S/O of trampoline thread - dangerous banned items

[Indian summer]

The banning trampolines thread reminded me of some items that have been banned for sale In Canada for safety reasons and I'm wondering what items have been banned for sale where you live - things maybe you used at one time.

 

Here, baby walkers were banned back in the 80s (I think). The kind where the baby could scoot around on wheels. They were banned because babies were falling down stairs or pulling hot drinks onto themselves.

 

Also, lawn darts haven't been for sale he since I was a kid - I loved those things as a kid. The ones you can buy now have weight-like balls at the end instead of sharp darts.

 

Can you still buy these items in your country? What have you seen banned in your lifetime? And do you agree with the ban?

 

I agree with the ban of walkers. While many people could and would use them responsibly, many wouldnt and that's not fair for their defenseless babies.

 

Lawn darts - I think this one is dumb.

[Moxie]

Bag 'o Glass!!

 

I am, again, cursed by an inability to link to anything.  I can't even copy and paste.  Cursed!!

 

 

[Indian summer]

Bag 'o Glass!!

Is that a real thing? What purpose did it serve? I've seen references to it on SNL and thought they just made it up.

[Moxie]

Is that a real thing? What purpose did it serve? I've seen references to it on SNL and thought they just made it up.

 

It is an old Dan Aykroyd SNL skit.  I was trying to include the link.  I failed.  Boo.

[Indian summer]

I think they banned those hard balls on string toys when I was little--Knicker Knockers, or Clackers? I loved them, but always had bruised and aching elbows from playing with them. Too many kids were breaking their bones...

I remember those. They did hurt when you jammed your fingers or banged them against your arm, but I'm surprised bones got broken. Unless I'm thinking of a different item, I don't see how that's possible. However, I could see some kid using them as a weapon.

[zoobie]

Kindereggs

 

Totally ridiculous IMO. Who would be confused and try to eat the thing whole?

[Lolly]

No lawn darts here anymore either. We do have an old set dh had when he was a boy. Baby walkers with wheels: I think they left and came back. Maybe they just got hard to find for a while. Now, they do have a warning on them about stairs. Some people don't have stairs. Some people close a door. Some use them on the ground floor only. Kind of hard to fall UP the stairs while in one. I have same attitude towards them as the trampoline, parents' choice. 

[Dory]

I went into the US just to buy a walker for my kids and three other families. They have rubber stoppers and if the kid can head down the stairs in the walker, odds are he can head down the stairs without it. If he's old enough to scoot around in the walker, he can pull himself up on things and still pull hot drinks down on himself. My kids were all walking fairly early, but we had walkers and jolly jumpers and I encouraged movement. And simply learned not to put things where a standing child can reach them and to watch the baby and put up gates.

[Indian summer]

Kindereggs

I wonder if this is what we call Kinder Surprises here? They haven't been banned here. My kids have had many of those. You mean a Chocolate egg with a plastic egg inside containing a toy or puzzle? Those are still available here in Canada.

[Indian summer]

I went into the US just to buy a walker for my kids and three other families. They have rubber stoppers and if the kid can head down the stairs in the walker, odds are he can head down the stairs without it. If he's old enough to scoot around in the walker, he can pull himself up on things and still pull hot drinks down on himself. My kids were all walking fairly early, but we had walkers and jolly jumpers and I encouraged movement. And simply learned not to put things where a standing child can reach them and to watch the baby and put up gates.

This is what my sister did. She had a sunken living room very well baby proofed. I got an exersaucer for my own kids instead.

[SKL]

Drop side cribs.  I don't agree with that ban.

 

Baby walkers are not used here any more.  I don't know if it was technically a ban or not.

 

Any clothes or toys with strings long enough to possibly strangle anyone.  So the toy "landline" telephones have a wire so short the receiver could not reach the ear.  Kids' hoodies don't have ties on the hoods any more .....

 

I though candy cigarettes had gone out, but I've seen them resurface recently.  No idea why they are still around.

[Carrie12345]

Drop rail cribs.

That happened after we stopped using cribs.  When we did, I loved having dropped rails. I'm not sure I understand why they're considered dangerous as a whole, rather than individual bad designs.

[SKL]

You can still buy baby walkers.

 

They aren't in our local stores, but I haven't tried looking online.  Mostly people are buying the stationary "jumpers."

