Kids Gnaw Best

Nibbled Celebrity Celebrates 50th Birthday Unfazed

She squeaks when squeezed and is the perfect size for tiny hands; her
brown spots stimulate infant visual perception, her soft, long-hooved limbs are
perfect for grasping and chewing, and best of all, she’s made of 100 percent
natural rubber from the “Hevea Tree,” making her safe and natural for little
ones.

Sophie la Giraffe, “born” in France in 1961 and dubbed, “the world’s most
famous teether” turned 50 in May. With her miniscule horns and sweet face,
Sophie stands just seven inches tall, (holding her place among the faithful),
soothing babies and delighting parents, decade after decade, here and abroad.

Never heard of Sophie la Giraffe?

“You would have, eventually,” says Kate Agarwal, owner of Bella and Boo, Milwaukee’s eco-friendly family shop. Agarwal sells safe, non-toxic toys and gear that families can feel good about. She tries to keep her online store stocked with Sophie, but often runs out, especially when Bella and Boo sets up their booth at an outdoor fair like “Made in Milwaukee” or the Village Green Street Fair in Wauwatosa. Agarwal offers Sophie for less than Amazon and other online retailers.

“Sophie is very popular and people find out about her via word of mouth,”
Agarwal said. “We are constantly replenishing our stock because once people see
her and touch her, they have to have her.”

Unlike so many other teethers on the market, Sophie is BPA and phthalates-free,
making her first choice among parents and grandparents, especially those who
worry about environmental toxins such as BPA.

BPA (Bisphenol A) is an organic compound. It is used to make polycarbonate
plastic and epoxy resins, along with other things, according to Wikipedia. Known to be “estrogenic” since the mid 1930s, concerns about the use of BPA in consumer products were regularly reported in the news media in 2008, after several governments issued reports questioning its safety, prompting some retailers to remove products containing it from their shelves.

The National Toxicology Program Center for the Evaluation of Risks to
Human Reproduction, part of the National Institutes of Health, completed a
review of BPA in September 2008, according to information at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/

“The National Toxicology Program uses five different terms to describe
its level of concern about the different effects of chemicals:  negligible concern, minimal concern, some concern, concern, and serious concern. In its report on BPA, the National Toxicology Program expressed “some concern for effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children at current human expo­sures to bisphenol A. The Program also expressed “minimal concern for effects on the mammary gland and an earlier age for puberty for females in
fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures to bisphenol A” and
“negligible concern” for other outcomes.”

Minimal, negligible, why take the risk?

Join generations of informed families across the globe. When your child needs
something to gnaw on, all she needs is Sophie la Giraffe.