The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an invaluable resource for parents with small children. How often do you have someone want to 'save you money' and give you their garage sale, or hand-me-down item? The chance to save money with kids is almost always a great thought, as things kids use, especially when infant - toddler, tend to be used for a short amount of time.

Use the CPSC web site to look up product recalls. Check out really important things like cribs, walkers, high chairs, rattles, you know, the stuff you use daily. Let's face it, if there is a flaw with a product, especially related to safety, kids are going to expose it - quickly.

The CPSC site is awesome. You can subscribe to get recalls via email, you can browse the site, or even aggregate their RSS feed! They have concise bulletins explaining why something was recalled, how to return it, and what you're entitled to as a consumer.

Back when our first child was born, our mother in law brought us a play pen she had purchased at a garage sale for pennies on the retail dollar. We were happy to not have to shell out the $80 - $100 for a new one. But after a quick check on it, and finding out four children had died, and numerous other incidents reported, $100 just didn't seem to matter.

And it's not just children's stuff. It's all products. I had a dewalt rechargeable saw, and had to get the battery replaced as the one I had was a fire hazzard. Again, not something you'd know until it was too late.

Check it out.