Cloud b, manufacturers of much-loved infant sleep aids Twilight Turtle and Sleep Sheep, just got hit with a product recall in the EU for burn and choking hazards. Now we're wondering if they're trying to quietly phase this product out of the U.S. market without a costly and reputation-damaging recall, which would mean letting the hazardous products remain in thousands of U.S. homes.

Cloud b's infant sleep aid Dozy Dolphin has been recalled in the EU for two things you wouldn't want in your infant's crib. The notice reads: "The product poses a risk of burns because the surface of the batteries becomes too hot and is not adequately insulated; and a risk of choking because of the presence of a small part (the on/off button) that can be easily detached and could be swallowed by a child."

Here's a screen capture of the recall notice, published via the EU's rapid alert recall system on April 2:


To the company's credit, unlike in the U.S., "voluntary" actually has meaning in the European Union; if a company isn't cooperative, authorities can force the companies to withdraw the product from the market, a power they routinely use. But what about the U.S.?

Our research has yielded inconclusive but disconcerting results. You see, "Dozy Dolphin" also comes in an "On the Go" travel size, which is not mentioned in the EU recall, and this downsized edition is the only one currently sold or even mentioned on the company's website, which is a good advance indicator of any company's plans for a questionable product. But the standard-issue Dozy Dolphin is still on sale in the U.S., on Amazon.com and elsewhere. Here's just one of the listings on Amazon for what is clearly the larger, presumably original, edition of the toy, which, please remember, has been determined by EU regulators to pose both burn and choking risks for infants.


We have requested a response from Cloud b regarding their plans for the product in the U.S., and will update this post when they do.

Why it matters

Without a recall, third parties won't stop selling the product as long as units are available unless there's a recall, and of course there's the question of whether Cloud b has even stopped distributing them. Bigger still is the issue of how many of these little friends are in homes across America and in your neighborhood, and whether Cloud b is interested in getting them out of nurseries and reimbursing parents who have put their children at risk with this product. There is also the possibility that these design problems are also present in the "On the Go" version of the Dozy Dolphin; if that version isn't currently imported into the EU, it wouldn't be addressed by their recall.

Ultimately, how Cloud b decides to respond will offer some insight into their capacity to confront safety issues in the phenomenally hazard-prone "bedtime" sector of the children's product market. ZRecs has worked with companies in the past, including Melissa & Doug, to help address consumer concerns regarding international recalls of products available in the U.S. You can read about our success in working with Melissa & Doug here.

We are not aware of any past recalls of Cloud b products in the U.S. or abroad as of this writing.

What you should do

If you own a Cloud b full-size Dozy Dolphin toy or an "On the Go" version of this toy, do not throw it away. We encourage you to remove it from the crib remove the batteries, and store it until Cloud b issues a statement. Keeping the product on hand ensures that (a) if a recall were to be issued, you would have the greatest chance of recourse; (b) if it is dangerous, it will not end up in another home; and (c) if it proves to be safe, you can begin using it again.

The company does not have a published customer service phone number (!) but you can email them with questions at cs@cloudb.com.

I recently spent a fair amount of time preparing for the landfall of a hurricane and the possibilty of power outages that came with it. As I was trying to find candles in case the power went out, I remembered that a year or more ago I had I tossed out all my old paraffin candles to replace them with soy ones, which burn cleaner and are non-toxic, but I'd never actually replaced my old candles. So I went to Target at 5:30 p.m. the day before the hurricane was scheduled to hit and was not at all surprised to find the entire store cleaned out of both D batteries and flashlights. I really wish that I'd seen these little gems when I was searching for something for Z to carry around in case the power went out.

The OXO Candela Tooli night lights come in a set of two with a recharging base that serves as a nice home for them. When you set them on the base, they automatically turn off and when you take them off the base (or when the power fails), they automatically turn on. Each light also has its own on/off button on the bottom for more control.

With a single charge, they will stay illuminated for eight hours and they are always cool to the touch, making them safe for little hands and a great nightlight for a child or baby's room. They are LED lights so there are no bulbs to change or break. With two lights, Z has decided that we can share the night lights - each night before bed, she secretly brings one into my room and leaves it on my nightstand for me to find when I go to bed - the other stays in her room. They give off enough light that I can light my way in my bathroom (whose only power plug is inexplicably wired through the light switch, which means that in order to power a night light, I'd have to turn on the room light) or I can use them to make last minute adjustments in Z's room when she's sleeping without waking her. Z, at age four, can easily carry the lights around, set them on the base and turn them on or off manually. They'll also be perfect for emergency preparedness and are so pretty that I won't have to keep them in storage until we need them.

There's a magical quality to these lights, a combination of their automatic on/off functionality and their strange, organic forms. This makes them a special object of interest for a child as well as a functional night light or emergency light.

If the colors of the Tooli aren't to your liking, you can try the Candela Glow which comes with a white lamp but has a variety of colored tops that you can use to coordinate with your home decor.