I got my 11-year-old son a cell phone.

I know, why does an 11-year-old need a cell phone? I actually dwelled on this for a while, understanding that some of his schoolmates have had them for a couple of years. And I wondered why he would need one. The upside was that he would be able to reach out to us in an emergency or if there was a change in plans during afterschool activities or while at a friend’s house for the day. The downside was, well, why does he need it?

So, in the end I got him one, and I figured it was a good exercise in responsibility for him: Manage your  minutes, use it wisely and you’ll be able to keep it. As an aside, I also wanted him to have a way to keep in touch with his cousin, who he is very close with and who he is likely to see less off now that my ex’s mom—their grandmother—passed away at the end of last year. She was the glue that kep those kids in touch. Now they’re able to text and stay in touch regularly.

But I wondered about what it would cost. I have friends whose kids chalked up hundreds of dollars in cell phone bills after first getting one. So I waited for the “report card” — the first cell phone bill since we added him to our calling plan. Well, it came this week, and he’s well within his minutes. Phew.

Still, was it still a good idea? What age should we be hooking up our kids with telecommunication gadgets?

It starts before our kids are born when we limit our tuna fish sandwiches to one a week and doesn’t end until … ever, I think. Keeping our children safe is job No. 1 for mom and dad. Yes, we’re supposed to teach them to read, sing, love animals and all the rest, but the most important gift we give our children is a healthy and safe childhood. In today’s world, where there seem to be weekly blasts on the news about lead in imported toys, parents can feel powerless to prevent risks to their kids — and that’s even before they get a driver’s license!

Today’s Questions & Parents feature, or Q&P for short, is with Irvington resident Jamie Schaefer-Wilson. Jamie is a child safety expert, author and consultant at Consumer Reports magazine in Yonkers. She has a long history of advocating in a wide variety of ways to keep kids safe. She co-wrote “The Baby Rules: The Insider’s Guide to Raising Your Parents,” a safety manual for parents with a humorous touch. She serves on several juvenile products committees for the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM International), where she advocates for safer juvenile product standards. She works with the nonprofit Kids and Cars, which is pushing for a rear visibility performance standard to prevent backovers. She has contributed to a safety column on iVillage.com and is the author of “Safety 1st’s Essential Home & Travel Childproofing Guide.” She’s also written the upcoming “The Consumer Reports Guide to Childproofing & Safety: Tips to Protect your Baby and Child from Injury at Home and on the Go,” scheduled for publication in May. In between being a safety guru, Jamie is also busy as the mother of Cydney and Samantha.

Q: Let’s start with the question on everyone’s mind these days: Can I safely buy my child a toy that’s made in China?

P: It isn’t necessarily a China problem, it is a manufacturer problem. We need better quality control, tougher import inspections and more attention to potential design flaws. Some of these problems are predictable, therefore they are preventable. There have been so many problems brought to the forefront lately from lead paint to small parts detaching and magnets falling out of toys. While we should be able to trust the toys in the marketplace, I think we all need to be tougher consumers and decide if we want to stay away from painted toys, jewelry and magnets.

Q: When the first Mattel recall was announced on Aug. 1, you feared that your child had a defective Elmo toy. Can you describe what that experience was like?

P: It was scary. It was a toy my daughter was playing with every day. It has a microphone that naturally she was always putting in her mouth and we didn’t know which portion of the toy contained the lead-based paint. I recognized the photo of the toy instantly and this particular toy was shown on several news reports. I checked the model number and was relieved that mine was purchased before the batch that had lead-based paint.

Q: Is all this focus on toys from China potentially distracting our attention from more dangerous, or even deadly, hazards?

P: No. I think people are looking more stringently at many more products now. We need to continue down this path and do a lot more questioning about all products — no matter where they are made.

Q: What are some of the hidden hazards we all have around our homes that we don’t think about?

P: We sometimes tend to overlook everyday items and things we do everyday. Take the kitchen. It is the room we are in most frequently. There are several dangers from the hot oven, water boiling on the stove or even the dishwasher. The dishwasher seems benign once the knives and forks are removed, but it is filled with spikes and if a child falls they will fall face first. Also, tipping hazards: Children tend to open several drawers at one time, sometimes causing furniture to tip onto them. It is very simple to install a tip resistant strap to furniture, and this should be installed to TV stands as well as book cases, armoires and dressers. Another danger is water hazards. Drownings are a leading cause of death every year. When your child is in the bath you need to keep him or her within arm’s reach at all times. It only takes a second for something to go wrong. The same is true of a swimming pool. Many children often slip outside unnoticed and you may not hear them fall into the pool.

