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Serious Head Injuries with Falls From Summer Infant Baby Bathers

By CPSC Blogger on August 29, 2012

Do you put your baby in a Summer Infant Mother’s Touch/Deluxe Baby Bather? Check it immediately to see if it has been recalled. About 2 million of the bathers were sold in the U.S. between September 2004 and November 2011.

If you have one, stop using it immediately until you have installed a free repair kit that includes a locking strap. CPSC and Summer Infant have received seven reports of incidents, including five reports of infants suffering head injuries—including skull fractures—from falls from this product:

Summer Infant Baby Bather

Summer Infant Baby Bather

Here’s what happens: When you lift the bath product and baby together, the folding wire frame can suddenly disengage from the side hinge. Your baby can drop out of the bather. Baby bathers manufactured since July 2007 include the warning, “Never lift or carry the bather with infant in it.”

Four children between the ages of 2 weeks and 2 months old fractured their skulls in falls. One of those children required intensive care due to bleeding on the brain. A fifth baby had a bump to the head requiring emergency room treatment.

The recall to repair involves Summer Infant baby bathers with a small, nearly square blue or pink plastic base. Check this recall announcement for specific model information that will tell you whether your baby bather is included in the recall. Products sold since November 2011 are not included in this recall.

For additional information and to order a free repair kit designed to prevent the frame from suddenly folding if the bather is lifted with a baby in it, call Summer Infant at (800) 426-8627 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s recall page. The repair kit includes a locking strap and instructions.

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This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/08/serious-head-injuries-with-falls-from-summer-infant-baby-bathers/

Bumbo Update: Baby Seats Recalled, Get Restraint Belt

By CPSC Blogger on August 15, 2012

If you’re one of the many parents or caregivers who use a Bumbo Baby Seat, we now have additional information for you beyond our November 2011 warning about infants falling from the seats and suffering serious head injuries.

Bumbo International Trust is recalling about 4 million baby seats. Stop putting your babies in these seats until you get and install a free safety repair kit from Bumbo. The kit includes a restraint belt with a warning label, installation instructions for the belt, safe use instructions, and a new warning sticker.

Without the restraint belt, an infant placed in the Bumbo seat can maneuver out or fall from the seat by arching his/her back, leaning forward or sideways, or rocking.

Here’s what the seat should look like before you use it again:

Bumbo Baby Seat with Restraint Belt

Bumbo Baby Seat with Restraint Belt

Parents and caregivers: ONLY use the Bumbo seat on the floor. Do not use this product to bring your baby eye level with you, such as on tables, counters, chairs, sofas or any raised surface — even with the belt. Never use the seat on raised surfaces. Don’t use it as a car or bath seat, either.

CPSC and Bumbo are aware of 19 reports of skull fractures from among at least 50 incidents of infants falling from Bumbo seats that were used on high surfaces such as a countertop, chair or table. These all occurred after a 2007 recall of the Bumbo seat to add a warning on the front of the seat that alerts caregivers not to use the seat on an elevated surface. Additional reports of falls and skull fractures were described in the 2007 recall.

In addition, we are aware of 34 injury reports—including two skull fractures—since the recall of babies falling or maneuvering out of Bumbo seats that were used either on the floor or at unknown elevations.

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This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/08/bumbo-update-baby-seats-recalled-get-restraint-belt/

Fix Your Stroller; Avoid These Common Problems

By CPSC Blogger on July 24, 2012

Are you planning on buying or getting a used stroller from a thrift store, yard sale or a friend? Do you own one?

We have seen some recurring safety incidents involving strollers. One involves the opening between the grab bar or tray and the seat bottom. The other involves fingertip amputations.

Baby trapped between the tray and seat of a strollerLet’s start with the opening. In some older strollers, the opening between the grab bar or tray and the seat bottom is less than 8 inches. This can be a big hazard for babies up to 1 year old. When a baby is not properly harnessed, his or her body can slide down through the opening, but their head and neck get trapped.

CPSC is aware of 30 deaths since 1980 in which a child’s head or neck got trapped between the tray or grab bar and the seat bottom.

Many companies have recalled older strollers because of this risk. For these recalled strollers, there is an easy fix. You simply call the company to get a free repair kit or a replacement piece that prevents a child from slipping through the opening.

Here’s a list of companies supplying this fix for the openings on their recalled strollers:

Graco Quattro™ and MetroLite™ Strollers

Peg Perego Venezia and Pliko-P3 Strollers

Tike Tech  Single City X3 and X3 Sport Jogging Strollers

Valco Baby Tri Mode Single and Twin Jogging Strollers

Zooper Strollers

In addition, owners of Bumbleride Indie or Indie Twin strollers with an adjustable bumper bar manufactured from January 2009 through August 2011 should never set the bar in the intermediate (car seat) position when a child is seated in the stroller.

If you’re about to purchase a used stroller, make sure the opening between the grab bar or tray and the seat opening is 8 inches or more. And check for recalls on SaferProducts.gov or on our Recalls.gov mobile app (for Droid) before you buy. It’s illegal to sell a recalled product.

