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Infant Product Recalls and Injuries
Infant Product Recalls and Injuries
An average of 57,600 nursery product-related injuries are treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments each year. And each year, an average of 174 kids under the age of 5 lose their lives over causes linked to nursery products. Thousands of consumer products – including nursery products – are recalled annually for safety concerns. To best protect your baby, it is important to stay up to date on nursery product recalls and to research any nursery products before bringing them into your home.
Most Dangerous Infant Products
In 2024, the Consumer Product Safety Commission published a list of nursery products deemed most hazardous to infants. Together, soft bedding, inclined sleepers and baby carriers were tied to three-quarters of deaths between 2019 and 2021.
Soft bedding products added into cribs, bassinets and playpens were linked to 126 child deaths between 2019 and 2021, 67 percent of which were associated with a cluttered sleep environment that led to asphyxiation.
Inclined infant “sleepers” and infant carriers are also hazardous to infants. Many infant loungers have pillowy sides that look good for protection but which actually pose a risk of suffocation when the baby falls asleep. Notably, in October of 2024, Fisher-Price recalled more than 2 million Snuga Swings in the United States after five infant deaths were reported.Â
How to Keep Your Baby Safe
Keep your baby’s sleep environment free of extra bedding, including pillows, quilts and comforters. Unsafe sleep environments are the leading cause of nursery product-related injuries and deaths. When it comes time to put your baby to nap or to sleep, the American Academy of Pediatrics says that the baby needs to be on a firm, flat surface, with nothing soft around them. Always place your baby to sleep on their back to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and suffocation.
Do your research. Before purchasing a nursery product, research the product online and check for any recalls. This is particularly important when purchasing nursery products secondhand. While many kinds of baby products do have to undergo safety testing before hitting the market, a lot of products slip through the cracks, so you can’t assume that all products on the market are safe. Before purchasing a product, go to www.recalls.gov to see if the product has been recalled.
Register your product. When you bring a new nursery product into your home, make sure to register the product with the manufacturer. This ensures that you will be notified if the product is recalled.
Getting the Help You Need
If your child sustained an injury from a defective infant product, you may be entitled to compensation. Negligence and recklessness on the part of large manufacturers, particularly those who manufacturer infant products, should be addressed. The only recourse parents currently have is to file a product liability claim to hold the manufacturer liable. Once you have determined that filing a claim is the right course of action, it is important to speak to an experienced product liability attorney. Don’t return the product to the manufacturer as you will likely need it for your claim. Carefully document all facts surrounding your child’s injury and how the specific product caused it. Your product liability attorney will be able to guide you through the complexities associated with a defective infant product.
Contact Our Washington DC Child Injury Lawyers
At Patrick Malone & Associates, our child injury lawyers have extensive experience representing injured children and families in Washington, DC metro area, Virginia, and throughout the State of Maryland. If your child has sustained a serious injury because of a dangerous or defective product, the manufacturer may be to blame. Call us at 1-202-742-1500 or 1-888-625-6635 or fill out our confidential contact form for a FREE Consultation and review of your case.
The child injury attorneys at Patrick Malone & Associates have successfully represented injured individuals in Washington, DC, northern Virginia and throughout Maryland, including Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, Maryland, and Virginia cities including Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax.