Q: What are some safety tips you can share based on your own family?

P: Gates and safety locks: Those are two very important items that you should purchase and use. My 2-year-old wants to follow me everywhere and open every drawer. I feel I need eyes in the back of my head. My first daughter wasn’t as daring, but my second daughter wants to experiment with everything. I find it easier to remove and safeguard the hazards rather than take a chance. You can remove gates and locks when they are older, but the scar from an injury will be permanent.

Q: Can you tell me about any close calls you might have had?

P: When my 6-year-old was younger, we were at a restaurant and they had given us a folding high chair. The waiter opened it and we put our daughter inside, but it started to collapse the moment we placed her in the high chair. My daughter was screaming. I tried grabbing her, but she was stuck. My husband and I were pulling her and the waiter was trying to open the chair. It was very scary. Needless to say, I always check that high chairs are fully opened and locked and I now know never to take for granted that someone else may have done taken these measures.

Q: New moms often buy books on babyproofing, but what about parents of older kids? What safety worries are out there when your child reaches grade school, middle school and beyond?

P: Safety issues just change and expand as your child gets older. Child passenger safety is always at the forefront. Keeping your child in the right child-restraint seat until he or she is the right height, weight and age is one of the most important things you can do for your child. As they get older you need to focus on bicycle safety/helmet safety and stranger danger as well.

Q: What can you do if a fellow parent doesn’t take safety as seriously as you do? What if, for example, a mom doesn’t think about buckling a child into a safety seat because it’s “only a few blocks” or is casual about other risks?

P: I have had parents tell me just that: “Oh, it’s only a few blocks.â€? Most vehicle crashes happen within a few blocks of our homes since it is where we spend the most time. Some parents don’t like to hear the possibilities of what could happen and others ask a lot of questions. Questions are a great — they can save a life. If another mother offers to pick up my daughter, I always ask what type of car seat she has, and many times I end up installing my seat in her vehicle. I am happy to take the few minutes and do it.

Q: It seems to me the best way to keep a child safe might be to instill a sense of caution in the child. What advice do you have for doing that without turning your kid into a nervous nelly?

P: Caution is good, but you’re right, you don’t want to overdo it. So much of this is in your hands. Your child doesn’t need to know everything about the car seat they are in — just that they need to be in it. I often hear that a child can’t wait to get to a booster seat or get out of one. Most children wouldn’t even know that there is a day that they won’t need the booster seat — we instill this in them. You handle the safety and let them be a kid. You’ll feel more at ease about it. Every mom only wants what is best for her children.

Thank you very much to Jamie for sharing her knowledge by doing a Q&P! If you would like to be featured, or you know any parents who have expertise to share, please comment here on the blog or send me e-mail at jalterio@lohud.com.

And, in case you missed them, here are links to earlier Q&P features. There are interviews with more than a dozen moms and dads, including a dog trainer dad, financial planner mom, writer mom, mathematician mom, baker mom, drug counselor mom and pediatric dentist mom.

When Pumpkin was born three months early, we had in our possession exactly one sundress and one ironic hipster onesie. The future nursery was still a guest room with a futon couch. We hadn’t bought even a rattle. Thanks to the generous help of family and dear friends, we were just about ready when it was time to bring Pumpkin home nine weeks later. But even on the morning we were picking her up from the hospital, I was squeezing a sheet on her cradle mattress while my husband was stocking the changing table with diapers and wipes.

Most women’s pregnancies don’t end early, but many still could use some help getting the nursery ready. Vera Kessler, a Scarsdale mom of 11-month-old Jeremy, was laid low by morning — and afternoon and evening — sickness during her pregnancy. She told me she sometimes went to bed at 4 o’clock. After her baby was born and she quit her job as a gradeschool teacher, Vera got an idea for a new career as a consultant to help expectant parents get their nurseries in shape. Since starting up in July, she’s helped more than two dozen moms with tasks as varied as cleaning and organizing the nursery to setting up custom gift registries to figuring out which baby swing’s rocking motion is most soothing. I wrote about her business, which is called Nursery 101, for today’s paper. You can read my story here. (Above is a picture taken by my colleague Tom Nycz of Vera organizing the closet of mom Sandrine Grab of Mount Kisco, who has a 6-week-old baby at home.)

