Infant Slings Recalled After Texas Child’s Suffocation Death

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of a specific brand of infant slings after the death of a young child in Texas was linked to these particular slings. A 10-day-old boy from Round Rock, Texas, died after he was suffocated in a Sprout Stuff sling.

Two infant deaths prompt CPSC to re-announce recall of Simplicity bassinets

The Consumer Product Safety Commission last week re-announced its recall of the Simplicity bassinets after learning of two additional wrongful deaths of infants and two other episodes where infants were entrapped but freed by parents or caregivers before suffering injury.

The reason for the recall is that there is a defective design of the product in  that it has a gap between the rails which is large enough for an infant to slide between and become entrapped, creating a strangulation or suffocation hazard.  The photos of a mannequin on the CPSC announcement are chilling and truly show the danger posed by this product.

The manufacturer of this product has gone out of business, and some stores are accepting returns of the models involved in the recall.  However, regardless of whether the bassinet can be returned, children should not be left in this bassinet.

Flammable robes recalled

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Blair LLC have issued a voluntary recall of 162,000 full length chenille robes.  This product was originally recalled in April, 2009 after reports of three robes catching fire, with one resulting in second degree burns.  After the recall was announced, the manufacturer learned of 6 additional fires, including five that resulted in wrongful death.  Five of the six victims were female, and all were cooking at the time.  Three of the burn victims were in their 80's.

Infant car seat recalled

The National Transportation Highway Safety Administration and Team Tex America has announced the recall of its Bayrdier infant safety seat.  The recall was necessitated by a defect which would result in improper belt routing.  This could result in internal injuries to the child in the event of a car accident.  One of the key aspects to a working child safety seat is the interaction between the belt and the car seat because if the infant in restrained by the belt itself during an accident, this could cause serious injuries to the infant.

Manufacturer of Magnetix toys fined by CPSC

The manufacturer of the Magnetix children's toys was fined by the Consumer Product Safety Commission for failing to report information that may have led to an earlier recall of the hazardous children's magnetic toys.  The Magnetix toys were the subject of a series of articles in the Chicago Tribune outlining the weaknesses in the safety monitoring role of the CPSC.  One of the weaknesses was that the Commission had to rely upon manufacturers to report inidents involving injuries or death of users.

The incident which resulted in the fine was an incident in Washington in which a child swallowed two or more Magnetic magnets.  These are very powerful magnets and can attract one another through the intestinal walls.  This can result in death of the intestines, with resultant infection and death for the child.  Before the death of the child in Washington, there had been at least one other report of injury.

The failure of the company to comply with the reporting requirement resultedin these hazardous toys remaining on the shelf far longer than they should have.

High chair recalled due to fall hazard

Fisher-Price has issued a voluntary recall of a high chair which was sold exclusively through Target stores.  The 3-in-1 High Chair poses a fall risk to children if the release is activated with the child still in the booster seat, or if the child is placed into the booster seat without the release properly secured.

One injury has been reported where a child suffered a skull fracture after falling backwards.