Child safety news: Tylenol recall, furniture tipover, more Tylenol recalls infants' and children's liquid medications. The maker of Tylenol is recalling 21 types of infants' and children's liquid Tylenol , because it may be contaminated with bacteria, including Tylenol Suspension, Tylenol Cold, Tylenol Plus Cough, Tylenol Plus Flu and Tylenol Plus Cold/Allergy in cherry, grape, strawberry and bubble gum flavors. The affected products were manufactured between April and June 2008. Learn more in the full Safety blog post . FDA bans flavored cigarettes. As part of the national effort to reduce smoking in America, the Food and Drug Administration announced a ban on cigarettes that taste like fruit, candy or clove . Talk about a gateway drug–who do you think is attracted to cigarettes that taste like candy? Check out the FDA advisory to parents on the risks associated with flavored tobacco products, and to the rest of this Safety blog post for more information. Dangers of furniture tip-overs highlighted by new CPSC outreach. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently joined the blogosphere and the Twitter universe, opened a channel on YouTube and created a photo stream on Flickr. In

Baby clothing: Consider used If you’ve never bought anything secondhand, you can start now–with baby clothing . You can easily get away with it, especially when your child is an infant. Scout for tag sales and watch out for local moms’ group sales. (Learn what not to buy used for babies .) Babies go through clothes so quickly that the small stuff is almost always in good condition. It’s not unheard of to pay 50 cents for a near-perfect pair of pants that would cost you $12 or more new. Pristine used clothing is tougher to come by in toddler sizes; when messy activities such as finger-painting come into play, clothing gets more wear and tear. Secondhand shops are prime hunting grounds for special-occasion baby and toddler clothes such as christening and holiday outfits and fancy party duds that have been worn only once or twice (if at all). You’ll likely pay a fraction of the retail cost. You can also check local tag or garage sales (see new rules governing tag sales ); try browsing Web sites such as eBay

Baby clothing: Consider used If you’ve never bought anything secondhand, you can start now–with baby clothing . You can easily get away with it, especially when your child is an infant. Scout for tag sales and watch out for local moms’ group sales. (Learn what not to buy used for babies .) Babies go through clothes so quickly that the small stuff is almost always in good condition. It’s not unheard of to pay 50 cents for a near-perfect pair of pants that would cost you $12 or more new. Pristine used clothing is tougher to come by in toddler sizes; when messy activities such as finger-painting come into play, clothing gets more wear and tear. Secondhand shops are prime hunting grounds for special-occasion baby and toddler clothes such as christening and holiday outfits and fancy party duds that have been worn only once or twice (if at all). You’ll likely pay a fraction of the retail cost. You can also check local tag or garage sales (see new rules governing tag sales ); try browsing Web sites such as eBay

Baby clothing: Consider used If you’ve never bought anything secondhand, you can start now–with baby clothing . You can easily get away with it, especially when your child is an infant. Scout for tag sales and watch out for local moms’ group sales. (Learn what not to buy used for babies .) Babies go through clothes so quickly that the small stuff is almost always in good condition. It’s not unheard of to pay 50 cents for a near-perfect pair of pants that would cost you $12 or more new. Pristine used clothing is tougher to come by in toddler sizes; when messy activities such as finger-painting come into play, clothing gets more wear and tear. Secondhand shops are prime hunting grounds for special-occasion baby and toddler clothes such as christening and holiday outfits and fancy party duds that have been worn only once or twice (if at all). You’ll likely pay a fraction of the retail cost. You can also check local tag or garage sales (see new rules governing tag sales ); try browsing Web sites such as eBay

As your baby grows and begins to progress through stages of development, one of the hardest tasks as a parent and perhaps source of costliest mistakes is deciding which activity centers and playsets to purchase for your child.

Get baby-ready without spending a bundle Children’s products represent an $8.9 billion industry and new products are added to the lineup every year, but there are plenty of ways consumers can keep costs down. The 10th edition of Consumer Reports Best Baby Products ($16.95), which is available in all major bookstores and in our bookstore , provides a voice of reason, guiding you on what you really need and what you can live without.

Can you eat during labor? They don't call it labor for nothing. Delivering a baby can be exhausting work, lasting 10, 20 or more hours for some women. So how can moms-to-be keep up their strength? How about a fortifying snack of…ice chips? After eating-for-two throughout pregnancy, women are often advised not to eat at all during labor. Does food help or hinder labor? Neither, according to a large study released last month, which found that women’s deliveries were remarkably similar whether they snacked or fasted. The study involved more than 2,400 healthy women in England who were having their first baby. They were randomly split into two groups. In one, women were advised to consume only water and ice chips during labor. In the other, women were encouraged to eat small, regular amounts of food, such as bread, cookies, fruits, low-fat yogurt and fruit juice. Researchers found little difference between the groups in: How long labor lasted How often the women vomited Whether they needed C-sections Whether their deliveries were assisted with forceps or a vacuum There were also no differences in the babies’ overall condition at birth or their chance of being admitted to a special care unit. These findings suggests that the fast-or-snack question is perhaps best left to the mom-to-be at the time of labor, assuming she is healthy and expected to have a normal delivery. Read the rest of this post on our Health blog . And see our report on safer childbirth for related information. Subscribe now! Subscribe to ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences

Fisher price now offers the Precious Planets line of baby products. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal teamed up today with Fisher-Price Inc., a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. (NYSE:MAT), to unveil the company’s new Precious Planet™ Collection of baby gear and newborn toys and to announce the company’s $250,000 donation benefiting the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The event, held at the Central Park Zoo, launched the adorable Fisher-Price Precious Planet line of must-have baby gear for new parents and their little ones.

This recall involves Baby Necessities pacifiers with a blue heart-shaped mouth guard. The pacifiers were sold four to a pack. The words “Baby Necessities” is printed on the cardboard packaging.

My wife (and I) had been looking for a stroller upgrade, something to walk aggressively now that our little girl is 5 months old and can sit up. We looked at less expensive models from BabysrUs. We are glad we bought the BOB Revolution. Quality construction throughout and well worth the money. Not a plastic me too product, but one with excellent attention to detail. OK, here’s an example. Not only does the front wheel lock pointing straight ahead, but there is also an adjustment screw to fine tune the angle so it really points straight instead of on a slight curve. Yes, the stroller is expensive and not for everybody. But if you can afford it, you will not be disappointed. BTW, the pink stroller looks great wrapped around a little girl.