Say No To Tagless

My youngest daughter, now 4 and a half months old, developed a questionablerash on her upper, middle back at 3 months old. I thought maybe it was fromher tag, perhaps it was rubbing her skin wrong. I changed her clothes thatnight to a onesie that had its regular tag removed. The next day I presentedmy problem to a parenting forum asking how to remove the tags. Someoneimmediately responded about Carters' "tags" being an issue.

Thankfully I was able to catch it very quickly, within a couple of days ofnoticing the rash. I believe it happened at three months and not soonerbecause her entire three month old wardrobe was Carters tagless items, notjust a few items like we had in her newborn size. The rash started out as anoozing, red, almost eczema type rash. Once the problem was isolated, therash began healing which consisted of sealing up and creating a leather liketexture, followed by peeling. After that stage, the redness of the rash tookseveral weeks to completely heal and finally disappear.

After contacting Carters customer service, they promptly shipped prepaidpostage bags to return all my Carters garments for a full refund which alsoincluded my clothing from my older children, along with a small teddy bear.It took about 3 and a half weeks to receive my refund, which I believe wasfull retail at $660, but I must say they offered great concern and were bothhelpful and compassionate to my situation.

As of now, I will not be purchasing any Carters clothing with stamped tags,but am willing to entertain their clothing again if they return to actualtagged items.

Rash at 3 months

My son received a burn on upper back as a result of wearing Carter's clothing. Picture shows burn in healing state after Carter's clothing was removed for quite sometime. I wish I would of taken pictures at its worse but this happened in early spring before I knew all this was going on and Carter's told me that there was only one other report. My son went to countless doctor's and dermatologists . Also at the onset of this burn had a rash that covered his entire body that lasted for several weeks. Because of the burn he was in terrible discomfort unable to bathe correctly as water hurt him so bad , had to wear special clothing and avoid being on his back for month. This has been a long road of recovery and Carter's must stop manufacturing clothing that BURNED our children not caused a rash. Please ban together to stop this I am outraged to find that there are so many more babied that have been affected.

Adlanna

Back when my daughter was 6mo. old she got spots on the back of her neck, the spots were small so I thought it was eczema, and thought nothing about it. One morning I found two giant lumps on her back... I wish I had taken pictures, but I was freaked out, last thing on my mind was taking a picture. Anyway they were close to the point of oozing. I asked the dr. and he said that it was nickel in the snaps on the onesie, and it was contact dermatitis. So I was very careful from that point on, to keep snaps away and to cover them up with something if she did wear them,(but noticed that snaps in other spots, down her front and, on her shoulder... etc never made her break out...) Meanwhile still little patches... Then finally I got this rectangle spot on her neck... It was obvious it was the tag less tag on Carters onesies.. So I talked to the dr. and he said that it must be something in the tag, just not to wear them...

HA HA easier said then done, she has a lot of Carters tags. Anyway, we avoided those tags, but noticed the stenciled tags did it, the Gerber’s tag less did it, the Circo tags did it... Then other things did it, like sun block, and certain lotions... yes even the hypoallergenic kinds. It finally got so bad that it was open and bleeding and oozing... it was leaving yellow and brown marks on her onesises as you can see in the 2nd photo. We put a band aide on it to protect it from all the tag less since like 99% of her onesies had those... and we couldn't find reg. tag clothing, so we were trying to cover it and protect it from touching. BUT a stinking band aide also caused the spot to grow, and spread.

I was always told it was something my daughter just happen to be allergic to, so I didn't do much other than avoid those items. I refused for the first while to put that cortisone cream on it, since I know of bad side effects from those creams. Finally when it started oozing and looking like flesh eating bacteria I gave in and put very little on her spot until it cleared up. But to this day, she still has a spot, it is just pink and rough and looks dry, but anything and everything bother it... and looking back I realized it was the tags causing the little spots in the first place, and it was just the prolonged contact that caused the big eruption of goo!

