crib and dresser

Well with Jeff deploying in a few weeks we decided we better go ahead and get the furniture as there is no way I could get it up the stairs and put together by myself. I'm sure we could have scrounged SOMEONE up, but this way Jeff gets to be part of it.
We picked out a cherry colored crib and dresser. We got rid of the crib we used for the other 3 while we were in Germany, thinking we were done. We got rid of everything for that matter! It feels odd starting over from scratch.
One thing that worries me a bit is all the recent recalls. This is something OUR parents didn't have to worry about, and more often than not it's a matter of a company being pro-active in protecting young children, which isn't a bad thing. Our crib is from a maker that recently had several recalls. Their cribs that has the drop side (the side that goes up and down) could potentially drop and hurt a child. So they recalled all their drop-side cribs. Our's doesn't have a drop side, which might be annoying in the beginning, but better safe than sorry.
Did you know you're not supposed to use bumper pads any more? With Matthew I just weaved the bumper pad around the posts to make sure it was tight. Again, most of this is due to cautious parents rather than a lot of accidents, although there are some accidents of babies getting caught in the bumpers and suffocating.
I'm a little over cautious when it comes to the crib mattress. I read a study years ago that showed a dramatic increase in SIDS if you use a used crib mattress (something about the crib releasing toxic chemicals used in the fire retardant, and those chemicals being released more easily with repetitive use). It's one of those things that, if for $50 I can buy a bit of piece of mind, then I'm going to do.
I do remember with Matthew calling the car seat manufacturer because the car seat straps would pop out...scary if we had ever been in an accident. Or the time when Matthew was in his carseat and the shopping cart hit a bump in Wal-mart's parking lot and his seat shot off and landed face first in the middle of the road...scary. I didn't know NOT to put the seat in that part of the shopping cart. I do now...
Now we have to worry about BPA in baby bottles (well I won't have to worry TOO much about it), lead paint in baby toys or toxic chemicals in baby formula (see China's headlines).
What did our parents do? How did we all survive without serious harm? Life was much simpler then. They made their own baby food. My grandmother made her own formula.
I tell you, organic may be the way to go in a lot of ways (although the thought of using cloth diapers makes me want to hurl!).
So a bunch of nothing post, but a post nonetheless.