Anna's Soapbox

Okay, since this is my soapbox, I'm gonna climb up and rant: I'm so TIRED of all the warnings about death and terrible injury plastered all over every piece of baby gear we own. On the car seat, ironed on right over the cute animal print, in ugly yellow and black: "! WARNING: DO NOT place rear-facing child seat on front seat with air bag. DEATH OR SERIOUS INJURY can occur..." On the side of the car seat handle: "WARNING: FALL HAZARD: Child's movements can slide carrier... SUFFOCATION HAZARD: Infant Carrier can roll over on soft surfaces and suffocate child... STRANGULATION HAZARD: Child can strangle in loose restraint straps..." And that's not all - at the base, we get yet another pleasant "! WARNING: Failure to follow each of the following instructions can result in your child striking the vehicle's interior during a sudden stop or crash..."

On the Pack-and-Play (a bassinet-combo thingie, which has turned out to be pretty useless so far), I get to stare at the following, printed right there on an inside panel, as I lay my babe down to sleep (or would, except he's still sleeping in the lovely Moses basket that auntie Heather passed along): "WARNING: FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE WARNINGS AND THE ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS COULD RESULT IN DEATH OR SERIOUS INJURY FROM ENTRAPMENT, SUFFOCATION, STRANGULATION, ETC."

Now, I know there are a lot of dumbasses out there in the world -- and I also know that companies have and still do put out plenty of unsafe or borderline products -- but why do I have to think about DEATH OR SERIOUS INJURY every damn time I take my precious babe for a ride, and DEATH FROM ENTRAPMENT, ETC. every time I put him to bed? Yeah, people need instructions, especially with something so precious and overwhelming as a baby, and yeah, gear can be dangerous if we don't use it properly. What does it say about us as a society, though, that so much of our "instruction" on baby "care" comes less from our human community and more from panels of lawyers and executives striving to ward off consumer lawsuits?

< /rant >