Is Your Child Wearing Their Tag On Their Back?

Annie woke up today with a disturbing rash on her upper back. Fortunately for us, the culprit has been on our radar for a while now, so we knew exactly what caused it. She has a few pairs of Carter's tagless pajamas and said company has been in the news lately for the chemicals they used in their Fall 2007 product line. Despite the reports, we never thought that this would happen to us. She has been wearing all three pairs for over a month now. The pajamas we own were purchased at Costco last spring, so it is certainly possible that they are from last Fall's line, however there are reports of rashes from multiple seasons of Carter's clothing.

The rash itself doesn't seem to bother her--though it looks scary--and everything I have read says that it will clear up in a few days. This description, on the other hand, is a bit disturbing, "It was bright red. It was oozing, weeping. It was just bad. I started to pull and the skin came off with his pajamas."

The main issue that I have with this is that tagless clothes don't seem to be made for the reason that we all might think. Comfort is the clothing manufacturer's stated rationale. However, from everything I read, cost is the only factor in the switch. Tags cost money, or maybe the extra stitches needed from a child in a Chinese factory cost money.

Now, I'm not a very reactionary parent, and I don't plan on suing Carter's, but what the Hell? Because of a children's clothing company's decision, my daughter has a disgusting red rash on her back. If her skin had peeled off with her clothes I may have thrown a bit of a fit. I certainly would have written a nice long letter and demanded my money back for the skin melting items I purchased. Well, that Grandma Liz purchased. No matter, the point remains the same.