What did the rest of you moms and dads do when it was time to get ready for baby? Did you find yourself wishing for an extra pair of hands? Would you ever hire a nursery consultant?

I’m sure we’ve all heard by now that 1 million Chinese-manufactured cribs have been recalled, adding to the already lengthy list of children’s products manufactured in China that have been called back for posing potential hazards to our kids. You all probably have a sense of what that growing list looks like, with Barbie accessories and a host of other products with defects that include high lead content and magnets that can come apart and be swallowed. Obviously, it’s important as parents to keep tabs on that list. (Scroll down to The Journal News toy recall database).

But, as one of our loyal readers pointed out in an earlier reply, there are more recalls than just the Chinese-made products. You may or may not be surprised to know that consumer products are recalled pretty regularly, a good number of them children’s products.

“The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission”:http://www.cpsc.gov/index.html does a remarkable job of updating its list of recalled products. While the controversy over Chinese-made goods has dominated the list of late — and rightfully so — it’s important for parents to stay on top of all the recalls, which also include everything from bunk beds from Denmark that can collapse, to children’s science kits from South Africa that can present a burn hazard.

The commission’s recall announcements often include helpful photographs and diagrams, and are arranged under various categories, “including toys”:http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html as well as “other children’s products”:http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/child.html. In addition, there are separate listings for “sports and recreation equipment”:http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/sports.html.

You can also “search all products”:http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html by date or category.

Of course, it’s important to stay on top of the most recent wave of recalls of Chinese-manufactured toys as well. Unfortunately, that list seems to continue to grow. To conduct your own search for those products, check out the complete database we put together for you here at The Journal News:

Cortlandt Manor mom Erica Dubrawski is in Las Vegas this weekend — not for the sun and gambling, but to hawk her invention at the ABC Kids Expo. Like many other mom inventors, Erica was inspired by the hijinks of her own youngster — who woke up crying for a pacifier nearly every night. He didn’t rest until mom scrambled under the crib to find one. Erica decided to devise a way to keep spare binkies handy by attaching them to the crib. You can read more about Erica and her invention, called Pacifier Place, in this story. (That’s Erica in a photo by my colleague Angela Gaul.)

Talk about irony. Irvington mom Jamie Schaefer-Wilson works for Consumer Reports, and her special project is keeping kids safe from lead. So when she saw one of her 2-year-old daughter’s Elmo toys on the list of recalled Fisher-Price products, she wasn’t too happy. “It’s very scary. It can happen to any of us,” she told me. (At left is a picture of Jamie with her Elmo toy, taken by staff photographer Joe Larese.)

As we learned yesterday, Fisher-Price has recalled almost 1 million toys because they are contaminated with lead. Here’s a link to our report on the recall, with a list of the recalled toys. We talked to other local parents, a pediatrician and Don Mays, a senior product safety expert at Yonkers-based Consumer Reports magazine. Mays told me he hopes this latest recall will help his effort to convince Congress to require toymakers to have their toys tested for safety by an independent organization.

If you have kids who love the outdoors — but need some prodding to apply sunscreen — check out my story about new strategies to avoid skin damage.

In my reporting, I learned that one of the most effective ways to protect your skin is to wear clothing with sun block built in. In Australia, where skin cancer is an even bigger health threat than here, clothing is more popular than sunscreen. Here in the United States, it’s just catching on. I became intrigued by the topic when I looked for a swimsuit for my daughter. I decided to buy one from L.L. Bean that covers up a good 75 percent of her body and features SPF 40 protection. Even so, and despite liberal and frequent applications of SPF 50 sunscreen on the exposed parts, Pumpkin finished last week’s vacation on the beach with tanned arms and legs. Her head, thankfully, was completely protected by a white hat with flaps that my sister-in-law bought from her dermatologist.

My story also talks about cute fish-shaped stickers from Huggies that sense how long you’ve been in the sun. When they change color, it’s time to apply more sunscreen. I brought them with us on vacation, but didn’t end up using them. I think they would be ideal for an older child who needs a gimmick to accept a second application of sunscreen.

I did take along Oregon Scientific’s Personal UV Monitor with Exposure Timer (pictured here at right). It is a pretty cool little gadget. I had to take some good-natured ribbing from my brother-in-law about using it. (“What’s the UV index, Julie?”) It seemed to work pretty well. On a cloudy day, it reported the UV index was low to medium. On a bright day, it was high. The only problem is that we weren’t that affected by these reports. After all, when you go on a week-long beach vacation, you tend to … go to the beach. And since I’m a sunscreen nut to begin with, I slathered us all up equally on the cloudy and sunny days.

