Hello Everyone,
My name is Luiza Carneiro and my daughter is 9 months old. She started having severe reaction to Carter's brand tag-less clothing since she was 3 months old. I couldn't figure out at first the cause of her reaction. I went to several doctors and their opinions ranged from food allergy to eczema to body wash to detergent. Her back will turn very red and start oozing right where the tag (stamp) is in the back, the rash will appear as the exact size and shape of the stamp. The redness will then spread out from there.
After her clothes got smaller I used different brands that fit her. The rush had completely disappeared. Last night I put on a Carter's shirt and in the morning the rush was back. I don't know what material in the stamp is causing the reaction. Has anyone else experianced the same problem.
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I have contacted Carter’s and they are willing to reimburse me not only for the clothing that caused this severe rush, but also for all the expenses I incurred during this journey. They also mentioned that the reaction is from the Fall 2007 collection and they are fully aware of the issue. They also mentioned that the cause of the reaction is lack of air circulation to the area.
Hope this helps.
My daughter has had the same reaction since she was 4 months old. We just realized it was the "tagless" tags this week. Since removing all of the items with it, her rash is gone. We have been to dermatologist and pediatrician's without answers. Gerber was not helpful at all and stated they have never heard of anyone with an issue with their onesies. I haven't contacted Carter. Maybe I should.
Oh my goodness - I just found you through ZRecs - I think this is on my daughter's back. I have to pay attention to the source now, but she has a very similar something on her upper back and in the fold of her neck. I thought it was heat rash, but all normal heat rash cures have not been working. Thank you so much for posting pictures. That was really helpful.
That poor little baby! I am so sorry that happened! I will keep my eye out for problems with my little one!
We just read about your situation as it was highlighted on Consumerist. We have been experiencing the same exact issue with our now 6 month old son. His reactions haven't been to the extent as your photos, but it was something we were going to discuss with our doctor on Thursday -- it seems you've solved the mystery for us...
How scary! I don't remember my son having issues with this when he was a baby, but I will keep an eye on it now - he's 2. And warn others I know who use these clothes.
Holy cow - how scary for you and your baby. That's horrible! I'm glad to hear that Carter's is being cooperative.
My daughter has had sensitivities and reactions in that area of her back as well - and I had often thought it was the tags. Her pediatrician, who diagnosed her with eczema in her first few months, noted that I should use tagless items because of the reactions and her sensitive eczema skin. She does still have reactions, and I will check more carefully the clothes she is wearing. I also found this site - http://dld123.com/q&a/index.php?cid=5762 - that talks about reactions to tagless clothes.
Thanks so much for your blog and post!
I found your post interesting. Our son had a similar reaction two years ago on the soles of his feet after wearing a brand of Payless sandals. The reaction was limited to the area where the screen printed Lightning McQueen was on the sandal. We, too, saw our pediatrician and dermatologists. They chalked it up to a virus, which we felt was NOT the cause (no one else contracted it). The first day he woke up with a fever and was lethargic. It started out with flaming hot welts (like spider bites). He was two, so he wasn't really able to communicate why he didn't feel good. We knew something was wrong when he refused to walk. The next day the "welts" turned purple and blue. Two days later he developed pussing blisters. After doing more research we found similar cases of chemical burns from flip-flop sandals. So perhaps this is a burn, and not just an allergic reaction.
This is probably a latex allergy. Most likely there is latex or some sort of rubber compound in the ink that is used to silkscreen the 'tag.' This would allow the tag to stretch with the fabric and not be destroyed and pulled apart.
Please be careful with the types of band-aids you use and other rubber items your child may play with.
I am allergic to latex and it has left scars where my skin has just melted away from contact with latex.
good luck and thanks for the info!
Hi,
It's very important that Carter's make a public statement about this issue, if not a recall. I would suggest holding on to some of the Carter's onesies rather than send every single one of them back to Carter's (I'm not saying Carter's is a shady corporation, but this is a well-known corporate tactic when hazardous products make it to market). I'd hold on to a few in case there is legal action. Also, the cause is most certainly not lack of air circulation to the area. This is very, very likely a phthalate issue.
Anyone having this problem should definitely contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission. A law was just passed regarding toys with phthalates and this problem could be very much related. If this is reported, the CPSC could encourage Carter's & other companies to take a good look at this issue and/or recall these products. My little one has not yet had this problem, but I am now keeping a very close eye on it.
