Is your child playing with unsafe toys or sleeping in a dangerous crib?

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalls 250-300 products each year, many of them children's products. In 1999 alone, more than 50 million individual children's products were recalled. With an average return rate between 5 and 30 percent per recall, millions and millions of recalled products are unaccounted for--perhaps one is in your home.

Here's what you can do:

1. Inventory all the items your child uses at your house, child care, baby sitter, grandparents, relatives.
2. Contact the appropriate government agency and/or manufacturer to see if any item has been recalled.
For various children's and consumer products, contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission at 1-800-638-CPSC or www.cpsc.gov .
For car seats, contact the National Highway and Transportation Administration at 1-800-424-9393 or www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
For foods and medicines, contact the Food and Drug Administration at 1-800-332-4010 or www.fda.gov.

3. Keep up with future recalls. Call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-CPSC and ask to be put on their mailing list. You can receive the recall information free by fax or e-mail. This information is from "Kids in Danger," a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children by improving children's product safety. Contact them at www.KidsinDanger.org

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Dr. McIntire is the author of Raising Good Kids in Tough Times.