I don’t have a baby that loves the car or the pram, but I do have a baby who loves nothing more than playing with toys in the bath before bed. I was watching Isabella the other night, like every other night, happily sucking away on a colourfully painted turtle’s head and then a bright yellow plastic bit of coral, then a mermaid…not a care in the world. I suddenly had a thought that I hoped the paints and plastics were safe…they had to be… I almost brushed the thought aside.

Surely baby bath toys are made to be sucked by babies and so would be safe! Wrong! There are very limited regulations in regards to all those nasties we hear about- BPA, Phthalates, PVC… Not to mention that I’ve since learnt that bath toys with holes in (so they squirt) apparently breed mould.

I then went out and looked at the other toys that my 5 month old loves putting in her mouth- Fisher Price, Playgro, some Skiphop… In Australia, unlike the U.S. and Europe we actually can have all sorts of chemicals in baby products- from bottles to teethers to toys! Some proudly declare BPA free, however still have just as damaging phthalates and PVC… And probably many more things I still have yet to learn about!

I felt sick looking at all Isabella’s toys and promptly packed them all up into a box and popped them on the top shelf of her cupboard, leaving the poor little thing with a bundle of dummies tied together with dental floss and a bottle lid and bottle for toys. (The only time we got any use out of said dummies or bottles!)

Now that I’m thoroughly sceptical about our safety regulation bodies, I’m starting on a journey of proper investigation into the products I buy for my most precious little girl, who depends on me one hundred percent to keep her safe. So here the story begins!