I actually ended up going to the dermatologist for a mole myself and while I was there I asked him... (since her pediatrician seemed clueless to what maybe in that tag causing it,) The dermatologist said it was definatly something in that tag! AND that lotions even the pure all natural, hypoallergenic kind CAN interact with the stuff in the tag and make it WORSE... I asked if maybe they have latex in those tags, because I know that a lot of people are allergic to that, and the dr. said that it wouldn’t be that, because they would have lawsuits on their hands, they should be smarter than that.

Now I am constantly checking the spot to make sure new things don't make it break out, and they usually do.... I have to AVOID putting sun block on her because even the most sensitive sun blocks cause a flare up... I also don't put any kind of lotions on that spot or near it and it has helped cut back on the spots...

I am so exhausted and frustrated about not knowing why everything that touched my daughters neck would cause a break out, I am glad to finally have an answer and know it's not just a random thing. I have heard many many stories and seen horrifying pictures! I am just so glad Adlanna didn't have to be hospitalized like other have been. I do agree I think that Carters along with other companies need to do a recall, and think again because it is still in the stenciled tag less tags, go back to regular tags, I can cut them off IF they were to bother my child any day!

Baby Ava

Since my daughter, Ava, was 6 weeks old, we started noticing redness on her back (around her neck and between her shoulders). Instead of enjoying these first couple months of our baby's arrival into our lives, we began a nightmare into what was causing this growing wound on her back. We spent many days and nights comforting her, going to the doctors' appointments, the emergency room, after-hours medical appointments, using many methods and medications to try and soothe her pain.

At barely 3 months old, Ava's wound was the worse we'd ever seen it. She could not sleep on her back and was not yet rolling over. We had to hold her to give her the comfort of rest. At this pediatrician's appointment, they looked at her and said they'd never seen something so big! It was terrifying. The doctors told us to immediately go to the hospital, because the wound was so big it might be infected (we discovered through the cultures taken at the hospital that Ava caught a staph infection!) and our daughter might not be able to fight it on her own. We rushed to UCSF Children's Hospital where Ava was put in a sterile hospital room (anyone entering had to wear gloves, a mask & gown). She was given IV antibiotics and monitored. I spent the night with her, but didn't sleep at all. What parent could? I rattled my mind wondering what this was, how it happened and if my daughter would be okay.

Even after she was released from the hospital, she still had this painful chronic back wound. We cut the area of her clothing that covered this pear-shape wound to apply the topical treatments and closely monitor her recovery. We continued to go to her Dr.'s appointments and they still could not figure out why she had this chronic back wound.Last month (September 2008), I was perusing through the Internet and discovered several blogs on babies being affected by Carters tagless clothing. This ah-ha! moment brought to light the months of unanswered questions to my daughter's wound -- it was the Carters tagless clothes she wore that caused it. We immediately removed all Carters clothes and switched to the old type of labeled baby clothes. Her back wound is healing. She is now almost 7 months old. We have spoken to Carters, the media, and to many parents whose babies have been affected. It is my hope and intention that this becomes a more public dialogue where Carters and any other baby manufacturer and/or distributor that becomes aware their products are causing injury or harm to babies/children and their families inform the public, and immediately recall and remove these products!

ROSA

My name is Rosa. My husband and I have a now 9 month old son who was affected by the Carter's tagless labels. In early July after wearing a Carter's onesie he had developed a "rash" or what we believed to be a rash. The "rash" had become so severe (had become a large purple blotch on his upper back (where the tag would've made contact) and our son's skin started cracking and peeling), lasted so long, and had spread over so much of his back that we had to take him to the ER (after showing no sign of clearing up, but instead getting worse after 3 weeks).

