As ‘green’ people, we hate plastic. Reeve drinks out of glass bottles, plays with safe wood or natural rubber toys, and we just generally do our best to keep him away from potentially harmful products. We use safe non-toxic cleaning supplies, buy organic food, cloth diapers, etc.
Having said that, Reeve is no longer content to play on his activity mat. He wants action! His two favorite activities are standing up to bounce bounce bounce, and shoving things in his mouth. It was getting exhausting to constantly hold him up to accomplish these tasks. Plus we just needed a half hour here and there to get stuff done around the house, and putting him on the floor was proving to no longer be safe since he’s mastered rolling, scooting, and is starting to figure out crawling. Yikes! What to do?
Our part-time nanny had an exersaucer, and Reeve just loved it! He could stand, spin, grab, and eat things all at once in a contained environment. So we went to Craig’s List and got two . . . one for home and one for the office . . . and cleaned them up really well. We’re still not thrilled that he eats the plastic toys, but we ate plastic as kids and so far have survived. We had to resign ourselves that the benefits outweighed the risks on this one . . . it really is a huge help around the house. He can play happily while we brush our teeth, take showers, and make breakfast. So score one point for plastic toys. You win this round!
The Manley/Coleman Family 