The results from our poll on the topic found that most of you (82 percent) rely on sunscreen to protect your kids from the sun. Just two people said they use hats, long sleeves and other gear. Just one person admitted being a sun-worshipper who doesn’t worry about the topic.

Any thoughts? Have you invested in sun gear? What’s your sun-protection strategy?

Check out the cryptic screen at the right. That’s what my iPod looked like after Pumpkin swiped it from my desk when we weren’t looking. Suffice it to say, we were a bit boggled by this message. My husband has had an iPod since 2003 — and he NEVER saw this screen before. Who knew you could actually lock your iPod? After playing around with it for a couple days, we were ready to call Apple. Then a friend visited and fixed it in a matter of minutes. In an embarrassingly obvious way. (We felt somewhat better when we considered that he’s doing an internship at Google.) What technology has your child rendered nonfunctional?

When I was a kid, I don’t think my mother worried about how many hours I spent in the sun. By the time I was a teenager, I regularly used suntan-enhancing products — like baby oil! Today, we know better. There are probably few parents who have not given sun protection some thought — even if they ultimately decide the risks are overblown. Please check out our new poll that asks you to share your sun-protection strategy.

I’m also planning a story that explores new technologies and materials that are being developed to guard against sunburn — and the skin cancer it can ultimately cause.

I plan to take a look at the new play clothes that come with built-in sun protection, like this romper from One Step Ahead. I’ll also explore stick-on patches that measure exposure to the sun, like the Huggies Little Swimmers Sun Sensors. For the geek on the beach, there are also electronic UV monitors, like this one from Oregon Scientific that calculates your recommended exposure time based on the strength of the Sun’s rays, what SPF sunscreen you are wearing and your own personal skin type. Pretty neat.

Comment on this blog or send me an e-mail at jalterio@lohud.com if you would like to be part of the story.

And don’t forget to vote in the poll at right!

A colleague here at LoHud.com asked me for advice about the best way to get rid of disposable diapers. In addition to giving my own 2 cents, I thought I’d throw the question open to Parents’ Place readers.

Here at the Alterio household, we’ve been using a Diaper Genie that we bought at Babies R Us while Pumpkin was still in the NICU. I have mixed feelings about it, and can’t wholeheartedly recommend it. While the Diaper Genie does enfold the dirty diapers in a sausage-like casing, it sort of stinks, as in hold your nose. The plastic liner smells bad, the poop odor isn’t perfectly contained and emptying the unit is awkward. Today there is a new version, the Diaper Genie II, and perhaps it is better.

What I do like are Sassy Diaper Sacks. I buy them to bring when we’re on the go and end up using them in the nursery when the Diaper Genie liner runs out and I’m feeling too lazy to run down to the garage for a refill. They actually smell nice (kind of like baby powder) and form a solid barrier to unpleasant odors. If I were starting from scratch, I might just go with these.

What does everyone else do?

If your baby is wearing a bib that was purchased at Wal-Mart, you might want to take note of this:

Vinyl baby bibs sold at Wal-Mart, including the chain’s stores in New York, have been found to contain lead that could be dangerous if they deteriorate and children swallow pieces of the vinyl.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning today telling parents to stop using bibs that are cracked or peeling. The agency said that “none of the bibs that were tested at CPSC’s laboratory would pose a risk of substantial illness to children from mouthing. However, if the condition of a vinyl bib deteriorates to the point that a baby could pull or bite off and swallow a piece of vinyl containing lead, then the amounts of lead consumed could approach levels of concern.”

The agency said it tested the bibs based in part on information provided by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office.

The bibs in question were sold under the name “Baby Connection” and come in packages of two or seven. Some of the bibs have Sesame Street characters.

According to Cuomo’s office, the highest levels of lead were found in bibs with a tag sewn into the lining that have these numbers: 1468102732, 14681527 and 1468151077.

Wal-Mart has agreed to stop selling the bibs in New York, Illinois and California, according to Cuomo’s office.

More information at: http://health.lohudblogs.com.

I recently wrote a story about giving away stuff that you don’t need anymore to people who do by using the Web. One of the people I talked with was Cortlandt mom Amy Mongiello, who used Craigslist to give away a Little Tikes playhouse to a family of a young girl.

