Foam Playmats-Recent Health Warning

[Miss.B]

SB, I've been told that just bub rubbing on it is not good, something about very fine fibers/particles can come off on skin or something like that.....chewing def. doesn't help. I think bub's skin/eyes can get irritated if they have prolonged contact with the mat. Personally I wouldn't take the chance, I threw mine out straight away.

[boomba]

Scary stuff so glad we dont have them. I would think it can leech and go into the body via skin?

The thing with chemicals is they are EVERYWHERE! Even if you only eat organic home grown food and wear organic clothes the chemicals will still be found in your system so you can not remove them but you can limit them.

I would not let my kids use them personally and when they chew them thats even worse. You will find most plastics to be bad...there is a chemical called Phthalate its is a chemical found in stretchy plastic so little plastic chairs blow up toys etc it is an hormone imbalancer etc especially bad for boys. Teflon is also another really harmful chemical...I could go on....so unless you are going to dispose of most things in your house you can never escape the chemicals.

But this mat thing worries me and I would be disposing them properly just to be safe. x

ETA Australia is the dumping ground for a lot of stuff which has been banned BPA is banned in so many countries, when USA I think banned it the manufacturers sent it all here to give to our babies!!!!!!! My mind boggles! A great book to read is Slow death by rubber duck. It really makes you think!

[beckoes]

i agree, there are chemicals everywhere....i bought some christmas lights this year and couldnt put them on the tree cause they smelt SO bad! they gave me a head ache! In the bin!!!!!
Makes you think about what others deam safe for our babies.

Our mat is in the bin too! Got one of those rugs with the roads on it and DD loves driving her little cars around it! cute! much better than the big jigsaw she used to pull apartand throw all around the house anyway

[Fuzzywuzzy]

Our mat is in the bin too! Got one of those rugs with the roads on it and DD loves driving her little cars around it! cute! much better than the big jigsaw she used to pull apartand throw all around the house anyway

Beckoes, where did you get your rug from? I have been looking for one for my DD for her b'day

[Miss.B]

Me too beckoes, that sound like a great idea! Our carpet is pretty thinck and long so DS finds getting around it hard. I think those mats you're talking about have very short fibers and easy to move on??

[Miss.B]

OK, there is heaps on ebay and Spotlight have rolls of vinyl with patterns (plus smaller 1.3 x 90 cm mats I think). With the vinyl, I think it's 1.3 m wide and you can have as much as you want in length. I saw a great rubber backing mat with roads and trucks etc. 2 m x 1.3 m. on ebay, might get it

[Shanti]

Interested to know more about this Shanti if you dont mind sharing, since I disposed of our play mats this morning. TIA

Just google bubba mat.... they're expensive and most people gawk at the price of them but IMO they are totallly worth it. DH and I bought it at the baby expo in 2009 and I've seen them online and some baby stores sell them too I think..... different sizes and prints on them, our's is really cute!! We paid $370 for it but it will last AGES and it's a huge mat.HTH.

[Shanti]

Hmmm, I went and had a lookie at the bubba mats made in Australia and when I had a look at the price I fell off my chair

Anyone with ideas of something less xxy????

But if you ever see a bubba mat IRL you'll understand why! They don't have the chemicals in them that lots of plastic mats do, they are much safer for babies and toddlers AND are beautifully thick!! Great quality.
Ours gets lots of use and it's soft for me to sit on (I have a crap tailbone after giving birth!!) and will last through all our kiddies.....

[Mum2SweetCs]

Hi Shanti, is it guarantee the mats are made from all material from Australia?

I got a bubba mat looking mat which i think is made in china =( I will try to take a pic of it but it looks very very similar to the mats at the website.

[Miss.B]

I'm sure they are fantastic Shanti but way out of my pocket. I'm going to get the rug type play mat with trucks and roads on them, it's got rubber backing so hopefully it won't move too much on the carpet/lino. I guess anything well made is a good investment especially because those mats have little if any chemicals in them. But still, a bit pricey for me

[boomba]

A rug is totally fine Miss.B we have a bubba mat and to be honest we dont use it, we used it for maybe a weekend but my kids have always crawled on the tiles, concrete, carpet or grass? Plus I am still worried about the plastic stuff in it.

[Mrs P]

Thought I just posted but it disappeared! Anyway currently there's a 15% off sale on Dwinguler Bubbamats with this discount code: DWINGTBTS15

Valid at softmats dot com dot au

[trini246]

For those who do have a foam mat there or are wanting them there are some that are made in Taiwan and have passed all the safety standards re: the chemicals that other mats have put in them. As all the articles you will read say is that its the ones made in China they are concerned about. From personal experience I know the ones from the reject shop are very strong smelling that can knock someone over from just opening the packet a little. The one we got from Taiwan 2 years ago does not and did not have a smell at all.

[MummyNaomi]

Well I ditched our whole playroom floor today (was 6 packets of alphabet floor foam tiles) - Yay

Now to save up for a MASSIVE rug

[LizLemon]

I hope they get results soon. We have all our sets (a big rooms worth too!) in big plastic bags. I have been emailing ToysRUs to see what their stance is (I'm hoping they might recall them so we can take them back) and the wonderful beings at ToysRUs don't feel like responding to me. My next plan is some telephone harrassment!

[~clover~]

I just got one for DS's birthday & was planning to get more... Bugger

[Miss.B]

Trini246, wish I had bought the one from Taiwan! Mine was the smelly Chinese one from Kmart....currently in a black garbage bag, hoping to get my money back when they have a huge recall.

MummyNaomi, yay for ditching the whole lot!! Luckily I had the one set only. I ended up buying a good size play mat (2 m x 1.4 m) and it has some rail track on it and some roads and buildings. DS loves it!

BugsMum, you go girl!!! I love your determination, hope it pays off! Can you annoy them from me too? I should get on the blower too, lol.

Clover, stay away from them hunni. Invest in a nice playmat, you can get plenty on ebay. I got a new one (big size) on ebay brand new for $70 and I got one for mum's house almost the same but second hand for $16.

[caixin]

Thank goodness for this thread we threw out our foam mats! Don't like taking chances like that esp since there's enough chemicals around to harm us already. We went to the melb baby and toddler show last weekend and got a Dwinguler bubba mat. We got the medium sized one for about $150. Much more expensive than the foam ones but really good quality. It's also much easier to clean as there are no crevices for stuff to be stuck in between. DD loves the colourful pictures and it's got pictures on both sides too.