Where are safe, China-free baby goods?

[LK's Dad]

I am a new parent desperately searching for stuff for my son that's not made in China. Specifically, I'm looking for spoons, cups, and other feeding tools. I see China-free toy sites, but nothing on China-free goods that babies are supposed to put in their mouths! All I want is products I can trust to be safe for my child, but it seems like everything in the world is made in China, despite their horrific record with lead and toxins. Please help!

[Newmom!]

To begin with, stick with a well known company. It seems that the cheep stuff sold at $1 stores are the items that are most likely to be recalled due to lead and cadmium. If you go to www.cpsc.gov you can search for recalls by company. A good quality company will be more likely to keep closer tabs on quality control, even in China, and be far less likely to have lead in their products.

Consider purchasing the baby spoons and such that are metal. Or, look for quality adult flatware that is made not in China and purchase their cocktail spoons and forks. We did that for the forks, just because the tines are sharper and can actually pierce the food, unlike the baby forks. And the tines are close together so they fit in my baby's mouth better. (We got the forks when he was 12 mo old). The rubber tipped and plastic spoons are nice, but before those were invented, regular old metal was used.

In the end, keep and eye on the recalls, and if you buy from a few different brands and rotate the use of them, you child will not be exposed to too much lead from any one product if it happens to be recalled. All in all, don't go crazy worrying about it - worry more about the wholesomeness of the foods you choose to give your child.

[Momzrule]

We came across a nice website for organic clothes, very nice quality. Their choice is a little limited, but the cotton tees and leggings we got from them are great! I think the site is pretty small, so their prices are almost like for non organic products: www.kidsorganicshop.com
Hope it helps.