Major crib manufacturers have agreed to a proposal that would impose a ban on drop-side cribs in the U.S. From the Chicago Tribune:

Cribmakers, government regulators and consumer advocates advanced the proposal Tuesday at the twice-yearly meeting where they review and revise voluntary safety standards at the suburban Philadelphia headquarters of ASTM International, a standards organization. The proposal now goes to a broader group of ASTM members for a vote. Others could derail the drop-side ban, but they would have to persuade major cribmakers to change their mind.

Manufacturers in the past have rejected proposals that restrict their designs, preferring instead to mandate tests to detect hazards. However, many of the more than 3 million cribs recalled in the last two years for problems with drop-side railings passed the tests required under safety standards but still failed in consumers' homes....

A ban on the most common form of drop-side railings would level the playing field among cribmakers - enabling them to stop making the product without losing market share.

In addition to the drop-side ban, the ASTM is voting on additional requirements, including a new static load test for crib slats, Daddytypes reports.

What will this likely ban mean to the consumer? Traditional drop-side cribs would no longer be available for purchase new, and used outlets would likely stop accepting and selling them as well rather than face potential scrutiny from a newly-invigorated CPSC. Future cribs will have to have all four sides fixed to each other. In order to facilitate crib use by parents who are short, like me, one side of the crib will be allowed to fold down to allow for easier access to the baby.

As the Tribune article mentions, numerous safety tests were developed for the cribs, but testing often failed to predict eventual failures of the drop mechanisms, the cause of many crib recalls over the past several years. - Sara I.

We invited Laura from product review and parenting blog Mum's the Wurd to review the Boon Flair high chair, a roughly $200 chair with some innovative features we were very curious to see tested in real-world use. Laura's son Lennon has logged some serious hours in his new Flair and Laura passed on this thorough assessment.

We wanted a different highchair for our son Lennon, so when ZRecs offered to have us test out the Boon Flair, we jumped at the chance. I've loved the styling and functionality of every product that Boon makes, from their layette, to the Frog Pod, to their small dishes and plasticware. Like Boon's other products, the Flair's surface snazziness masks a highly utilitarian and functional meeting of form and function.

The basics

The Flair's seat is made of molded plastic (BPA-free, phthalate-free, and PVC-free) in light blue/white, orange/white, or pink/white combinations. The seat rests on a single shaft leading to a flared 23.5" base with two "controls" - a foot pedal to set and release a brake that allows or prevents the Flair from rolling on six hidden urethane casters, and a button to adjust the seat's height using a pneumatic lift. The high chair tray comes with two removable plastic tray toppers. The seat is padded and has a built-in, non-adjustable footrest.

The Flair weighs 28 pounds and has a weight and age limit of 50 pounds and four years. The seat's height range is 21" to 26.25" and the tray's height range is 26.25" to 31.5".

Design

The plastic body of the high chair feels very durable, and seems thicker than other high chairs I've used and seen. The Flair is a very solid piece of furniture.

The Flair is much less cumbersome than other high chairs I've used, in part because it's easy to move around, and in part because there's no real "setup" to use it or get it out of the way. The five-point harness is easy to use and super safe.

I'm no caster expert, but the casters do appear to be good quality and work smoothly.

The whole seat is very easy to keep clean - in fact, it's one of the Flair's best features. The high chair is almost entirely smooth, with no nooks and crannies for food to get stuck in.

How Boon's innovations measure up

I've never used a high chair that had an adjustable height, so this feature is unique, in my experience. I like that the baby isn't towering over the rest of the family, as it seems they do with most highchairs. The pneumatic lift is easy to use - you just press the colored button on the base and pull the seat up or down. It's very simple and a great function - the variable height positioning means you aren't stuck with just a few set heights, and it's easy to change the height without getting out an Allen wrench or messing with something that might bite.

The tray is very simple to put on and remove, and the removable toppers are a great idea and work well. They keep the tray itself nice and clean - you just take off the removable tray and stick it in the dishwasher. (All removable parts of the Flair are dishwasher safe, even the padded seat!) I have noticed though, that the solid white tray base gets lots of water in it very easily, so I don't like to run it in the dishwasher. Use the removable trays and wipe any messes off the main tray, and you're good to go.

The "brake system" locks the chair in place easily. While I like the braking system, I do wish that it completely stopped the chair from moving. This may not be a problem for those who have carpet, but all of our floors are hardwood.


The Flair retails for $229 - just shy of the prices of established high-end high chair brands like the Tripp Trapp (Mika reviewed the Tripp Trapp on The Tranquil Parent) and the gorgeous but tough to clean Svan high chair used by the folks at Z Recommends (there's a review of the Svan in the ZRecs Archives). The tradeoff is length of use - unlike the Tripp Trapp and Svan seats, Boon's Flair has no option to shift into a "youth chair" as your child grows - but the convenience, utility, and cool of this chair is hard to beat. you can be certain that your child will be dining on one of the safest and coolest highchairs on the market. As with all the products from Boon, the Flair gets 5 out of 5 Fonzie "Ayyyyyyyeee"s from our family.