Today, I received an e-mail from the child’s dad:

“Julie,

I really enjoyed your article on recycling. I am the father of the girl who inherited the house from Amy. My daughter Alyssa just loves her new playhouse and my wife and I love the fact that we had to pay nothing for it. That is a real savings for us in these days of high gas and a mortgage. I am glad I spent my lunch hour that day browsing Craigslist to find the house. From seeing how nice Amy was and the joy on my daughter’s face, I have also decided to put a few items on for free that I was just thinking of tossing. If I can save someone a few bucks in the process that will make me happy and save room in my garbage.

Regards,

Jason Barone”

Here is a picture of Alyssa enjoying her new playhouse:

Jason, who lives in the East Fishkill area, told me he picked the house up this past Sunday, gave it a power-washing and it looks like new. The house has a little mailbox, as you can see in the photo, and Jason and his wife have been leaving “mail” for their daughter.

I think stories like Amy’s and Jason’s are an example to all parents to take a good look around our garages and attics and see if we can’t make someone else’s child happy with toys and equipment our own kids have outgrown. Kudos to Amy and Jason!

Here’s a link to my blog post on this topic (with a picture of Amy in the playhouse in almost the same pose as Alyssa). And here’s a link to my story about online recycling.

For a child, a bike means wind in the hair, the joyous ring, ring, ring of the bell on the handlebars and freedom — even if it’s only to the end of the block and back. For parents, it’s more complicated. We need to choose safe bikes that are the right size for our children and, most important, insist that they wear their helmets.

Today’s Questions & Parents feature, Q&P for short, is with Ilene and Eric Marcos, who offer their tips for helping children have a safe and fun biking experience. The Purdys’ residents are parents of a 9-year-old boy named Tyler and owners of Bicycle World, a bike shop on E. Main Street in downtown Mount Kisco.

Q: What is the best age to introduce a child to bicycling?

P: Around age 2 to 3 is ideal to introduce them to balance and pedaling. Also, parents should stress wearing a helmet at this early age.

Q: What questions should a parent ask when buying that first bicycle? Do you recommend a tricycle or a bicycle?

P: It’s best to start with a real 12-inch bicycle with training wheels for 2- to 4-year-olds. Bicycles are stable, have brakes and the distance from the saddle to the pedals is shorter on a bike than a trike. Children can usually pedal a bicycle before they can pedal a tricycle. Also, because real bikes have brakes, you won’t have to reteach your child to use the coaster brake. When you pedal a trike backward, the child goes backward, but when you pedal a bike backward, it activates the coaster brake. Also, make sure the bike is good quality, that the training wheels are strong metal with a crossbrace and that qualified mechanics have assembled it.



Q: What is important to know about choosing a helmet?

P: Helmets should pass all required safety tests by testing organizations, such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Snell Memorial Foundation (SNELL) and the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC). In addition, helmets should be sized and fit by a professional. Helmets need to sit level on the head and the straps should be snug. Helmets are designed for one crash and should be replaced if they’ve had an impact. As a note, toy stores and department stores can sell helmets that have not passed all of the required safety tests. Bike stores will sell the helmets that pass those tests. Check inside the helmet for a sticker that says which tests have been passed. If a helmet has any, or all, of the testing organization stickers, it should be OK.



Q: How much safety gear do you recommend in addition to a helmet?

P: The helmet is the most important item, but possibly gloves in case of a crash. Some children may like to wear safety pads that they use in other sports, like in-line skating.

Q: Should a parent be the one to teach a child to ride a bike?

P: A parent is usually qualified to teach a child to ride on two wheels. There is a training bar that attaches to the bike, to help the adult’s back, if needed. Like anything, the best way to improve is practice. It’s an incredibly rewarding day for everyone involved when the child frees themselves of training wheels.

Q: When should children stop using training wheels?

P: The average age is about 6. Try to avoid forcing your child to learn this skill, but make time available to teach them. Children will usually tell you when they’re ready to try without training wheels.

Q: What factors, besides cost, should parents consider when they buy a bike for their child?

P: Proper fit is the most important factor. A knowledgeable bicycle store can help you determine the right size for your child that fits today and will give maximum growth for the future. Proper assembly is a must. Department store bikes are usually assembled by non-specialist personnel. Realize that bikes are vehicles, and not toys, and quality equipment is important. Mass merchants pay a lot to license the characters that appear on their bikes, at the cost of sturdy construction and good quality components.

Q: How much should a parent expect to pay for a kids’ bike?

