPA Media Inc.'s Seal of Approval for excellence in family products for the company's Monterey Booster Seat.

he PTPA Media "Winner" Seal is internationally recognized among consumers and retailers as one of the most reliable certifications of product quality, functionality and value. All products awarded the Seal have been thoroughly "Parent Tested, Parent Approved." Because independent parents evaluate these products in their own homes, PTPA winners are chosen based on merit and hands-on consumer experience, rather than on commercial considerations. About Sunshine Kids Juvenile Products

"Earning the Seal of Approval from PTPA Media Inc. for the Monterey Booster Seat is an exciting achievement for us," said Brad Keller, the company's President. "The PTPA testing and approval processes is as rigorous as it gets because it's done by parents using the product in their own homes and cars. We designed the Monterey with features that enhance safety and convenience, such as expandable sides and headrest, side impact protection and the option of securing the seat with our LATCH system. This award confirms that the added value of the Monterey makes a difference to parents."

The Sunshine Kids Monterey Booster Seat was among many entries from across North America competing to win the PTPA Media Seal of Approval for the Spring 2010 campaign. The products were tested by savvy reviewers and professionals and the results were compiled for PTPA Media Inc.'s review committee for the final decision. The winners of the Seal of Approval from PTPA Media are selected based on value, functionality, quality and appeal of the product.

"At PTPA Media, we are proud to play a role in certifying innovative new products that families can trust," says Sharon Vinderine, president and founder of PTPA Media. "It's win-win. By improving communication between manufacturers and consumers, we are helping companies serve their market better, and helping families identify products that have been tested and recommended by their peers."

About Sunshine Kids Juvenile Products Sunshine Kids designs, manufactures and distributes travel solutions for the children of today's families. With innovative product designs and unparalleled safety testing, Sunshine Kids conveniently secures and protects children through every stage of your journey. With more than a decade of experience, Sunshine Kids is recognized by consumer and trade organizations for its unique functionality and thoughtful design in 48 countries worldwide, while maintaining offices in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany. The PTPA Media Inc. Seal of Approval for the Monterey Booster Seat is the 29th major product award the company has won since 2006. For more information on the Radian and Monterey car seats and travel accessory line, visit http://www.skjp.com/.

About PTPA Media Inc. "At PTPA Media, we are proud to play a role in certifying innovative new products that parents can trust," says Sharon Vinderine, president and founder of PTPA Media. "It's win-win. By improving communication between manufacturers and consumers, we are helping companies serve their market better, and helping families identify products that have been tested and recommended by their peers."

For more information visit http://sunshinekidsbaby.com.

Support for mothers & babies in Haiti

MATERNAL-INFANT HEALTH NEWS

The March of Dimes (MOD) has made a $100,000 grant to UNICEF to help thousands of pregnant women, mothers and babies in Haiti who are struggling in the aftermath of the earthquake. The MOD funds will help Haitian women who are pregnant or breastfeeding and babies who are in serious need of proper nutrition and safe water, in addition to providing supplies such as diapers and clothing. Over the next few months, additional needs must be addressed for this group, including: prenatal and newborn care for pregnant women and babies, specialized care and equipment for an expected rise in the number of babies born prematurely, and immunization and other activities to prevent infectious diseases in mothers and babies. For more information, go to http://www.marchofdimes.com/aboutus/49267_62824.asp. To make a $5.00 contribution to the March of Dimes, text the word BABY to 20222. For other ways to donate to Haiti relief, go the White House Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/hait earthquake.

The must read book for new Dads!

THE HISTORY, HUMOR AND EMOTIONS OF HOW NEW DADS EXPERIENCE CHILDBIRTH!

"I was ignored in the delivery room!"

Some new fathers may feel that way today, but as historian Judith Walzer Leavitt writes in her critically-acclaimed new book, the roles of expectant fathers have undergone dramatic changes since mid-century and are still evolving today.

Make Room for Daddy: The Journey from Waiting Room to Birthing Room (The University of North Carolina Press, 2009) looks at the process of childbirth through the eyes of expectant fathers and chronicles their decades-long journey from waiting room to the birthing room.

Leavitt takes readers through historical twists and turns and brings together fathers" personal accounts in letters, journals and interviews along with medical literature, film, television and magazines to tell the real experiences of fathers across the country. She demonstrates the significant role that popular culture (ie. I Love Lucy and All in the Family) played in reflecting and reinforcing changing norms and the role it plays (ie. TV personality Dr. Phil) in speaking to today"s expectant dads. And she exposes the raw history of the impact race and class has had on childbirth in America.

Years ago, as popular image would have it, dads-to-be nervously paced the floor of hospital waiting rooms, often going through too many cigarettes as they waited to hear that their child had been born. But during those countless hours of waiting, many wrote down their feelings in journals known as "father"s books" or "stork room jottings." Frequently left in waiting rooms in the 1940s and "50s, the journals provided an outlet for the apprehensive, often exasperated men.

"In these books, the men wrote entries in which they poured their hearts out with the emotion of the time," says Leavitt, the Rupple Bascom and Ruth Bleier Professor of Medical History and Women"s Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. "These books made me realize the importance of men"s roles in childbirth and enticed me to write their stories, and the stories of expectant fathers since the 1940s. I knew these stories would be important for today"s dads, but I never expected the tremendously emotional and meaningful reactions I frequently get from those who have read the book or hear me talk about it."

Leavitt, a prolific researcher and writer of women"s history, shows that these men in the 1940s and "50s, and those that came through the hospitals in the decades after them, played an important role in changing American childbirth practices, a fact often pushed aside in the history of the women"s movement.

"Men in the waiting rooms mid-century were bonding and plotting a more active role for themselves at the same time they were worrying about their wives, babies, and financial security of their families, not to mention their concerns about the atomic bomb and the cold war," Leavitt explains. "And today"s men, though faced with different circumstances, are forging a new future that is part of this evolving story of dads in America."

Telling much of the story using fathers" and mothers" own voices, Make Room for Daddy is striking a chord for men across the country reminding them of their own experiences, whether recent or in the distant past, even as it offers important new insights into childbirth in modern America.

Press contact: Adam J. Segal at (202) 422-4673 or adam@the2050group.com