KPIX-CBS / NewsMom Continuing Coverage:A child’s car seat is the only consumer product that is required by law in all 50 states. Car seats are crucial to keeping children safe in the car. However, critics argue that a 1970s-era federal motor vehicle flammability regulation is needlessly exposing … Read More...
In the News: #Reporter’sNotebook
The Cost of Baby’s First Year
Ditch the Piggy Bank – Kids & Money
Lead In Sippy Cups And The Moms Making A Difference
Cleaning Up A Teen’s Online Footprint
Questions About 2016 Ecology Center Car Seat Flame Retardant Report
Should Your 10-Year-Old Use A Booster Seat?
EpiPen Alternative: The Investigation & Price Check
Ergo Baby “Exiting the Orbit Baby Brand”
In Depth: Featured Investigations
Toxic Safety: Car Seat Flame Retardants
Preventing Child ID Theft: Child Credit Freeze How-To
KPIX-CBS / NewsMom Continuing Coverage: After years of reporting on child identity theft and credit freezes, KPIX Consumer-Investigative Reporter Julie Watts set out to freeze her own toddler’s credit. What she discovered led to a year-long series of editorial blogs that … Read More...
In Depth: NewsMom Editorials
EpiPen Is Not the Only Choice: My Switch to an Off-Brand
NOTE: This is in no way intended as a product endorsement, but rather one mom’s experience. Please consult your doctor and insurance provider about any changes in medication --The first time I bought a set of EpiPens, in 2015, I balked at the price.“Did insurance not cover this?” I asked the … [Continue...]
“Chemicals Are in Everything, Why Should I Care?”
One of the most common critiques I get about my reporting on chemical flame retardants in car seats can be summed up with this Facebook comment on one of my posts:Look at how many of us survived... using car seats. Then look at the ones who survived before car seats were a thing. Does your child … [Continue...]
Investigating Car Seat Chemicals
What began as a NewsMom editorial, expanded into a six month KPIX-CBS investigation exposing alleged false advertising, apparent legal loopholes and outdated federal regulations that systematically expose millions of children to concerning car seat chemicals.First, we established that even the … [Continue...]
Featured News & Editorials
UPDATE: Girl Who Fed Homeless Vet in Viral Video Needs Your Help!
You've likely seen the viral video of the adorable Northern California 8-year old who gave her dinner (silverware and all) to a homeless man outside a restaurant. It's been viewed … [Continue...]
Survive an Underwater Car Accident: Seatbelts, Windows, Out (Children First)
#ReportersNotebook - Seatbelts, Windows, Out (Children First)It is an overused TV cliché: "A parent's worst nightmare." However, an underwater car accident is literally one of my … [Continue...]
Peanut-Allergic Boy V. Kellogg’s: Peanut Powder in Cheese Crackers
#ReportersNotebook:When Kellogg's announced it was adding peanut flour to some of its snack crackers, a boy with a passion for activism and an allergy to peanuts decided he … [Continue...]
Now Our Clek Car Seat Tested Positive for TDCPP
"Which Car Seat Do You Use Now?”That is by far the most common question people ask following our continuing coverage of flame retardants found in kids’ car seats (and potentially … [Continue...]
Remember ‘That’ Biomonitoring Study? Car Seats Are Just the Beginning…
If you’ve seen my coverage of chemicals in car seats, you likely know that a biomonitoring study found high levels of a known “cancer-causing flame retardant” in my child; the same … [Continue...]
Morning Sickness Medicine – New Evidence It May be Safe!
#ReportersNotebook I was lucky enough to have two very normal and uneventful pregnancies. Even with my twins, I never suffered from morning sickness and was able to carry them to … [Continue...]
Virtual Kidnapping – A New & Terrifying Threat for Parents
Updated: 9-18-16A chill ran through my body and I immediately felt sick to my stomach when I read this NextDoor post from a local mom. The tale of her child's virtual kidnapping … [Continue...]
What’s In Your Cleaning Products?
New parents tend to top the list of people concerned about toxic cleaning products. So, like many, I went out and bought the brands that appeared to be green and had names or … [Continue...]
