Health Canada has recalled various pieces of Shell Magic children's jewellery, which contain excess allowable limit of lead and cadmium:
SB (bracelets):
SN (necklaces):
N (necklaces):
Lead and cadmium are both toxic metals which can be harmful, even lethal, to children.
Although neither Health Canada nor Grand Fortune Import has received any reports of incidents relating to the jewellery, customers are advised to immediately remove from children and dispose of items in their regular household waste.
From 2005 to September 2012, approximately 13,176 items were sold at various stores across western Canada.
Many parents sing the praises of enveloping newborn babies in a blanket, believing the snug sensation encourages babies to "sleep longer, fuss less, even diminish the risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)" according to a Globe and Mail article.
However, the trend of the past decade—endorsed by books like Harvey Karp's bestseller, The Happiest Baby on the Block—is now under scrutiny, with some hospitals questioning the safety of this age-old baby wrapping practice.
“To have [infants] pinned down by a tight blanket doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Mount Sinai clinical nurse specialist in Maternal Newborn Care Susan Guest told the Globe. “You need to know that, developmentally, they need to move, they need to be able to put their hand in their mouth.”
Swaddled infants face various risks: from hip dysplasia and respiratory infections, to overheating, and (ironically) an increased chance of SIDS.
While swaddling encourages parents to place babies on their backs, there is a chance that infants might wind up with a blanket over their faces or struggling to rouse, thereby suppressing a natural startle reflex.
Few organizations have formally discouraged the practice of swaddling. Yet guidelines published by Perinatal Services B.C. warning against swaddling have led to a decline in the practice in that province.
Do the benefits of swaddling outweigh the risks? Former president of the Canadian Paediatric Society Denis Leduc thinks so. "If the swaddling is done properly, there seems to be an additional benefit of better sleep.”
Bottom line: most sleep-deprived parents are reluctant to give up a good thing. Will you continue to swaddle despite the risks?
As if to prove she's really a SERIOUS author who is through with wizards and spells, J.K. Rowling penned her first adult work of fiction, The Casual Vacancy, out this week.
In a profile of the mega-bestselling author of the Harry Potter books, the New Yorker revealed just how adult Rowling's new book is. The Casual Vacancy is, um, very adult judging by some of the leaked descriptions (reviews have been emgargoed until the official release):
[describing one character's cleavage] “radiated little cracks that no longer vanished when decompressed”
[describing a young boy] “an ache in his heart and in his balls”
[describing what a woman sees outside of a housing project] “a used condom glistening in the grass beside her feet, like the gossamer cocoon of some huge grub”
Further mention of a “miraculously unguarded vagina” suggests that Rowling was really out to prove she could write for the R-rated crowd, and had a jolly old time doing so.
Apparently the rules of fantasy writing stipulate that you can't make it too racy. “You don’t have sex near unicorns,” she says, “It’s tacky.”
It remains to be seen whether adults will take to her realism as exuberantly as they did her fantasy. If E.L. James's success is anything to go by, she need not worry. But just don't expect a happy ending.
A Rowling fan? Will you be rushing to pick up her latest offering? Or should she stick to what she knows.
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