 

My kid siblings had walkers.  Nobody died.  :P

 

[JFSinIL]

I miss clackers! They were all the rage back in 6th grade (so about1970ish)

 

The ban on drop side cribs - now that is annoying Just make a safe standard all manufacturers must meet.  I am only five foot one inch - if I had not had a drop-side crib I'd have been standing on a footstool to reach in and scoop up baby - more likely myself to trip and fall with baby in hand! how is that safer?

[shawthorne44]

I played lawn darts with my parents when I was a small child.  We were extremely remote and the beach was private.  Not as fancy as it sounds.  Even as a child I remember thinking, "These things are dangerous"

[Indian summer]

I though candy cigarettes had gone out, but I've seen them resurface recently. No idea why they are still around.

Popeye's! Here they've changed the name to candy sticks, but you can still buy them. Ive told my kids they used to be called cigarettes. You can still get licorice pipes though. Love those!

[SKL]

I went looking for shoes that tied when my kids were 3.  Ended up having to buy them online.

[Ameena]

Not a baby / kid item, but I got an email yesterday recalling a promo 3 in 1 flashlight / compass / Match holder / striker combo I got a while back.

 

Some folks were stupid enough to remove the protective piece of foam that fit between the matches & the striker pad & not expect the matches to ignite when they hit the striker.

 

I won't be returning it - It's a nifty tool for my emergency kit :) And Yes, I left the foam in place. Only addition I made was to add a dessicant packet to keep the matches dry.

[Ameena]

I miss clackers! They were all the rage back in 6th grade (so about1970ish)

 

The ban on drop side cribs - now that is annoying Just make a safe standard all manufacturers must meet.  I am only five foot one inch - if I had not had a drop-side crib I'd have been standing on a footstool to reach in and scoop up baby - more likely myself to trip and fall with baby in hand! how is that safer?

 

Ditto on the cribs. I'm 5'2".

 

I have several friends in wheelchairs - it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a baby out of one of these new cribs for someone seated in a wheelchair. A few had someone modify the crib to have 1 side swing away for access, the rest just cut the legs shorter & left the mattress on the high position as long as possible. Neither one of which is very safe - IMO the drop sides were safer.

[SKL]

My neighbor gave my kids candy cigarettes.  I'd like to see those things banned.  :glare:

 

My kids got them in a goody bag at a Chuck-e-Cheez birthday party.  :/  Whoda thunk.

[zoobie]

I wonder if this is what we call Kinder Surprises here? They haven't been banned here. My kids have had many of those. You mean a Chocolate egg with a plastic egg inside containing a toy or puzzle? Those are still available here in Canada.

Yes. I read something saying border patrol seizes 60,000 annually.

 

http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/2012-04-05-040000/dont-be-surprised-kinder-eggs-seizures-double

 

"As Easter approaches, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reminds international travelers not to bring any Kinder Surprise eggs into the U.S. Also known as Kinder Eggs, these chocolate treats may be cute and seasonal but they are too dangerous to children to be imported legally into the U.S. The problem is the small plastic toy inside the Kinder Egg. While sold in many countries, this product is banned from the U.S. because young children can choke on it."

[Dory]

There have been some pretty hefty fines put on people who tried to bring Kinder Surprises with them into the US. I didn't realize until I had done it once for relatives. I won't be doing it again. A chocolate egg is not worth the fine.

[Slartibartfast]

I think they banned those hard balls on string toys when I was little--Knicker  Knockers, or Clackers?  I loved them, but always had bruised and aching elbows from playing with them. Too many kids were breaking their bones...

 

 

 

I remember playing with such toys, the balls to those were actually rather heavy. I don't know how someone could have broken a bone but I bet someone could knock themselves out with them.

[Amy in NH]

Drop side cribs.  I don't agree with that ban.

.

 

I don't either.

[Heather in Neverland]

Yes. I read something saying border patrol seizes 60,000 annually.

 

http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/2012-04-05-040000/dont-be-surprised-kinder-eggs-seizures-double

 

"As Easter approaches, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reminds international travelers not to bring any Kinder Surprise eggs into the U.S. Also known as Kinder Eggs, these chocolate treats may be cute and seasonal but they are too dangerous to children to be imported legally into the U.S. The problem is the small plastic toy inside the Kinder Egg. While sold in many countries, this product is banned from the U.S. because young children can choke on it."

 

Wow! Kindereggs are everywhere here! My kids love them! They are at all the grocery store checkout lanes.

[ElizabethB]

Real playgrounds.

[Joker]

Real playgrounds.

Also being allowed to climb trees. Almost every park we would take our girls to had signs posted to not climb.