My daughter had a similar reaction her her Carter's tagless clothes. The issue has prompted me to create the Tagless Torture blog in order to raise awareness to the dangers of toxic chemicals in infant garments.
My daughter's reaction progressed over the course of a few weeks which we didn't connect with her spring wardrobe change around May 1. Within a couple of weeks a severe rash that developed. By the middle of the summer we had become very concerned because instead of healing the rash had developed into blisters, became red, painful, then eventually the skin became raw and started bleeding. We had to seek medical attention where the doctor diagnosed the problem as localized eczema.
I don't believe the problem is isolated to their Fall 2007 line, because most of the clothes we purchased were from the end of the Spring/Summer 2007 season on clearance.
It wasn't until you raised the issue that we connected the rash with her clothing. I'm so thankful that you took the time to post the photos and tell your story. I hope that your little one is doing much better. It's wrong that the negligence of manufacturers like Carter's are causing babies to suffer.
Thank you for posting this. My 2.5 year-old daughter has had a slight rash, off and on, on her upper middle back for about a year. I attributed it to her slight case of eczema and her ability to reach that spot to scratch....now I've got to wonder (we do - or did - own Carter's tagless and Circo tagless shirts). Now I will be keeping my eyes WIDE OPEN for those tagless shirts! Thank you.
Excellent post.
I will write a post as well on tagless tags and link to your blog directly. This needs to get out as Im certain many are experiencing the same issue and are being treated with topical steroids instead of the simple act of stopping the use of the clothes.
I will contact some of my colleagues who are aware of chemicals in clothing and get back to you. I am a naturopathic physician who specializes in environmental medicine -
Keep up the investigation -
In health,
Dr Ben
I just read your blog two days ago and sure enough last night I looked at my sons back and there was a rash in the shape of the tag. I put a different brand on him last night and so far the rash is staying the same. I contacted Carter's the lady tells me that they are not doing a recall because there is only a "select few" of children affected by this. I don't see how this could be true, I think more people need to speak up. I bought the sleepers in Babies R Us about two weeks ago so people are still selling the Fall 2007 line. This is outrageous. What can we do to get the word out there?
Thanks for your post. I contacted an attorney and he is looking into this issue. I will post his findings.
My son is 5 months old and had been having rashes on his back since he has little born. We didn't think much of them unitl last week when the rashes started turning into welt like he had gotten a burn. He had just out grown in 3/6 month clothes and we started using his 6/9 month clothes which does include many carters outfits. We didn't really know why this was happening until we started researching online. We haven't taken any action but thank you for posting this. We will eliminate all those items from his closet and contat Carter's for sure!!
My 8mo daughter wears carters onsies almost every day and has a continuous rash on the back of her neck (although not as serious as in your case) Thank you so much for solving our problem with your post!
Hi. Wow, i thought i was the only one! My daughter had the same exact reaction when she was about 2-3 months. I kept asking the doctors what was causing it, and of course their answer was the same, "eczema" or they said maybe it's the detergent you use, or don't wash her with baby soap, etc etc. I remember her skin was actually stuck to the tag and it was soo red..swollen..and oozing out some liquid stuff. I was really upset because none of her rash was like this. And it was on the back where the tagless stamps would be. I felt so helpless, because it was so bad, and really irritating her. Her doctor kept prescribing different kinds of cream, i would have to use gauges to cover it. This was going on for months, probably until she was about 5 or 6 months. I finally took her to a different hospital and the doctor mention, have you thought about her clothes? Because He had noticed the imprint of the tagless tags on the back below her neck area. So there was my answer, it was from the clothes! So i stopped wearing carters for her and she is perfectly fine! I'm kind of mad at myself for not reporting it or anything...at that time i thought it was eczema cause that's all the her doctor would say. It's helpless now because the rash is no longer there. But at the time, it looked exactly like the photos showned. I am glad someone spoke up about it because it broke my heart seeing my little baby going through that painful time. She is my first to, so i had no clue what any type of rash was. My reason for commenting is because i was watching the 11 o'clock news on nbc and i saw the one about the baby with the same problem. I hope something is done about this! Because i wished i would of said something so i am truly glad someone said something about it!
Thank you so much for posting your daughter's pictures! I thought I was the only one until I started researching this issue. My daughter started getting this rash when she was only 6 weeks old! It became so SEVERE when she was 3 months (a weepy scabby wound) that our pediatrician told me to rush to the ER where UCSF had a sterile hospital room for her. She was hospitalized, on IV antibiotics and the room protocol was anyone entering it had to wash their hands, wear gloves and a mouth mask! The Doctors had never seen this before! They were afraid an infection might cause a darker issue since she was just a baby!
