Bright Starts Elephant Snuggle & Teether

The older Baba G gets, the more, um, active he is when we take him out to a restaurant. If I didn't realize the need for quiet toys before, I do now.

On New Year's Eve we had the trusty Gund Worm (oops, Caterpillar) to fall back on:

Another great option is the Bright Starts Elephant Snuggle & Teether.

Here's what it looks like:

And here's a short video of BG playing with it on a car trip when he was nine months old. 

Shots of that same trip:


The elephant has that crinkly stuff in it that babies seem to love so much, and its feet are some sort of teething material. The fact that I don't really know what kind of material it is is part of the reason it took me a few extra days to write about this product.

FOR THE LIFE OF ME I cannot find any product material information for this damn elephant. It has been so frustrating and annoying. I'm trying to steer clear of toys with BPA and other bad stuff in them now that BG puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. And clearly something with the word "teether" in its product name is meant for babies' mouths.

I went on the Kids II web site (the parent company of Bright Starts) and the only way to contact them was to fill out a form with your mailing address and all of this information I didn't want them to have. There was no email address or phone number.

When I was on my search for information for this post, I came across this blog entry from 2008, and in the comments section a woman said that she contacted Kids II and they said: "All of our teething products are phthalate, PVC, BPA and Latex free."

Now, once again, that information is from 2008, and who knows if the commenter was even telling the truth, and if that really is the case, WHY IN THE HELL is this not stated upfront on the Kids II site or on any retailer's page? (Kids II doesn't sell any products through their site.)

It's not like I'm tossing out hand-me-down plastic toys we were given from friends or refusing to let BG play with things he gets as gifts that are clearly not BPA-free. But I am trying to make a point to understand what materials he's coming into contact with and have also let family members know that we are really trying to keep things as toxin-free as possible going forward. I just wish companies made it easier for us to know what's in their toys. (You'll see in upcoming posts that even totally eco-friendly brands seem to bury this kind of information — it's so bizarre.)

Mmm... BPA.  (I kid. I hope!)

The bottom line: Who knows whether or not the Bright Starts Elephant is actually BPA-free, but I'm going to hope that blog commenter was telling the truth about her communication with the company and then convince myself the product is safe because "teether" is in its name.

These guys go for about $17, and BG has enjoyed playing with his since the early days, so I consider that a great value. Except for the feet, it's really soft and floppy. I thought he'd grow tired of it by now, but it's still our go-to toy for car rides and is also usually on hand for restaurant visits.