Posted in News on September 6, 2012
Billings parents may be familiar with the popular Bumbo Baby Seat, made memorable by its unique shape. What parents may not know is that the federal government has identified the seat as a dangerous product since 2007. A recent revelation that previous government action has not slowed the rate of children suffering serious injuries from the baby seat has led to a nationwide recall effort.
In 2007, the Consumer Product Safety Commission had identified 28 incidents in which babies managed to wriggle out of the seat including three incidents in which babies suffered skull fractures. All of those injuries occurred when the seat was placed on a raised surface, rather than on the floor as recommended, so the government ordered the company to starting using new warning labels.
Inexplicably, reports of injured babies continued to come in even after the new warning labels went into use, but the government took no further action until 2011. Some of the injury reports suggested that parents might have been ignoring the warning against using the seat on a raised surface, but at least 34 of the reports involved injuries that happened while the seat was on a floor or at an unknown height. Two of the incidents involved skull fractures.
In November of last year, the CPSC issued a warning and began to work with the manufacturer to find a solution to the problem. Unfortunately, it took another nine months for the government and the manufacturer to come up with a solution and initiate a nationwide recall.
Under the recall, owners of the baby seat will be sent a repair kit and an instructional video for installing new straps that are intended to prevent babies from wiggling out of the seat. For some parents, this recall effort will have come too late to keep their child from harm. Parents of children who have suffered injuries as a result of falling from a Bumbo Baby Seat may be eligible to seek damages through a lawsuit.
Source: Alaska Dispatch, “Bumbo baby seats unsafe, total US recall issued,” Laurent Belsie, Aug. 20, 2012