Happy Blog Day!
We've passed the 375 member milestone, and then some! As our group, and the babywearing
community in general, continues to expand and grow larger, it's really
imperative that we take a minute (or a blog post) to make note of some of the
changes that are happening among makers of babywearing items. You may have
heard some of these terms floating around, like "BCIA" and "CPSIA"
and "compliant versus non-compliant" . . . what do these mean? How do
they affect you, as the consumer of new and used baby carriers? Do they affect
you when you sell your second hand carrier? What about moms who make their own
carriers? Hopefully this post will answer some questions and break down
everything for you.
What I want you to walk away
understanding is: most baby carriers you see and might buy are perfectly safe when
used appropriately. However, if you are buying from someone who sells via Etsy
or Facebook, I want you to be able to tell, or to ask the right questions to
determine if you are getting a safe carrier.
Alphabet Soup
BCIA - Baby Carrier Industry
Alliance - This is an internationl body of people who are interested in baby carrier
safety. Anyone can join, you do not need to be a manufacturer/maker of baby
carriers in order to become a member. Does a maker of baby carriers need to
be a member of BCIA in order to legally make carriers? NO. But being
a member does have distinct advantages, I've included an excerpt from BCIA's
page here: This is where joining the BCIA is a huge help. Experts in the field have spent hours creating and refining the ASTM standards, along with the CPSC and other governmental agencies. They are intimately familiar with the intricacies of the standard, and can help guide you through the regulations, find accredited labs that may be more affordable to the small business, and work through the testing process. Though testing is not inexpensive, BCIA has worked hard to lend the voice of the microbusiness to the standard and continues to work to make compliance affordable for as many manufacturers as possible. If you want to remain in the baby carrier business, you must submit your product for testing. The lab will look through the instructional materials you provide with your carrier (and you absolutely must include written or video instructions with the carrier — there’s no excuse for not doing so, and just pointing them to a website is not adequate) and, using those directions to fix the carrier to the test model, will then run the carrier through a number of tests to determine whether your carrier is safe.
Just in my opinion, if I'm buying a
carrier off of Etsy or Facebook or Ebay, I'd like to see the maker be a
member of BCIA. It tells me, as a consumer, that the maker is serious about
making safe carriers and staying up to date on compliance and legal
issues. The "bag sling" recall of 2008 was and continues to be a sore spot in babywearing history. This post talks about the dangers and testing involved in that recall, and I think is a must read for anyone considering making or buying older carriers. Linnea Catalan of the BCIA makes an excellent point about this,
and references the "bag sling" recall that happened several years
ago.
In the current market, there is really no excuse for non-compliance. It really doesn’t matter how large or small your business is. Everyone in the industry takes infant safety very seriously (as well we should), and if the CPSC feels that a carrier is putting children at risk, they will take action. One of the first carrier recalls after the SlingRider was of a ring sling where only 40 had ever been sold — clearly a very small manufacturer, yet the recall was made anyway. Don’t feel that because you’re small, you’ll fly under the radar. That may have been true ten years ago, but it isn’t true now.
Which brings me to the
next acronym
CPSIA - Consumer Product Safety
Improvement Act - this is the law under which baby carriers must be compliant in the United States.
These are things that each baby carrier maker must do in order to
legally sell the baby carriers that they make.
So what are you, as the consumer,
looking for to determine compliance?
When you receive your carrier:
1) A Postage Paid Registration
Card - it must be attached to the
carrier such that the customer has to interact with the card to remove it — it
can’t just be placed in the bag or box with the carrier. Some well known
carriers we know of are still working on conforming entirely to this part of
the legislation. These are relatively new standards and while people in the
industry have known about them for a while, I think many home based
manufacturers are still figuring out the nuances of compliance.