P: Bikes with 12-inch wheels (2 to 4 years) start at $110; 16-inch wheels (4 to 6 years) start at $130; 20-inch wheels (6 to 8 years) range from $150-$220, depending on whether it’s a single speed or multi-gear bike; 24-inch wheels (8 to 12 years) start at $250.

Q: What advice do you have for parents who can’t afford to spend a lot of money on their child’s bicycle?

P: Some bicycle shops, including ours, offer reconditioned bicycles for families on a budget. These are bike-shop-quality bikes that have been reconditioned and are mechanically sound and warranteed for 30 days. These bikes have been used, and may show wear, but they function very well. They are priced similarly to department store bikes, but offer much higher quality. Pre-owned bikes generally sell for about half the price of a new bike.

Q: How often do you and your children go bicycling together? What are your favorite places to ride?

P: We ride in the warmer months on the weekends. Some of our favorite spots are the North County Trailway and dirt roads near our home.

Q: As a bike professional and parent, what advice do you have for other moms and dads about encouraging safe bicycling?

P: Kids learn by example: Wear a helmet, use proper signals and abide by all traffic laws. Have your bicycles tuned-up as needed (about once a year), and inflate your tires before you ride.

Thanks very much to Ilene and Eric for sharing their knowledge by doing a Q&P! Check back next Friday for another Q&P. If you know any parents who you think would be great to feature, please comment here on the blog or send me an e-mail at jalterio@lohud.com.

And, in case you missed them, here are links to our first two Q&P’s, with a Pleasantville mom who is a pediatric dentist and a Chappaqua mom who is trying to improve education about the environment.

Here’s the story of how Pampers dissed Elmo, made my baby cry and insulted my intelligence.

Our tale starts on the changing table, a place every parent of a toddler visits at least five times a day. These visits aren’t a picnic for either party, but for some reason it’s the baby who gets the most upset. A child can have a bum full of you-know-what, and still she will resist a diaper change. The answer to making this experience more pleasant is a mix of distraction and humor.

We parents use the tools we have at hand, and since diaper cream and wipes aren’t too entertaining, I turned to the happy cartoon faces on her diapers. Pampers licenses the “Sesame Street” characters and on the front is a rotating cast that includes Cookie Monster, Big Bird, etc. On the back — until recently — there was a picture of Elmo is all his red, cheerful glory.

A while back, I started a little game with Pumpkin: I’d show her the back of her Pampers and say, “Who’s this?” She soon learned to say, “Elmo.” It was amazingly effective. I’d tried other games in the past, but nothing calmed her down as much as the sight of Elmo, merrily smiling at her.

Then, a few weeks ago, I opened an 80-count box of Pampers Baby Dry and was putting them in the diaper holder when I noticed, “Hey! No Elmo!” There was still the character on the front, but the back was plain white. I thought to myself, “Huh, I wonder if this is a mistake?” I didn’t get mad until the change made my baby cry.

This happened last week when Pumpkin was suffering from her first-ever bout with a stomach virus. We were upstairs in her room and I was giving her tiny sips of water every 15 minutes to prevent a repeat episode of sickness. She kept asking for water over and over, and I kept trying to distract her. The only thing that entertained her was pulling her socks from the bin and other mischief that I don’t usually allow but tolerated while she was so miserable. Then, she started pulling the Pampers from their holder. One by one, she turned them over and said, “Elmo? Elmo? Elmo? Elmo?” She looked at me as if to say, “What happened to Elmo?”

I decided to call Pampers and get an answer to that question. On Friday, I called the toll-free customer service line and asked what was up with the missing Elmo. (I didn’t identify myself as a newspaper reporter, just as a concerned mom.) The customer service representative told me this was a new change. She said they try new features from time to time. I said, “This isn’t a new feature, this is removing a feature.” She said that was the feature.

Then, this week I called the media line and got through to baby care spokeswoman Lisa Jester at Pampers’ maker, Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati. I told her I am a newspaper reporter who planned to blog about her experience. First Jester said, “Elmo is still on the front, right?” Then she said, “We are always changing our design. We listen to customers.” I pointed out that the new design has a lot less printing overall and seems to be more about saving money on ink than pleasing customers. Jester said she would pass along my comments. “I’ll tell them Elmo has a fan,” she said with an intonation that was, how I can I put it? A little mocking.

Now, cutting out Elmo was undoubtedly a small change in the minds of the bean counters at Procter & Gamble, but it was a big deal here in the little purple bedroom at the top of the stairs in the Alterio home.

I went to the store recently and bought a package of Huggies. Let’s hope Winnie the Pooh has a better agent.