Whenever you put your baby in a stroller, use the safety harness. This can prevent a baby from slipping and can save a baby’s life. Infants as young as a few weeks old can move around when they sleep. If a baby is sleeping in the stroller without the harness, he or she can slide down to the opening. This is one reason you should never leave a baby, particularly one younger than 12 months old, unattended in the stroller. That’s especially true if the stroller seat’s backrest is in the reclined or flat position.

* * *

Now, let’s turn our attention to fingers. CPSC is aware of at least 23 incidents of fingertip amputations in strollers between 2008 and April 2012 among children under the age of 5. In many cases, children 3 or younger suffered full or partial amputations when their fingers got caught in a hinge. In addition, adults have gotten their fingers caught, too. Amputations typically happen in one of several ways:

  • Hinge cover on a strollerYou are using a stroller and a latch stops working, causing the stroller to unexpectedly collapse.
  • A child is standing next to or begins to climb into the stroller while a caregiver is unfolding or opening the stroller.
  • You lift a collapsed stroller, such as picking it up out of the trunk of a car. One side of the frame unexpectedly unfolds.
  • Your finger gets caught in a hinge when you fold or unfold the stroller.

Several companies have recalled their strollers to give caregivers free hinge covers that block fingers from getting caught.

If you have or are buying one of these strollers secondhand, make sure that you have the hinge cover:

Britax “Blink” single umbrella strollers

CYBEX Ruby, Onyx and Topaz model umbrella strollers

Graco Passage™, Alano™ and Spree™ Strollers and Travel Systems | Video

Maclaren single and double umbrella strollers sold before November 2009 | Video

Kolcraft Contours Options three- and four-wheeled strollers

phil&teds USA sport v2 and classic v1 single-seat jogging strollers

Whenever you open or close a stroller or one of its parts, like the canopy, keep your child’s hands away. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Hand the child a cup or toy to hold.
  • Play “hands up” as you open the stroller and “hands down” as you open the canopy.
  • Sing a counting song before your child can get into the stroller. “One, two, touch your shoe; three, four, stroller’s ready; five, six, time to sit.” Open the stroller while you are counting.

Tweet other ideas that promote stroller safety to @OnSafety and we’ll retweet some of our favorites.

Reader Note: Blog originally published on June 14, 2012. Updated July 24, 2012

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This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/07/fix-your-stroller-avoid-these-common-problems/

Recall Roundup: July 20, 2012

By CPSC Blogger on July 20, 2012

In this month’s CPSC Recall Roundup: Discovery Kids Lamps, Gabiano Collection pajamas and Chicco Polly High Chairs

Recall Roundup: July 2012

In this month’s CPSC Recall Roundup: Discovery Kids Lamps, Gabiano Collection pajamas and Chicco Polly High Chairs

Storified by U.S. CPSC · Fri, Jul 20 2012 12:55:55

Recall Roundup: July 20, 2012uscpsc
Discovery Kids Lamp RecalledUSCPSC
Innovage Recalls Discovery Kids Lamps Due to Fire and Burn HazardsU.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Communications Washington, D.C. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 3, 2012 Release #12-215 Firm…
Gabiano Collection Children’s Pajamas RecalledUSCPSC
Children’s Pajamas Recalled by Ishtex Textile Products Due to Violation of Federal Flammability StandardU.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Communications Washington, D.C. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 28, 2012 Release #12-205 Fir…
Chicco Polly High Chairs RecalledUSCPSC
Chicco Polly High Chairs Recalled Due to Laceration HazardFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 12, 2012 Release #12-221 Firm’s Recall Hotline: (800) 807-8817 CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media …

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This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/07/recall-roundup-july-20-2012/

Sleepwear Safety: A Success Story

By CPSC Blogger on July 6, 2012

In recalls of children’s sleepwear, including recent recalls, you’ll see the following line:

“The pajamas fail to meet the federal flammability standards for children’s sleepwear posing a risk of burn injury to children.”

What does that line mean for a parent or grandparent buying pajamas for a child?

CPSC enforces a regulation that requires that children’s sleepwear to protect children from burn injuries if they come in contact with a small open flame, such as from matches, lighters, candles, stoves, ranges, space heaters and fireplaces.

The regulation was enacted in the early 1970s in response to children suffering burn injuries, which typically happened before bedtime and around breakfast. Today, CPSC rarely receives reports of sleepwear-related fires.

When you buy pajamas, you’ll see two types: loose-fitting and tight-fitting. Loose fitting pajamas must be flame resistant. That means that the fabric shouldn’t ignite near a small, open flame. And if it does ignite, it should stop burning.  Some loose-fitting items are nightgowns, loungewear, robes or any loose clothing intended to be worn mainly for sleeping.

Tight-fitting pajamas fit close to a child’s body. The fabric does not need to be flame resistant because of how it fits. Tight-fitting pajamas do not ignite easily, and if the pajamas ignite, they do not readily burn. You should always see a label on these pajamas telling you to wear them snugly.

CPSC tests children’s sleepwear in our product testing lab. Here’s what happens with sleepwear that meets the standard versus sleepwear that doesn’t:

 

To watch this video, you may need to download the Adobe Flash player.

If you own any of the pajamas recalled, take the pajamas away from your children. Contact the recalling company for a refund, exchange or store credit as described in the recalls.

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This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/07/sleepwear-safety-a-success-story/

 
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