Baby Bargains Book Blog

2010 crib bedding trends: monkeys, elephants, organic and Dr. Seuss

Our roving bedding reporter, Donna Holzbaur from Nursery Depot, is just back from the big baby gear show in Vegas. She files this report on upcoming trends for 2010 for crib bedding:

Monkeys and elephants were popping up on lots of bedding at this year's baby gear convention. Monkeys seem to be very popular with customers.  I'm not sure that elephants are quite as popular as the bedding manufactures hope they are.  Don't get me wrong, I love elephants but sometimes you just see too many! 

Teddy bears will be big in 2010.  In the past teddy bears have only appealed to a more traditional buyer, so again we'll see 

what really sells.  We saw a few more girl animal prints this year---usually all girl patterns have flowers, bugs and butterflies.  Lambs & Ivy has a really cute Jungle pattern for girls that should be popular "Lollipop Jungle" (available soon).  Another favorite at the show was a dog pattern by Sumersault named, Show Dog (available in Jan 2010). For some reason, not many manufacturers except Sumersault have dog bedding. This one is boyish and incredibly cute!

As far as colors, we're still seeing some 'blue and brown' and 'pink and brown' but not as much as past years. All shades of gray were very popular at Glenna 

Jean.  Some sets have coordinating drapes in gray silk - they are 

gorgeous.  One of my favorite gray patterns is Grayson by Glenna Jean.  

My only question is whether it's for a girl or boy. Either way, it's 

stylish and oh-so beautiful. We saw lots of big bold prints from both 

Glenna Jeana and Cottontale Designs.  My only comment to these 

manufacturers is to not forget beautiful---both Glenna Jean and 

Cottontale can design some of the most beautiful girl sets and we need 

more!

Organic collections are still being introduced this year.  Customers 

seem to be drawn to these patterns based on the cuteness factor. Being 

organic seems to be a bonus.  In my opinion, this years top organic 

picks will be Habitat, a jungle pattern by Lambs & Ivy. I've mentioned 

Lambs &Ivy a few times.  They continue to have cute patterns as they 

always have but are also bringing in some of the old Banana Fish feel 

(since the sales manager is the former owner of Banana Fish and seems to 

have a hand in the design there too).

Carter's licensed by Kidsline continues to have some of the cutest 

patterns around.  Look for Laguna and Wonder in January 2010. Also under 

the Kidsline brand is Wiggle Worms. All are wonderful gender neutral 

animal patterns. This year, Cocalo expanded into twin and full bedding 

to match their popular couture crib sets.  Delilah is particularly 

stunning. 

Trend Lab is now licensing Dr. Seuss and has two great, bright and neutral patterns

available (available Nov 2009).  

Missing review: Carter's crib bedding

Due to a production error, we deleted a review of Carter's crib bedding from our most recent book. Here it is:

Carter’s (Kidsline) Call (310) 660-0110 for a dealer near you. Web: carters.kidslineinc.com/products . Kids Line is now producing the Carter’s line of bedding (with a separate web site at carters.kidsline.com). Kids Line has given the Carter’s bedding a much needed style-upgrade—there are six complete collections as well as a baby basics mix and match line. A four-piece set is priced at $180. Sheets ($11-15 each) are 200 thread-count, 100% cotton and quite a step up from the old Carter’s sheets we reviewed in the past. Kids Line has definitely improved both the quality and design. Rating: B

Bedding update: Crib linens still made in the USA

Is possible to buy crib bedding that's still made in the USA? Actually, yes!

Donna Holzbaur of the Nursery Depot, writes in today with an update on which lines are still made domestically:

Many customers are interested in purchasing their baby bedding from manufacturers who produce their products in the USA.  In today's marketplace, that can be difficult.  Firstly, let me say that any bedding set that is embroidered or appliquéd (which means that it made with pieces of fabric cut and sewn in cute designs -i.e.  animals or butterflies sewn on the pieces) is not made in the USA.  The labor intensive workmanship means that it can only be made overseas at the prices we have become accustomed to paying for crib sets.

So if you are determined to purchase from a manufacturer that produces in the USA, you will be looking at sets that use different fabrics for their design.  These will usually be more sophisticated in design and more expensive.  Here's a summary of some of the top bedding manufacturers that produce in the states. 

Glenna Jean-Glenna Jean sews about 95% of their patterns in their Virginia facility.  They usually have about 1-3 sets that are imported though. Look for the appliqués (which means imported), or a lower price than the rest of their sets , or ask to verify. Glenna Jean specializes in two areas- using beautiful, feminine fabrics, creating stunning patterns and using bold, modern,and bright colors and designs.