2) Labeling - You should see on your
carrier a permanently affixed label, which should include the following: Place
of manufacture, date of manufacture, and a unique identifier like a model or
batch number. The label must be permanently attached to the carrier - stickers
do not count.
 |
| No Label - non compliant (this was a home-made ring sling in my own stash) |
 |
| Completed Label - compliant example of a label done by www.sleepingbaby.net |
Behind the scenes:
1) Testing on parts and textiles to
ensure that they are shown not to contain lead or phthalates. Any maker
must keep record of all the "general certificates of conformity"
of all their materials. As a consumer, you probably won't really notice this
part of compliance as you won't see the GCC's yourself. But this is one reason
why you see people insist on the use of certain products, like Sling Rings, for
babywearing products. Sling Rings have been tested specifically for this
purpose and are known to hold up to industry standards.
2) Different types of carriers are
having ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) standards rolled
out at different times.
The ASTM standard for SSCs and Mei
Tai will be mandatory in September of 2014.
The ASTM standard for wraps, ring
slings, and pouches will be mandatory in mid- to late-2015. To read more about upcoming potential changes, go here. Included on the right hand sidebar are a few comments and concerns by the babywearing community.
Once the standards become
mandatory, look for manufacturers who state their compliance and avoid
those who say they have not tested their products, since it will be illegal to
sell them at that point.
To see more on a Consumer's Guide
written by one of my favorite babywearing people, Jan of Sleepingbaby.net, go HERE.
Buying and Selling Second-hand
carriers
This will be able to continue as it
has in the past, unless of course, a carrier is recalled. The buying and
selling of recalled items is strictly prohibited (as I'm sure most parents
already know).
One big change that will happen is
the market for wrap conversion carriers. Due to the testing requirements and
other changes in the pipeline, it appears selling wrap conversions from used
woven wraps will no longer be allowed. However, conversions from new in box,
direct from manufacture wraps should still be permitted. This is expected to limit
the customization and diversity of wrap conversions in the market in the
future. These changes for SSC and Mei Tai are effective September 2014.
That is not very far in the future!
What about the DIY community?
You are still able to create baby
carriers for your own, personal use. You can still make a carrier as a
gift for a friend. If you want to sell a carrier at a profit, you will
need to conform to all the standards under the CPCIA. To that end,
technically you can sell your DIY carrier for the cost of materials only.
After-Market Accessories, like different hoods, suck/drool pads, waist pouches, etc.
Most of these makers are on Etsy or Facebook and make some beautiful and functional products. Sometimes I love everything about my carrier except one thing. Like the hood (I really can not begin to tell you how much I detest the flat hood on my Kinderpack with Comfort Mesh. Purely personal preference, but it is far to small. In my opinion) and want to look for something to replace it. These replacement/additional accessories are not regulated, so it is really buyer-be-aware. It's up to you, as a consumer, to use your common sense regarding whether you really want your baby chewing on certain fabrics, or playing with too-long reach straps. The BCIA is working with ASTM to update the guidelines to at least include some mention of length of reach straps, since they are a major choking hazard and/or strangulation risk. You can read more about their efforts HERE.
Bottom Line:
If a shop is new, or you haven't heard of it, ask in our Facebook Group. Before investing in any carrier, whether it's a $30 Infantino Mei Tai, a $50 Ring Sling, or a $200 Buckle Carrier, ask questions! We all as parents understand you want your carrier to work well for you, you want it to be safe, and you want it to be a worthwhile investment. It is an investment. If you are like most of us, you plan on selling your carrier one day, and you will be able to sell it more quickly and for closer to its retail value if it is a compliant carrier.
Upcoming Events
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| Rachel - Ring Sling |
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| Laura - Rebozo |
Saturday August 9th - 10 a.m. at the LDS Institute of Religion on Assembly Street - we'll be demonstrating and trouble shooting how to do a rebozo knot and how to use ring slings - both great options for short carries that don't use much fabric and are therefore great carries/carriers in the summer heat.
We'll be covering this same topic again at our weekday meeting, Thursday, August 28th, at 10:00 a.m, at the LDS church on Broad River Rd.
Both of these locations are peanut-free. Snacks and drinks are welcome, but please choose what you bring with care.
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