Play Mats and Are They Safe

I agree w/the other mom, check to see if it's from China first. Otherwise, I'm sure it's just that 'new' smell. We had the Gymini (SP?) mat for both our boys & it was washable so see if your mat can be washed. That might change the smell somewhat.

It probably has phtalates or PVC to make the plastic soft. I personally am trying to stay away from much close contact with plastic as much as possible so wouldn't want my 7 month old rolling around on it. Although I don't know how much better synthetic carpet is..... anyway, I'd see if you can track down the ingredients.

From what I understand, Toys R Us and Babies R Us do their own testing of products before they are put on the shelves. Therefore the mat should be safe. However, you should of course be careful if it is a foam mat since your child may bite off pieces.

We have a mat for our now 9 month old daughter that we bought due to hardwood floors. We did not have the odor problem that you are talking about. You might have a problem however when it comes to learning to get around. When she is first learning a new task, ie. rolling over, crawling, and now pulling to stand, she wasn't able to get traction. Once she masterd them it was no problem. She just needed to practice on carpet instead. We bought that foam thing you put under area rugs to keep them from sliping and laid it on top. This allows her socks to get traction when she is trying to stand up on things.

hi W.-
not to feed into the fear too much, but it is never a guarantee that your children's toys are safe. there have been a lot of recalls lately of children's toys and recently certain types of plastic are considered to be harmful to your child's (and your) health. i'd say, go with your instict. if it smells funny... put it away for awhile or maybe even return it. children's lungs and all sense organs are so much more sensitive that ours are. so if you can smell the product "off-gassing" it is probably not healthy for your child. i hope that helps a bit-
-L.