Friday January 16, 2009
After more than 1,300 reports of Fisher Price Rainforest portable play yard rails collapsing, manufacturer Simplicity / SFCA still is not responding to consumer complaints or CPSC's requests for a recall, so the company whose brand name is on the product, Fisher Price, is taking the lead. It's disappointing that a baby products manufacturer can receive so many reports of children being injured without issuing a recall. Though most of the reported injuries were minor bruises and bumps, at least five more serious injuries have resulted when play yard rails collapsed, including broken bones and a concussion.
About 200,000 Fisher Price Rainforest play yards with model numbers 5310 RNF, 5310RNFC, and 5310RNFW are included in this recall. The model number is found on a sticker on one of the play yard legs. If your child's play yard is affected by the recall, stop using it immediately. Since Simplicity / SFCA is not responding to consumers appropriately on this issue, if you own one of the Fisher Price branded play yards, you should instead contact Fisher Price at 800-432-5437 or service.mattel.com for replacement information.
This is the second time in recent history that other companies have needed to pick up the slack when a Simplicity / SFCA product needed to be recalled. Last fall, the manufacturer refused to issue a recall on Simplicity 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 Close Sleeper Bassinets, even after two infant deaths were reported. Metal bars on these bassinets could become exposed, posing a strangulation hazard because they were spaced too far apart by federal crib safety standards. Since Simplicity / SFCA never issued a recall, the stores that sold the nearly 900,000 dangerous bassinets stepped in to allow parents to return the bassinets for a refund or store credit.
While it's ideal that companies would never face a product recall, many do, for various reasons. Few major baby products manufacturers have a completely spotless recall record. The most telling thing is how long companies take reports of injuries or problems before they issue a recall, and how they handle the recall. Fisher Price has it right this time. When children are at risk of being injured, issuing a recall quickly and making it easy for parents to arrange replacement or refund is key.
Wednesday January 14, 2009
Metal mattress support brackets that could break have prompted the recall of more than 500,000 Stork Craft baby cribs. All Stork Craft cribs made between May 2000 and Nov. 2008 are included in this recall. If the metal mattress support brackets break, the crib mattress could fall and potentially cause a gap between the mattress and crib rails. This dangerous gap poses an entrapment and suffocation hazard to small children. The manufacture date is found on the assembly instructions which are attached to the mattress support board. Free repair kits are available if your baby's crib is affected by this recall. Check the manufacture date, and if you need a repair kit, call 866-361-3321.
Sunday January 11, 2009
Peg Perego recently announced a new voluntary recall of its Primo Viaggio infant car seat because some extra plastic from the mold can remain on the harness adjuster cover. This can leave a sharp edge that could cut or scrape a baby's bare feet. Only Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP 30/30 infant car seats manufactured between July 2007 and March 2008 are affected. If you registered your car seat, and it is affected, Peg Perego will send you a replacement harness adjuster cover automatically. If you did not register, you can call 800-671-1701. For more car seat recall information, please visit the
Current Car Seat Recalls page.
CPSC Gives Thrift Stores A Break On Lead Testing
Thursday January 8, 2009
Amid concerns that the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act might inadvertently cause thrift stores to close because they couldn't comply with lead testing requirements for toys, clothes and other baby products, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recently announced that thrift stores and resale shops get a break on lead testing. Sort of. While CPSC isn't going to make thrift stores test every item in inventory when the law goes into effect on Feb. 10, 2009, this new statement doesn't let resellers off the hook entirely, either. That's a good thing for parents, and especially for children, whom the CPSIA is designed to protect most of all.
CPSIA requires that manufacturers and importers of new baby and children's products, for kids under age 12, must test for lead (under 600 ppm) and phthalates and certify that their products meet new safety standards before they can be sold in the U.S. Initially it looked like the testing and certifying might also apply to resellers, which would have been costly and nearly impossible for many thrift shops to handle, leading to concern that secondhand baby products and clothes would no longer be sold due to legal worries. CPSC's latest statement indicates that resellers are not required to certify their products, and they are not required to test used products that are already in their inventory come Feb. 10.
However, this does not give thrift stores a free pass to sell dangerous products. CPSC says "resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit." So, they don't have to test all of their products, but it still is not legal for them to sell products that have more than the 600 ppm of lead, so thrift stores will be smart to avoid selling some of the most common offenders when it comes to lead content, such as children's metal jewelry and painted wood or metal toys. Shops that sell products exceeding the lead limits will face civil and/or criminal penalties, so some resale shop owners may tread pretty carefully still over children's products.
CPSC's news release on thrift shops said while the agency "expects every company to comply fully with the new laws resellers should pay special attention to certain product categories. Among these are recalled children’s products, particularly cribs and play yards; children’s products that may contain lead, such as children’s jewelry and painted wooden or metal toys; flimsily made toys that are easily breakable into small parts; toys that lack the required age warnings; and dolls and stuffed toys that have buttons, eyes, noses or other small parts that are not securely fastened and could present a choking hazard for young children." In addition to the new lead and phthalates standards to improve children's products safety, CPSIA also made it illegal to sell recalled products as of Aug. 2008.
