Review: Heartstring Baby’s Companion

I recieved two Heartstring Baby’s Companions to review. One blue and white heart-shaped one for my two-year old daughter and one black and white round one for my friend Christy’s infant son.

I was excited to do this review because the company is Canadian (like me) and they have high environmental and social standards which always impresses me. I, as well as Christy, also liked the idea of the product since we have both experienced babies tugging at necklaces while nursing. Having a special “necklace” designed just for this issue in mind sounded like a great idea.

Appearance

The Heartstring Baby’s Companions arrived and we were immediately impressed with their attractive, 100% recyclable packaging. Each Heartstring Companion came with its own un-dyed cotton pouch and instructions for use.

The Heartstring Baby’s Companion itself was met with mixed reviews. Christy, who didn’t even know what it was going to look like said “I was a little suprised at the actual necklace because it was not at all what I was expecting.” Christy didn’t end up wearing hers very much and wondered if it had been more fashionable if she might have remembered to put it on more often when she was nursing. But to be fair, it isn’t really meant to be used as a fashion accessory – it is a breastfeeding companion for your baby. I didn’t mind its appearance, but I wasn’t expecting to wear it any other time except for nursing anyway. However, for some moms who are more concerned with the appearance of a necklace-type product, this might be a turn off. Moreover, on the back, it had these little holes and loose “plastic feet” around their edges that you could pull like a rubber band. I couldn’t seem to rip them off because I did try to bite them to see what would happen, but it was slightly disconcerting and really, just not attractive.

“Little Feet” Q & A

Christy said, “I was a bit hesitant about the quality of the product and the plastic.  I know the plastic is environmentally friendly but I am generally wary of my baby putting any plastic in his mouth.  Also the frayed edges of plastic and hard plastic holes in the back made me question the quality of the product.  The clasp often came undone when I was wearing it too.”

I was also concerned with the holes in the back and saw this as a big deterent for recommendations. I contacted the company with our concerns about the holes and received a speedy reply. The Sales Manager told me “The holes in the back were designed by Dalhousie engineers here in Halifax, and have no cause for alarm. These holes are necessary. With the use of these holes, which are called “feet”, the plastic flows effortlessly to cover the entire backing and  the inner and outer plastics are permanently adhered. These feet are a safety feature.  We will be working closely with a company in Ontario to reduce the fraying ”flashing”, but in the meantime it is not a safety issue.” More on this later.

Toddler As Test Subject

When I first put mine on I told my daughter that it was for her to play with while she nursed. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with it at first, so I showed her how she could break the clasp around my neck by tugging at it. (My clasp worked great by the way. Christy’s must have had an unfortunate malfunction.) What a terrific idea to have a clasp that comes undone when your baby yanks on it so it doesn’t hurt the back of your neck or break. Well! Once she had figured that out she wanted to play with it all the time! Snap on, snap off, snap on, snap off! “My neck-a-lace,” she called it. Finally I let her have it to wear and she wore it frequently. I encouraged her to put it in her mouth, since that is partly what it is for, so she did.

The Heartstring Baby’s Companion does NOT contain BPA, PVC, Latex, Lead, Fabric Dyes or Phthalates and it is made out of “Thermo Plastic Elastomer which is a FDA approved medical grade plastic. This plastic is what surgeons use to replace cartilage in one’s body” (Danica Surette, Sales Manager and Vice President, private email). Basically, it is made out of a completely safe, toxic-free material.

Plastic Chunk Bitten Off

I was very surprised that although the owners of Heartstring Baby’s Companions “have extensively researched our FDA approved, North American made and socially responsible materials [and] have followed ASTM standards and have passed the new CPSIA 3rd party testing for small parts” my daughter was somehow able to break off two small chunks of the plastic from the bottom of the pendant. I immediately contacted the Vice-President and Sales Manager and recived a timely reply from both her and the President about what happened.

