Wednesday, January 14, 2009

{ The Pacifier Clip Story }


Today I met my mom at Costco, where formula is MUCHO CHEAPO. Yes :-( I'm doing formula now, and I hate it but that's another post, not the story...

Since I was near my mom's house, which is near a great little used-children-stuff shop called Once Upon a Child that I've heard so much about, I decided to stop in to see if they had any highchairs or pack-n-plays for sale (they did), but again, not the story...

While I was browsing the great little store I spied something I wanted. A pacifier clip! One that would work with a Soothie! Soothies are Eisley's favorite pacifiers, but the hardest ones to keep. They're made of rubber, without hooks or latches or handles, and when the baby drops them they bounce away under furniture where they hide and probably start little Soothie colonies. Babies love them; parents hate that their babies love them.

So I spent the few bucks for this little treasure, a pacifier clip that would keep it attached to our baby, instead of bouncing every which way when dropped from her mouth. I even made sure to check that the ribbon was 6" or less - which they recommend for all strings your baby comes in contact with to avoid strangulation.

All day, I've been loving the pacifier clip. It's been great! That is, until about an hour ago. About an hour ago I wandered into Eisley's room during her nap to check on her, and as I looked over her, once again admiring my new purchase and how great it is, that's when I realized just what I'd done. It hit me like a projectiled vomit straight to the head. Oh. My. Gosh.

"I've ATTACHED a CHOKING HAZARD TO MY BABY."

I handed it to her, a friggin choking hazard. See, the clip is embellished with a cute, but deadly, button thing about an inch in diameter and is merely glued on. It could easily pop off. Eisley is in that stage where her hands search for something - anything - and once she finds that anything it goes straight to her mouth. How did I not catch that?! As I was mentally berrating myself for making such a stupid mistake I snatched up my camera (to take the above picture, just so I could prove my great folly to you) and went to find another pacifier.
Once Eisley was safe and sound and choking-hazard-free I shot off an email to the owner of that store. I don't think that they should be selling these. If they're going to sell these, they need to attach it to something that could not fit down a child's throat, and I saw recently on TV that they recommend your child not play with any toys or parts that can fit through a toilet paper tube, as a general rule of thumb.

But all is okay, Eisley is not choked but instead chatting happily on her daddy's lap as I type this. Maybe nothing would ever go wrong with the pacifier clip. Maybe I could get away using it and avoiding any issues. But I'm just not that type of mom. Maybe isn't good enough for me. Call me overprotective, I don't care. As a mother, I consider one of my duties to be minimizing all risks. I know I can't make her live in a bubble, that she's going to get hurt, but I can't take risks like this. This mommy is NO risk taker. Not with her Eisley.

Crisis has been averted.

5 comments:

  1. At least you caught it before it actually happened. Kudos!

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  2. WHAT KIND OF A MOTHER ARE YOU?!?!?!?!?

    Just kidding sis. Good catch!

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  3. Lol, Okay, I've since realized I was being a little dramatic. But I really can't believe they'd sell these for babies!

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  4. Well I have to admit when I first saw the pic of the clip I thought you made it and then I wanted one but as I read on I realized I also would have subjected my Cade to a choking hazard... Thanks Heather for realizing this for me. In the meantime I picked up a cheap clip at Target the Munchkins brand it doesn't quite clip to the Soothie, Cade uses them as well, but I tied a small ribbon with a not to the small hole and looped it through the velcro. Do you need a pic? It's an idea and it works!

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