[umsami]

Do you remember the merry-go-rounds that used to exist? I haven't seen one at a park in ages except for this park in Albany, NY.  I'm sure they're dangerous, but dang…they were fun.

 

 

Not the best video…but "Bag o' Glass"…  

[ElizabethB]

Do you remember the merry-go-rounds that used to exist? I haven't seen one at a park in ages except for this park in Albany, NY. I'm sure they're dangerous, but dang…they were fun.

 

 

Not the best video…but "Bag o' Glass"…

My daughter played on one recently...rural friends here got one when a playground got rid of it, they had it installed in their yard. My daughter went to a birthday party at their house, kid paradise...trampoline, merry go round, kittens, dogs, donkeys, trees to climb...

[SKL]

We have one park with a "merry-go-round" and one other park where the kids can climb trees (I think - at least mine do!).

 

I haven't seen a hard, flat swing in many years, and I also don't see straight metal slides any more, except in old rusty parks.

 

My kids' school and their preschool both had playground equipment with no swings at all.  I guess I should be thankful that there are still swings at the city parks.

[In The Great White North]

 

 

There have been some pretty hefty fines put on people who tried to bring Kinder Surprises with them into the US. I didn't realize until I had done it once for relatives. I won't be doing it again. A chocolate egg is not worth the fine.

 

 

http://gawker.com/5990806/us-ban-on-kinder-surprise-eggs-finally-lifted-kinda

 

$2500 per egg!!!!

 

And you still can't bring the regular ones in - just the new Knock-offs

[Lolly]

Do you remember the merry-go-rounds that used to exist? I haven't seen one at a park in ages except for this park in Albany, NY.  I'm sure they're dangerous, but dang…they were fun.

 

 

Not the best video…but "Bag o' Glass"…  

 

We still have the merry-go-rounds here. They are one of the most popular things at the playground. 

[lynn]

Real playgrounds.

 

 

how dangerous could they have been.   we are still here to talk about how fun they were. getting flung off the merry go round, banging your head on the monkey bars because you wanted to hang up side down or bottoming out on the way high see saw because your friend who was at the bottom go off or your mean sister go off just because.    Bumps and bruises are all part of childhood, kids can't livei n bubble wrap, parents need to make their own judgement on things.

 

 

 

[LizzyBee]

Drop rail cribs.

That happened after we stopped using cribs.  When we did, I loved having dropped rails. I'm not sure I understand why they're considered dangerous as a whole, rather than individual bad designs.

 

I'm short. Once my kids were tall enough to need the mattress lowered, I would have had to use a step stool to get them in and out. The risk of me falling off the step stool with a baby in my arms would have been a greater risk than the drop rail.

[JustEm]

I had no idea drop rail cribs were banned!!  Guess I'll never be getting rid of the crib we currently have because I would be lost without the drop rail

[LizzyBee]

I had no idea drop rail cribs were banned!!  Guess I'll never be getting rid of the crib we currently have because I would be lost without the drop rail

 

We don't have ours any more. My dh might have to make cribs for our kids when they have babies, lol.

[In The Great White North]

And since they have been banned, you can't donate your old ones anymore.  Even though 5 minutes and a couple of screws would make them "un-drop-able".

[SKL]

I used to leave the sides down after the kids were able to climb out (and in), so they would be less likely to fall and hurt themselves.  What a terrible mom I am.

[VaKim]

I went into the US just to buy a walker for my kids and three other families. They have rubber stoppers and if the kid can head down the stairs in the walker, odds are he can head down the stairs without it. If he's old enough to scoot around in the walker, he can pull himself up on things and still pull hot drinks down on himself. My kids were all walking fairly early, but we had walkers and jolly jumpers and I encouraged movement. And simply learned not to put things where a standing child can reach them and to watch the baby and put up gates.

Might have already been said, but maybe we should ban kids moving at all! Seems like they just get into all kinds of trouble once they can move around.  :tongue_smilie:

[Lolly]

 1971, I think : my neighbor Kevin broke his arm playing with them. My brother broke his wrist after stealing my favorite purple ones. Some boy at school gave himself a concussion while playing with one he sneaked into the cafeteria.

 I think wrist fractures were the most common, and some exploded and caused cuts to the face. I loved them.

 

 

have to ask........He stole your toy, then his wrist broke.......Did you have anything to do with that?.... :gnorsi:

[Mrs Mungo]

I agree with the complaints about KinderEggs and drop-side cribs being banned.