An Apology and Answers

First, she was shocked and appalled by the fact that my daughter had managed to bite off some of the plastic and sent her sincerest apologies, telling me “They [The Heartstring Baby's Companions] were tested for various such things by a US lab for the CPSIA regulations. The product was designed to BE used by toddlers AND young children that have a mouthing habit. My 3 year old has used it for months. The only good thing is that any part would be far below a choking hazard and the medical grade polymer is made to be implanted anyway, so there would be no danger for toxicity or any sort of leaching. The bit would essentially be “pooped” out. HOWEVER, that should not happen as the durability of the material is one of the reasons we have invested in using it. It is 2 or 3 times more expensive than other materials and much more (supposedly) reliable than silicon. Silicon does breakdown or crack within a short amount of time.”

As well, on their website they say “HeartString B.C. is safe for your baby to touch and mouth. The hard inner “dot” is made with FDA approved, medical grade polypropylene. The pliable, rubbery outer “shape” is made with FDA approved, medical grade Thermo Plastic elastomer.” Also, “HeartString B.C. is very strong and withstands a lot of heat and cold. It will not break or tear with normal use.” I’m guessing my toddler’s chewing and ripping at it wasn’t normal. She also bites her fingernails – what can I say?

Follow-Up

She then went on to say that because of what happened she had called the engineering department at the University where they did the first round of testing for material selection and asked them to re-do one of the tests for durability.  She also told me “Our material is already scheduled for review: The material engineers have suggested a similar medical grade and recyclable polymer that has in the definition:

“delivers outstanding performance, along with the softness and favorable aesthetics of a softer, dry and silky feel... Prior to release, each medical grade lot undergoes a Cytotoxicity study…Mechanical properties include strong tear and tensile strength…”

It has been a couple months since all this happened and to be fair to the company I wanted to give them some time to work out some kinks before publishing this post. Last week I asked for an update. The President told me that they did run tests for durability again and they are changing the material of the HeartString Baby’s Companion, to the one mentioned above, to be available by April 2010. It has the same medical grade designation but will have a softer, silkier feel and be even stronger, as well they will be able to use 40% of their own recycled material! Also, the new HeartString Baby’s Companions will be completely enclosed in the back, so the unattractiveness of the “little feet” will no longer be a cosmetic issue. Hooray! As well, they are going to start offering different types of lanyards since Christy and others commented on the blah-ness of the undyed cotton. (I thought it was fine). There will be the original undyed, some new bright colours, and new black rayon lanyards. Suffice to say, I was very impressed by the information she shared with me and I now feel a lot more confident recommending this product to breastfeeding moms.

My Recommendation

Due to my experience in seeing who this product doesn’t work with, I would say that the Heartstring Baby’s Companion is best suited to a baby who is easily distractable at the breast or who likes to play and nurse at the same time. Indeed, it is a product intended to “help” moms breastfeed when baby is not cooperating or focusing on nursing, and an alternative to bulky cover-ups when nursing in public. And if you are worried about your child biting off some plastic, go with the round HeartString Baby’s Companion because there are no knobby parts, like the heart bottoms, to knaw off.

An infant under 3 months of age may not need it. This is when Christy introduced hers to her son, saying, “My son wasn’t particularly interested in the black and white heart string but maybe that is just individual preference or maybe it wasn’t big enough or flashing enough to grab his attention?” The company’s reply to this was that he was too young or just didn’t need it. Babies or toddlers who have established successful breastfeeding also are not likely to benefit from it, like mine didn’t. Toddlers or children who like to mouth and chew on things would be fine to use the Heartstring Baby’s Companion (I would especially recommend the one coming out in April 2010) as a toy, and children who fidgit or have trouble concentrating or focusing on schoolwork will benefit from a safe product like this one too. In fact, next year will see Heartstring Companions especially made for children who have trouble concentrating at school. Much better than chewing on an eraser nub, don’t you think?

So even though we had a rough go with this review, it is true that the two children we used to review it on weren’t optimal test subjects. I do feel confident recommending this product to other breastfeeding moms and their babies, if their child meets the criteria for benefitting from it.

The Giveaway:

This contest is now closed.

Heartstring Baby’s Companions would like to offer one reader the Black and White Duo (as pictured above) with the new black rayon lanyard. This is made with their current FDA approved, medical grade Thermo Plastic elastomer.

To enter:

All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me why you would like one.

For additional entries:

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**Contest open to Canadian and US residents.**

Contest closes October 13th. This contest is now closed.

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Tags: nursing covers, Nursing In Public