The emergency pediatrician on call had said that he had never seen anything like the "rash" and had said it may have been eczema, but had never seen eczema present in the way our son's "rash" had presented, so he had no idea what to make of it. And didn't feel comfortable treating it, in case he made a wrong diagnosis. So, he referred us to his colleague, another pediatrician, but on base (we're a military family). Our son was seen the next day by his colleague, who also didn't know what to make of the "rash". Again, she had said that it could be a rare form of eczema, but like the original doctor, she had no idea what to make of it since our son didn't have any other indicators for eczema and the shape/form of the "rash" was unlike anything she had ever seen. Since she had no idea what to make of it, she prescribed us Elidel (in case it was severe eczema or dermatitis), antibiotics (in case it was an infection), and Aveeno oatmeal baths (in case it was something else) - they seriously had no idea what it was, so they wanted to cover all bases. Fast forward three months to now and although the severity of the "rash" has calmed, our son still has the one permanent spot on his upper back which still requires treatment w/the ointments and may never heal.

Attatched are some photos of our son's back 3 weeks after the initial "rash" had started. I'm furious now to think that this may have been a chemical burn and not treated as such b/c the docs weren't sure what it was. Anyway, haven't contacted Carter's yet, as I know they will just say to return the clothes for a refund. And all I can think is that a refund won't heal my son or any of the other children who have been affected.

Anyway, just wanted to say thank you for sharing your story. And I am unfortunately glad to hear we're not alone. Thanks for starting your blog. And hoping something can be done about this (I agree about the recall).
Rosa

9 Months of Misery

I am a first time mom of a beautiful baby girl Kayleigh Aurora born in January 08. Kayleigh was much smaller when she was born then we were expecting newborn clothes were swimming on her and preemie clothing isn't easy to find. Naturally we turned to Carter's a trusted name in infant and children's clothing. We purchased almost every article of preemie clothing they had being born in January these were all from there fall 07 line.



Shortly after we brought her home from the hospital we noticed some irritation on the back of her neck. We though the tag on one of her jackets might have been scratchy and I cut the tags off of it. The irritation got worse and we called the Dr. and found out that eczema is common in newborns and infants and got some recommended cream for it. The irritation that now looked much more like a full blown rash patch persisted and at our Dr. visit we got a prescription cream for it.



Nothing seemed to work to clear up this rash, I changed her soaps, lotions, detergents and went out of my way to get clothing with out tags. under the assumption that this was an eczema patch and tags would irritate it. Some days it would look better then others, some days it looked really bad but it has never gone away. We found the best results from the hydrocortisone cream and have applied it to her about 3 times a day. Kayleigh has just turned 9 months old and has had this painful sore on her back her entire life.

Like any new parents we want the best for our child and between us and her 2 Grandmas and her Aunts Kayleigh has an extensive wardrobe 90% of which is from Carter's. We love carters they have adorable things. But the fact that they know these tags are causing these reactions and another new mom can go in to a store today and get her newborn or Preemie these same items is irresponsible.

As a new parent you look up reviews and safety ratings on everything from your car seat to stroller. You wouldn't buy your newborn a blanket that might cause a rash like this. Carters would like you to think this is just a few isolated cases of this minor rash that till go away in a day. I hope that this Blog will help show just what is going on. Maybe this would have been just a minor rash if she just had 1 carters onsie that she wore once or twice. But what about the babies like kayleigh that have a ton of carters clothing that have been exposed to this constantly. Having a dry cracking painful burn like sore for 9 months straight is not a Minor irritation.


this spot is hard and cracky and has oozed and even bled, the pictures I have here arnt even on a particularly inflamed day. This sore has been a normal part of life and has been the cause of much crying and sleepless nights, in fact she will no longer sleep on her back and often if she would roll over in the night she would wake up screaming. It has gotten to the point that she will scream any time she thinks you are going to lay her on her back. You can only image how awful this had made having a diaper changed. I am so lucky that she cant reach this spot to scratch it.

Aside from this patch Kayleigh has no allergies that we know of she drinks regular formula with out any issues she loves all fruits and has only had a tiny spot of diaper rash 3 times.

I am so relived to finally know what has been causing this but very sad to hear how carters is handling this. If they want to continue to be a trusted name in Infant clothing they need to act like it and take whats left of these items off the shelves before one more baby has to suffer from this.