 

We lived in Germany for several years, and we loved all of the different toys you received inside-little vehicles, figurines, tiny houses to build, we loved them!

 

Some of us are *very* short! How are we supposed to get the baby in and out of the crib? Even with a drop side, I still had to drop a sleeping baby a little ways because I was too short to lay the baby gently in the crib.

[Χά�ων]

I see some for sale on Amazon.  I could have sworn I saw them in a store.  I don't think they have been banned.

The ones I see on Amazon have a note that they do not ship to the US.

[shawthorne44]

Sometimes in really old books in the illustrations I have seen cribs that look like the legs were removable and they were removed.  I sometimes lose my train of thought in the book because I think how wonderful that would have been for the baby/toddler transition.  

You start with a drop-side crib and lower the mattress until it is too low.  

Then you remove the legs.  

Then you remove the drop side.  

Kid sleeps there until ready for a regular bed without safety rails, or you need it as a crib for a younger sibling.

 

It annoys me when safety regulations make things not as safe.  

 

I wonder if there will be a black market in drop-side cribs the way there is for full flush toilets.  

[Cinder]

Not banned but remember (those of us who are *that* old) Astro Pops? Remember when they were really sharp? Then that was too dangerous so they got turned upside-down and looked nothing like an Astro Pop?

 

Please tell me I'm remembering this correctly.

[Mrs Mungo]

Not banned but remember (those of us who are *that* old) Astro Pops? Remember when they were really sharp? Then that was too dangerous so they got turned upside-down and looked nothing like an Astro Pop?

 

Please tell me I'm remembering this correctly.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/astro-pop

[Annie G]

Where I grew up, the original clackers were glass and they shattered often enough that they were pulled off the market and replaced with plastic ones. Which just hurt. 

 

I miss Kindereggs. My kids used to love those. 

 

We have the original crib dh slept in (he was born in 1959) and we used it for our kids. The slats are too wide and the sides drop.  None of the kids were injured in that horribly dangerous crib.  

 

I think we're overprotecting our kids these days. We used to have wars- choose sides and set rules.  Depending on where and when we played, we fought those wars by throwing either pine cones, crab apples, or rocks from the gravel road. Then we went swimming without any adult supervision.   Yeah, I know people die from that kind of behavior but none of us ever got hurt.      Now that I re-read that, I sound like my father. Sorry. 

 

 

[FO4UR]

I miss the drop rail cribs.  I'm almost 5ft tall, and our expensive crib bought for Baby Girl is sitting in the basement disassembled.  She sleeps in a pack-n-play or in my bed.

 

 

I wish I would have kept the crib from my big 3 dc.

 

 

 

Walkers exist again, but the bases are bigger than the standard door frame and the wheels have breaks to prevent most falls.  We don't have one, but I've seen them in stores in the past 2 years.

[StaceyinLA]

The bans can be a little ridiculous. Unless we put kids in padded rooms, there will always be some way they can be seriously injured. Sadly, even a bad fall in a padded room could probably break a neck. I think it's a shame when parents are irresponsible and misuse or carelessly use items, then want things banned if something bad happens. I never want to see children hurt or killed, but parents do need to take some responsibility for things. My kids all had walkers. We lived in a 2-story apartment for a while. I NEVER brought the walkers upstairs. If I would've, there would most certainly have been a safety gate preventing a fall.

 

I'm already so paranoid about things happening to my grandkids. It's SO much worse now that you read about so many horrible things on the internet, but I guess you might at least be able to prevent things you never would've thought could happen.

[Zuzu822]

I'm a child of the 80s that went down the stairs in a walker. We lived in a raised ranch, and my parents blocked the stairs (off the kitchen) with a chair on its side. Apparently, I managed to move it aside, and down I went. No injuries, and I still think any kind of ban/restriction is dumb. :-p

 

My huge annoyance: the ban in New York (and also Wisconsin, I believe) on drawstrings in children's pants. I seriously had half my orders canceled from both Mini Boden and Hanna Andersson in the last six months. Makes me SO MAD. I get the ban on sweatshirts, but pants?

 

https://www.dos.ny.gov/consumerprotection/pdf/Drawstring_Safety.pdf (they are allowed with certain restrictions)

[mirth]

 What have you seen banned in your lifetime? And do you agree with the ban?

 

One thing I am confused on is camphor products.  Something like camphor crystal (as an insecticide) is banned but other camphor products such as Campho-Phenique is not.  Also, those cheapie toilet deodorizers are just a big chuck of camphor or naphthalene, right?