OnSafety, Official blog of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

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

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.

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

Small High-Powered Magnets: A Very Serious Hazard to Children

By CPSC Blogger on August 8, 2012

Small high-powered magnets swallowed by children are like a bullet hole in the body with no entry or exit wound, say doctors who have surgically removed magnets from children’s bodies.

When these individual magnets are ingested, they connect inside the body. The bonds are so strong that the magnets clamp digestive organ tissue together and tear holes at the contact points. The resulting injuries are horrific and life-altering. The surgeries to remove the magnets are time consuming and expensive.

High-powered magnets that connect in a child’s body are a serious injury, or even a death, waiting to happen. We are not willing to stand back and wait for these incidents to keep occurring before acting.

Doctors say that time is of the essence when treating these injuries. Yet, the symptoms can be vague—typical of a stomach virus. Unless you KNOW that a child has swallowed magnets, you might think your child has a stomach bug.

A marble, a coin and other small nonmagnetic things can pass through a child’s body. A doctor’s plan when a child swallows something is typically to watch and wait. This approach often works for nonmagnetic products. In the case of high-powered magnets, however, watch and wait can be life-altering. Watch and wait means that the injury has time to worsen.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has alerted pediatricians to the dangers of magnet ingestions. And the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition issued an alert and podcast series for doctors about the “dangers of neodymium magnet ingestion in pediatric patients.” Texas pediatric gastroenterologist Bryan Vartabedian, writes in his blog that emerging data from doctors shows that the number of cases have been under-reported.

We encourage everyone to read the information on our magnet information page. Watch the video. Keep these magnets away from all children and out of homes with children.

(Watch on YouTube.)

This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/08/small-high-powered-magnets-a-very-serious-hazard-to-children/

All Eyes On the Pool

By CPSC Blogger on July 27, 2012

In July and early August, millions of American eyes will be on the pool. How will top U.S. swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte do in London?

Many Americans, both in the African-American community and elsewhere, are particularly excited about Cullen Jones and Lia Neal. Ebony Magazine calls Jones and Neal “two young Olympians poised to change what they say about African-Americans and swimming.”

Olympic swimmers, and even kids who compete in neighborhood swimming competitions, make the sport look so easy. We hope the Olympics is a conversation starter in your home as the Olympians inspire your children to learn how to swim. Do your best to teach your children not to fear the water. Pass on safety and fun at the same time. (See NBC’s Rock Center story on the importance of swimming.)

At home, we, as a nation, need more eyes on our much less experienced swimmers. All Olympic swimmers, from Jones to Phelps, from Neal to Lochte, have one thing in common with every child. At one time in their lives they didn’t know how to swim.

According to news reports, when Jones was 5 years old, he nearly drowned at a water park. (Source: Good Morning America/ABC) That’s when Jones started swimming lessons.

Lessons. They are a simple step that saves lives. They will help teach your child a life-saving skill: How to be safe around water. Use the Olympics as a conversation starter with your child about starting swimming lessons.

Between Memorial Day and July 17, at least 90 children younger than 15 were reported by media to have drowned in swimming pools. Another 106 children were sent to emergency rooms for nearly drowning. That’s about 2 children who died each day during that period.

Drowning is the leading cause of injury death for children ages 1 to 4. African-American children and young adults ages 5 to 19 die from drowning 6 times more often than their white peers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And a USA Swimming/University of Memphis survey says that 70 percent of African-American and 60 percent of Hispanic/Latino children can’t swim.

Simple steps save lives.

Stay within arm’s reach of children and non-swimmers at all times in and around the pool.
Keep eyes on young children.
Fence your pool with self-closing or self-latching gates.
Assign a water watcher.
Learn CPR.
If a child is missing, check the pool first.

This week, pools and waterparks around the country are holding Pool Safely Days to help spread this message of safety. You can help, too. Post these buttons, badges and widget on your blogs, Facebook pages and websites. Put Pool Safely steps into play at your home. Teach them to your children and your neighbors.

Save a child’s life. Earn a gold medal in swimming safety.

This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/07/all-eyes-on-the-pool/

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.

Let’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:

You 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

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

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

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Bumbo Update: Baby Seats Recalled, Get Restraint Belt

Small High-Powered Magnets: A Very Serious Hazard to Children

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Fix Your Stroller; Avoid These Common Problems

Recall Roundup: July 20, 2012

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