Banana Fish- Banana Fish up until two years ago, made most of their sets in California.  More recently, they have moved about half of their production overseas-  They still make about half of their sets in the USA. In order to determine which sets are made in the states, look at the price tag -- those sets in the $100's are imported and those in the $200's are domestic.

California Kids (except appliqued patterns), Terra Sutta, Carousel Designs, Pixel all produce in the United States.

Donna will be writing in with updates from the world of crib bedding---if you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments! 

Handful of California Kids bedding collections now imported

Reader Kendra D. writes in today:

Thank you for all of the great information and sense of humor you share with your readers in "Baby Bargains." I consistently use your advice every time I shop for my baby. Unfortunately, some of this advice is inaccurate: on page 143 (7th Edition), you write of California Kids Bedding "everything is 100% cotton and made in California". Happy for the opportunity to add some non-"Made in China" products to my nursery, I bought the "Mimi and Fido" bedding set on sale from BabyAge. When I got it, every single piece either had a "Made in India" label, or was in a plastic wrapper that simply said "Imported."  Sadly, I can't really return it based on false advertising, since neither the BabyAge or Calkids website actually claimed it was USA-made.

We called California Kids today and asked about this---as it turns out, six of their 80 collections (about 5% of the total line) are now imported from India. This change happened in the last few months. The rest are still made in California. Unfortunately, this isn't often noted online---so be sure to ask before ordering if this issue is a concern. We apologize for any confusion on this!

JPMA-gate, part 2: Did the JPMA mislead public on crib bumper safety?

Did the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) mislead the public on the safety crib bumpers?

Yes, says a new study published in this month's Journal of Pediatrics. Three researchers from Washington University's Department of Pediatrics came to that conclusion after comparing a JPMA statement on the safety of crib bumper safety and unpublished reports from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

How could this happen? First, a bit of background.

Earlier this decade, the CPSC first sounded the alarm about crib bumpers when it warned parents not to put any soft bedding in the crib. The CPSC published a picture of a "safe crib" (at right) which showed a baby with a blanket---but no crib bumpers (which are designed to keep baby from hitting their head against the side of the crib).

We should note that the CPSC did not explicitly say that crib bumpers were dangerous---but the picture spoke volumes.

This set off alarm bells at the JPMA, which is a trade association of baby product makers (including bedding manufacturers). While the JPMA claims one of its missions is to help promote the safe use of baby products, the organization lobbies government on behalf of baby product makers. In that role, the JPMA asked the CPSC in 2003 for data to back up its claim that bumpers were dangerous.

The CPSC provided the JPMA with unpublished data on crib deaths. After an analysis, the JPMA soon issued a press release:

“CPSC Determines Traditional Infant Bedding Does Not Cause Death," said the headline on the JPMA's web site. Based on its analysis of the CPSC data, the JPMA stated:

No deaths (were) directly related to the use of traditional crib bumper pads, infant blankets, and stuffed toys in infant cribs. This clarifies confusion over whether suffocation incidents are caused by such products.

Again, this analysis by the JPMA was done on UNPUBLISHED data.

As it turns out, that is NOT what the data said. Writing in the Journal of Pediatrics, researchers found the opposite:

In summary , we report that a number of fatal accidental infant deaths directly attributable to crib bumper pads. In direct contradiction to the JPMA interpretation of a CPSC staff data review that there were no incidents directly related to normal bumper use, we found 27 cases of death reported in the same CPSC database.

(Download the report here.)

Oops.

This embarrassing revelation is the latest hit to the JPMA's credibility, which took a beating over their reaction to the recent baby bottle controversy. First, after reports surfaced questioning the safety of some plastic baby bottles, the JPMA issued a press release "JPMA supports plastic baby bottles!" (yes, JPMA actually put in an exclamation point).

Then the JPMA issued another press release saying that exposure to a chemical in polycarbonate baby bottles "do not pose any serious risk" to infants." Right---the federal panel said there was only "some concern" for neural and psychological effects of the chemical on babies. Sure, "some concern" isn't "serious concern." But who's to quibble when you have the JPMA's assurances that everything is fine!

As we have previously reported, the JPMA has also quietly worked with the plastics industry to quash bottle legislation.

Meanwhile, the JPMA is busy this month promoting (what else?) "Baby Safety Month." Yes, let the irony sit there and melt on your tongue.

We get letters: Target registry frustration

We get letters . . . new crib bedding at Target

Banana Fish web site