Postpartum Depression: What to Learn From Panettiere’s Return
New motherhood is hard. The sleep deprivation, the hormones, the crying, the body changes, the guilt and the worry can team up to leave moms of newborns feeling harried, wondering: … [Continue...]
When to Skip the Organic Produce
Do I Really Need Organic Produce? We'd all love to feed our little angels an all-organic diet... but who can afford it when organic produce can cost almost 50 percent more? I … [Continue...]
Frequent Locations – Your iPhone Is Documenting Your Every Move
Most people know that phones (and apps) know your location. You've probably even turned off location tracking for some of your apps under "Location Services." But buried four menus … [Continue...]
Politics Stall Child Credit Freeze Law?
After years of reporting on child ID theft and struggling to freeze my own child’s credit, it was rewarding to learn that California Assemblyman Mike Gatto introduced state … [Continue...]
Alba’s Honest, Ergo Baby’s Orbit: Why Green Companies Are Found with Concerning Chemicals!
Here we go again. Independent testing found a chemical in a “green” children’s product that the company itself called “toxic”.The Wall Street Journal reports that it found SLS … [Continue...]
UPDATE: Keep Car Seats in the Middle, A Fatal Seat Flaw Exposed
Did you know your front driver and passenger seats can severely injure your child? Here's the latest in another excellent report from CBS News Transportation Correspondent Kris Van … [Continue...]
Car Seat Chemicals: Resources for Parents
A car seat is the only consumer product required by law in all 50 states, but critics say many of those seats are unnecessarily exposing kids to potentially dangerous … [Continue...]
How I Found “Cancer-Causing” Flame Retardants In My Child… And In Her ‘Green’ Car Seat
I'm not a particularly green mom. Though, as a consumer reporter I've covered enough studies over the years to know I should try to reduce my child's exposure to concerning … [Continue...]
How to Protect Kids From ID Theft… One Year Later
More than a year after my first NewsMom blog on the topic, we finally aired the TV version of "How I Forced the Bureaus to Freeze My Child’s Credit."The two-part TV news series … [Continue...]
Want to Test Your Home for Lead, Concerning Chemicals and Flame Retardants? Here’s How.
A new friend recently asked me about testing her child's room for formaldehyde. She noticed that the newly-installed closet in her nursery had a strange order, and she wanted to … [Continue...]
NewsMom Blog Prompts Child Credit Freeze Legislation
UPDATE 9/23/16: The governor has signed California's Child Credit Freeze Legislation AB 1580. California parents can now freeze their child's credit!My first-ever NewsMom blog … [Continue...]
Wake The Baby! Don’t Use Car Seats as Stroller Seats
All together now… “That’s unrealistic!”If this was a TV news story, I’d be starting off with a montage of moms rolling their eyes and replying “that’s unrealistic” when I tell … [Continue...]
Why My Toddler Has a Credit Card
SEE FEB 2016 UPDATE: How to Protect Kids From ID Theft… One Year LaterOver the years, I've covered far too many news stories about identity theft. I’ve interviewed adult … [Continue...]
Concerning Chemicals Found in Orbit Baby & Other Car Seats
While picking out car seats two-and-a-half years ago, my husband and I spent a fortune on the Orbit Baby car seat and stroller system solely because we were led to believe there … [Continue...]
Child Organ Donation & The “TV Good Luck Charm”
#ReportersNotebook The day after Thanksgiving, I had to work a rare night shift. I was resigned to the fact that I was probably going to be assigned a Black Friday story, and I … [Continue...]
Nail Polish: Out of Bottle, Into Your Body
#ReportersNotebook Normally I blog about the stories I cover on CBS San Francisco. But in the case of this report on nail polish chemicals, it was the other way around. The TV … [Continue...]
Before You Pay for Credit Monitoring or ID Protection…
#ReportersNotebookEvery other day it seems like there's a new breach. Between the Anthem and Premera insurance hacks alone, it's estimated 1 out of 3 Americans have been … [Continue...]
The State Owns Your Newborn Blood Spot DNA
#ReportersNotebook Do you know if your child’s DNA is being stored in a government database? If you live in California, or at least 20 other states, it likely is.In this … [Continue...]