I have pictures, too and will post them. However, I did speak to Carters and they wanted me to return all of the clothes. Carters even offered to REIMBURSE my medical expenses! After careful thought and hearing from my local Mother's Group in San Francisco that other babies had been affected, I was incensed that Carters would call this "rare" or an "isolated" problem. I am speaking to an attorney and also directly to Carter's insurance company to try to settle this matter (I am not an attorney). However, NBC just aired a story on this tonight and it seems widespread! Our pediatrician is filing a report with the Consumer Agency Board. However, Carters is not taking this seriously. These clothes are still being sold and there is absolutely no warning. How many babies and parents must continue to suffer until Carters recalls these products? They should at least have a warning! If anyone would like to band with me in pressuring Carters to recall or make a public statement to warn unknowing parents & their babies, please please free to email me.
This is so frightening and my daughter is finally getting over the rash-burn. However, I believe that Carters should stand by their website statement that they make "trusted" baby clothes and take responsibility for the pain our babies have endured.
I saw your story/blog on my local news (NBC 11) mid-week of last week regarding your daughter. I have a 5 month old son who I've noticed the same similar red rash also on my son's upper back just beneath his neck line where Carter's tagless stamp lied, but I didn't know that the cause was coming from Carter's tagless though. I thought my son's Dreft laundry detergent was getting mixed in with one of my neighbors laundry detergent, but glad you took the time and came out to the public. Most all of my son's wardrobe is by Carter's tagless and so I'm planning on calling Carter's to complain, but also hoping that they will reimburse me for the hundreds of dollars I spent with their company. Carter's bibs/pants comes with the actual tags I'm not sure why they don't do the same with tops (i.e. onesis, sweaters, shirts, undershirts). Lastly, my son has been wearing none Carter's long sleeve onesis that his back is currently healing. I did take a picture of my son's red rash when it was medium bad and to keep the rash from drying out I use Aveeno's body lotion for newborn babies.
I had moved from SF to Santa Rosa, CA last summer and this started to happen to my daughter. At first we thought it might be a heat rash because we weren't used to such hot weather. I had a summer filled with anxiety that whatever was causing her marks would come back and panic when it was on her back because no one could tell me what was causing it. I finally realized it was the tag when she actually had the right corner angle of the tag seeable thru the big pink circle. You could actually see the square edge of the tag. It was happening to us during the summer and fall so it can't just be from the fall line of clothes that I now hear them saying it was. I sent pictures of her "burns" as I call them to doctors and nurses that we know and no one could figure out what it was, it was the worse feeling. I ended up sometimes peeling but usually cutting the tags out of the clothing. I didn't know of anyone else going thru this last year and it was scary to see on my baby.
Your blog inspired me to create our own:
http://avastaglesshorrorwithcarters.blogspot.com/
after all of our frustrating conversations with Carters and their insurance company (yes, Carters sloughed us off to get to get any reimbursements for our medical costs). Here is our blog with pictures of our baby's back. Thank you again for helping us figure out what caused it!
Hi all. I saw an article at CNN.com today titled "Feds warn Carter's baby clothes may cause rash." About time.
Check out this link:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/10/24/baby.clothing.rashes.ap/index.html
The link I provided before was cut off. Here is the right link.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/10/24/baby.clothing.rashes.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
I to have had the same problem. I contacted Carter's and they had me send them all of my Carter's clothes that we labeled with that "style" of label and reimbursed me for all of their product.
I'm a reporter. Would you be willing to talk to me about your experience? If so, please email me and I will give you a call at your convenience. Thank you!
This is just terrible. I am also concerned that the clothes will be sold to other countries which are not very aware of this problem. They really should issue a total recall. After all, if a few cribs cause a few accidents, they are immediately recalled. The clothes should be labeled as dangerous.
I wanted to let you know that we are having the same problem but we think from Gerber clothes. My son has had an almost identical rash as your daughter without the blisters. He was just starting to get them when we heard the report on the news about Carters. We stopped using the Gerber PJs and the rash went almost 100% away in about a week. I wanted to see if it was for sure the pjs so we tried them again last night and sure enough, a big red rash appeared this morning. I called the CPSC to report on Gerber. Glad to hear your daugher is doing better too.