You can purchase the Boon Flair from Boon's website or on Amazon.com. - Jeremiah

Because my previous home had a much larger kitchen and dining area, my two oldest children learned to eat solid foods and eventually feed themselves sitting in your standard-style high chair. After we moved we found our new home with its smaller kitchen and almost no dining area didn't lend itself to the traditional high chair, and my two youngest have used - and are still using - Inglesina's Fast chair, which hooks directly to the counter.

When I had the opportunity to review the K2 high chair from Kuster, I was anxious to see if it really was as practical, easy to clean and space saving as the company's website claimed. I had yet to find a high chair that would work in our kitchen; perhaps this was the one! But after some not-so-thorough testing (and you'll soon read why), I found this sleek, modern high chair easy to clean and extremely compact when folded. But those are quite possibly the only redeeming qualities of the K2.

The K2 arrived with "some assembly required." Usually means putting Tab A in Slot B, but this baby needed a little elbow grease and a strong allen wrench. After attaching the seat back, I snapped the four self-leveling feet on the frame, and I'll be danged if those feet weren't a struggle to get on yet fell off if I even looked at them. If I weren't worried about the little metal feet scratching the floor I'd have left those plastic feet off completely!

The K2 came with the light blue and white dot optional seat cushion, and though it meant a little more effort in cleaning, I felt the K2 needed the padding. The cushion attached to the chair with just one set of Velcro tabs, though the harness did come up through a slot in the front, helping to anchor it a bit more. But even then the cushion slipped and slid all around, and when I opened it from its folded position, the cushion got lodged between the seat and back. As much as I love the print and the padding, I couldn't sacrifice function for fashion when it came to the high chair (a pair of shoes, no problem!).

I wasn't a fan of the harness itself. Though it boasts a five-point safety harness, the harness straps attach at the back of the seat and come up and over the shoulders rather than attaching or being anchored higher up the seat back just below the shoulders. It made for some pretty floppy straps that kept sliding off our child's shoulder as we tried to attach the harness. I also felt like she was able to move around a lot more than was safe. My kids are climbers and they have to be belted in securely to keep them from breaking free.

I did like the removable, dishwasher-safe tray cover, as it made for easy cleaning. Unfortunately we were never able to use it to actually feed our daughter since the K2 failed its tipped-by-a-toddler test. This toddler-initiated test of the K2's durability wasn't in our plans, but readers should be glad it occurred, because the K2's tray fell apart when it hit the (carpeted) floor, its locking slides underneath the tray popping right off to reveal some pretty lightweight and now dangerously exposed screws. My husband, engineer and fix-it-man that he is, quickly epoxied the slides to the tray, but even after a few days of curing they fell apart when we gingerly tried to reattach the tray.


We eventually noticed a hairline crack running along almost the entire width of the chair back, as well. And this was on carpet! I'm not saying high chairs are meant to withstand falls, but the trays should at least be able to withstand some wear and tear. I know with our old high chair that tray was tossed on the counter, dropped on the floor, stepped on and I'm sure used as an imaginary something or other, yet it passed those test with flying colors.


Apparently I'm not the only one with this problem. If you check out the K2 on Amazon.com you'll see a few customer images depicting similar tray mishaps plus an image of what looks like a missing foot rest. This guy wasn't too impressed either.

As I mentioned before, we didn't give Kuster's K2 too thorough a testing. When first set up we used it as the perfect chair for pounding playing the piano, but soon after (and in that same room) it met our toddler and the tray met its end. We have used it a few times since, but only as a piano chair, and even then I keep close watch; that harness just doesn't put me at ease.

The K2 high chair is recommended for children from six months to six years and is available in two different colors, white and beech, and three different cushion styles to "ensure you get a combination to suit you." Personally, no fabric/wood combination would suit me when it comes to the K2. It may be easy to clean and easy to store, but it is also easily broken, and I can't recommend its safety features. If you’re looking for a fashionable, yet functional and safe high chair for your child, I suggest you pass on the Kuster K2. - Emily H.

The favorite baby carrier of many parents, the BabyBjorn, is on sale at Amazon up to 32% off (totaling $58) depending on the color. Babies like to be worn and the BabyBjorn will carry your baby from newborn to 22lbs. Babies can be worn facing toward the parent or facing outwards and has latches in convenient positions so that a sleeping baby can be moved from carrier to bed without being disturbed.

I was recently turned on to a great website that carries a variety of cloth diapers, Sew Crafty Baby. Their everyday prices are super reasonable, they have a good selection, carry some seconds and, best of all, shipping is free on ALL orders. No minimums. To the USA and Canada!



Amazon also has several accessory pieces of the Summer Infant Nature's Purest Sleep Safari line on sale, anywhere from 8-12% off. - Jenn