Articles Posted in Child Product Recalls

On April 5, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a recall of approximately 76,000 Infant Bed-Side Sleepers manufactured by Arm’s Reach Concepts, Inc. due to dangers of entrapment, suffocation, and falls.

The danger exists when the fabric liner of the sleeper is not securely attached or not used at all. When this occurs, a baby can fall from the raised mattress into the loose fabric at the bottom of the sleeper or may become trapped among the mattress edge and the sleeper’s side, which poses a great risk of suffocation. At the time the recall was announced, Arm’s Reach and the CPSC had received 10 reports of babies falling into the bottom of the sleeper from the raised mattress or getting trapped between the mattress edge and the side of the sleeper. No injuries have yet been reported, but the CPSC is still interested in receiving notification of any incidents resulting from the defective child’s product, and encourages consumers to notify them through http://www.SaferProducts.gov.

This recall involves what the manufacturer calls a “co-sleeper.” One of the sides of the sleeper is lower than the other sides to permit the sleeper to be positioned close to a bed for easy parent access. The recall includes sleepers from both Original and Universal styles that were manufactured in China between September of 1997 and December of 2001. They were sold at major retail stores nationwide, including Babies R Us and the Burlington Coat Factory, for around $160. The model numbers included in this recall start with:

Approximately 2 million infant strollers are being recalled by Graco after the company received reports that four infants died in the strollers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the recall on October 20, 2010, and said the four infants were killed after becoming trapped inside the strollers and being strangled.

According to an NPR report, the strollers included in the recall are older models of the Graco Quattro Tour and MetroLite strollers and travel systems. These were manufactured before 2007 and distributed by Graco Children’s Products Inc. of Atlanta, GA.

The CPSC says that if babies are not correctly strapped into the strollers, they may be put in danger of becoming trapped and suffering strangulation by sliding through an opening between the stroller tray and the bottom of the seat. The commission also noted having received five reports of infants becoming caught in the stroller and suffering cuts and bruises, and one report of an infant having trouble breathing.

Recently, Tracy Davidson from NBCPhiladelphia sat down with Miriam Benton Barish, a personal injury lawyer from the firm of Anapol Weiss, to discuss recalled children’s toys. Barish has years of experience handling product liability litigation.

Generally, a toy is only known to be defective, and then recalled, if a child is hurt. Each year, hundreds of children’s products are recalled. There have already been some significant defective child product recalls this year, such as the Fisher-Price recall, where over 10 million Fisher-Price products were recalled; and the Alexander drop-side cribs recall of over 10,000 cribs sold at JC Penny.

Just because a toy is recalled doesn’t mean a child won’t have access to it. There are many cases of children being injured from toys after they have been recalled. The defective toys aren’t always removed from doctor’s offices or from stores after it has been recalled.

In what is being referred to as the biggest toy recall of the year, Fisher-Price is recalling about 7 million trikes, approximately 2 million infant toys, 1 million high chairs, and 120,000 cars and ramp ways. In addition to providing a complete list of all the recalled children products, a CBS News article notes that no deaths have been reported concerning the items. However, several children injuries have been reported.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recall announcement states that fourteen models of the Fisher-Price Trikes and Tough Trikes toddler tricycles have caused 10 known injuries, including incidents involving six girls between the ages of 2 and 3 who had to seek medical attention after falling onto the plastic key that sticks out close to the front of the seat. In addition, seven models of infant activity centers with inflatable balls were recalled due to a choking hazard presented by a valve that can come off the item. There have been three reports of a child starting to choke on the valve and 46 reports of the valves falling off.

Also included in the massive child product recall are Fisher-Price high chairs, in which seven known incidents of children falling against pegs on the back legs have occurred, causing one child to suffer a tooth injury and requiring others to get stitches. Lastly, a potential choking hazard has led to the recall of Fisher-Price Little People Wheelies Stand ‘n Play Rampway toys because the wheels can come off of the cars.