It's not just carter's and not just baby clothes. I am 49 years old and got a rash on my back last year, and after two recurrences, I realized it was from "tagless labels" on camisoles from two different companies. Doctors said it was dermatitis or some unspecified allergy.
This needs to be investigated more widely. There must be many others experiencing this - children and adults.
NBC continues their investigation and here are the latest stories: 1) viewers' reactions and 2) a class action against Carters - 3 families are interviewed (ourselves included) and we are hopefully other parents, consumers and pediatricians will hear of this problem and become informed.
NBC Video Links:
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Carter_s_Tagless_Clothing_Classaction_Lawsuit_Los_Angeles.html
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Carter_s_Clothes_Viewer_Reaction_Los_Angeles.html
While we are not part of the class action, I do have a copy of the complaint and anyone who would like it, please email me (contact information on my blog)
My daughter is 3 months old and we had no idea what was wrong with her. She'd been in the hospital for two days with an "unknown" wound and they dicharged us with no clear answer. We saw the picture of your little girl's back on-line and it made us sick that our little girl had the SAME one! We've contacted Carters and they've told us that they would reimburse us for the clothes and hospital bills. We're looking for legal advice BEFORE we do anything!
Take care and keep in touch should you find out any more information!
egirl1199@yahoo.com
my baby is only 5mths and started having rashes on her back too... not until last night a huge blister pop and stain her tagless carter's onesis (the one w/ rectangular tagless one). I plan to take her to the Doctor tomorrow so he can give me a cream to put because she wont even want to lay on her back, from the pain this has given her. I have pics on facebook and found out even "Mothers Against Tagless Onesis" MATO on facebook and have join.
I have kept the onesis with yellow stain for proof.
I don't think is only 400 people that have this, I'm sure theres more they just don't know it..
so we have to get the word out.
Oh my god! I am so sorry that happened to your little one but very glad you posted this! My 21-month-old boy, born in the spring of 2007 has had a very similar "rash" on him since Fall, 2007. I took him to multiple pediatricians, a derm, an ER doctor, took pictures and posted them on physician's site and no one could figure it out! We were given hydrocortisones, steroid creams, regular otc creams, lotions, multiple antifungals and antibiotics but nothing touched it. Now I see why. I feel so bad! I'm gathering every Carter's tag-less garment tonight and giving them a call in the morning. I hope they are as kind and understanding to me as they were to you. I am so glad they reimbursed you, too!
I read on one website that it is a chemical in Carter's tagless items that is causing the allergic reaction. My daughter has been having a reaction since she was born. We have been to the Dr. several times for it. I could go on, but to say the least it has been a horrible experince. I stopped using the tagless clothes a few months ago after my husband saw a news story about it. Now, I am concerned about any long term affects that the chemical may have caused and I am reading that Carter's is not the only company having problems with tagless items. I am desperate for more information on this topic. I do not want to put my baby through anymore pain (e.g. bloodtests). I just want to be confident that she is healthy and safe, especially in her own clothes.
Add my daughter to the list. If any of you has Carter's contact info, please share. I will also contact them & maybe if enough of us do so, they'll do something to correct this problem! thanks.
I have contacted Carter's and I mailed them back all my Carter's tagless clothing and they just sent me a check for what they thought all the clothing was worth. It doesn't change the fact though that every infant/child clothing company is going tagless now. It is becoming increasingly more difficult for me to find clothing that has tags. It is quite frustrating! Something needs to be done about this!
My daughter had the same reaction to Carter's tagless onesies. The red patch would 'weep' and layers of skin peeled off. I am frustrated also! Have any of you found onesies that have 'real' old-fashioned tags? Or nothing at all? My daughter's sensitive skin is better, but still can get irritated. It's hard to find any clothes out there that doesn't have the tagless silkscreened print in them. If you have suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!
My daughter has had a similar reaction. Where do you find baby clothes WITH tags? I am struggling to find them.
Hello! My daughter has been having the same exact problem since she was four months old, she is now 14months old. I feel horrible that I have been putting her in these clothes. We thought is was eczema at first, just recently the pediatrician started realizing that it was contact dermatitis. The rash that she gets (sometimes with bleeding and blister) is right on her back and a bit on her neck where the "tag" is. It has even gotten infected before. Can anyone tell me how to contact Carters about this issue? Thanks for your help in advance.
The only thing I felt left out was a "multiple sites" comparison, besides that I'm loving every word!
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