Despite greater awareness and improved safety testing of children’s products, the marketplace remains filled with potentially dangerous items that should be nowhere near an infant.
Some new offerings are not subject to mandated standards, showing up on store shelves without undergoing rigorous examinations. Even when problems are identified, a manufacturer focused on their bottom lines disagrees with the negative assessment and continues selling them.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, some defective products marketed to parents of infants are clear and present dangers. They include the following:
Infant loungers
Holding a baby for a prolonged amount of time is admittedly tiring. Finding a comfortable and safe place to put the infant down is necessary. Infant loungers initially gained popularity, only to garner the attention of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which encourages firm and flat surfaces with no softness close by. Pillowy sides, while comfortable, should not be near babies. In 2021, the CPSC enacted a ban on what they deemed unsafe sleep products.
Cosco Jump, Spin & Play Activity Centers
Multiple and not-so-positive online reviews are one thing. Incident reports are quite another. Consumer Reports safety advocates took immediate steps to urge a recall. Reports saw numerous parents claim that their infants fell out of them when support straps to hold the seat up tore or became unhooked. Traumatized parents claimed to see their children dangling sideways, with some landing on the floor. To date, injuries have not been life-threatening.
Otteroo neck floats
Any product that involves a baby making contact with water should be manufactured with the highest levels of safety. The purported target audience for this product is parents of babies who are two weeks old and those who are slightly older. Incidents saw babies slipping through the floats and into the water. While several were rushed to local hospitals, one infant died.
