The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Britax voluntarily recalled its Chaperone infant car seats. About 23,000 have been sold throughout the U.S. at retailers and on the Britax website for about $230. They were manufactured between April 2009 and May 2010, so there are plenty of new car seats out there.

Britax Chaperone car seat

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also recalled the car seat.

The harness chest clip is defective. It can break and poses  laceration and choking hazards. Laceration injuries have been reported, and one infant was found to have put the broken clip in his mouth.

The above picture to find out where the serial number on your car seat is. Here are the model numbers of the recalled car seats:

E9L69N9 (Moonstone)

E9L69P2 (Red Mill)

E9L69P3 (Savannah)

E9L69P5 (Cowmooflage)

If you have one of these car seats, immediately contact Britax for a free repair kit (that includes a replacement chest clip): www.Britax.com or call 888-427-4829.

By the way, although it is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product, people put recalled items in for sale yard sales and Craigslist. Beware when buying second hand products for your child.

If you own one of these slings, quit using it immediately.

These slings are dangerous for two separate reasons: the positioning of the child in the sling and the child’s lack of muscle strength.  Both of these dangers can result in the suffocation of the child.

1.  In the first situation, the infant’s face is in contact with the sling’s fabric.  Since the baby does not have the neck muscles to move away from the fabric yet, the fabric can cover the nose and mouth and block the child from breathing.  If that happens, the baby would suffocate rapidly due to the lack of intake of oxygen.

2.  In the second situation, the child is positioned in a curled position with the chin facing the chest which restricts her airways.  In this case, the child is unable to cry for help because of the reduced oxygen intake.  If she remains in this position, she will thus suffocate slowly.

These dangers are serious and cannot be fixed, so the CPSC and Sprout Stuff have not issued repair instructions for the sling.

Officials are continuing to collect incident reports of cases involving this and other similar products.  If you have an incident to report, please visit: https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx.

Because she’s read so much about the dangers of strangulation injury and death from the cords on Roman shades and roll up blinds, she’s already thinking about arranging the furniture so the cribs are nowhere near the window.

Most of the shades and blinds have recently been recalled for repair. Here’s the link to the Consumer Product Safety Commission recall article. Check out your child’s caregiver’s house, too. The Window Covering Safety Council is offering a free repair kit to retrofit shades or blinds with clips.You can either go to the website or call 800-506-4636 to get the kit.

The recall does not involve cribs that do not have a drop-side.

The recall does not include cribs with metal rod drop-side hardware. It only involves cribs with plastic trigger and one-hand-system drop-side hardware.

Some of the drop-side cribs were sold with the Fisher-Price logo.

The cribs come in various finishes and styles, so check the assembly instructions attached to the mattress support board.

The cribs were sold in stores at BJ’s Wholesale Club, J.C. Penney, Sears, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, USA Baby and online at Amazon.com, Babiesrus.com, Costco.com, Target.com, and Walmart.com.

If you have one of these cribs at home, STOP USING IT. If your child is cared for outside your home, insist on CHECKING THE CRIB YOUR CAREGIVER USES and have it removed if it is one of these cribs.

What’s wrong with these cribs?

Stork Cribs recalled

The drop-side can separate from the crib at one or more corners because the plastic hardware can break or come loose, and because it is easy for parents to put the drop-side onto the crib upside down (as in the picture) when they are assembling the crib.Four infants have died from suffocation and many others were trapped. Other infants fell from their cribs and were injured, including brain injuries.

Read the CPSC recall notice – it has important information. Your baby’s life could depend on it.

If your baby is sleeping in one of the cribs, find an alternative safe place for the baby. The manufacturer has a free repair kit eliminates the drop-side. Fix the crib before using it again. Contact the manufacturer for the free repair kit. For additional information, contact Stork Craft toll free at (877)274-0277 anytime to order a free repair kit, or log on to www.storkcraft.com.

Although this toy was recalled in 2006, it can still be found in neighborhood yard sales — like the one I saw just recently.

Two children aged 19 months and two years suffocated before the toy was recalled.  The nails do not qualify as small parts that could normally be swallowed by an infant.  However, in the reported cases, the nails became “forcefully lodged in [the children’s’] throats” according to a company statement.  An article about these incidents and the general safety of toys appeared at the time in the Washington Post.

This toy was sold at popular children’s toy stores until September 2006.  At the time it was recalled, Playskool offered a $50 gift card to use on Playskool products. Parents who own this toy now should send the nails to Playskool to see if it still offers the gift card.  For more information you can visit the Playskool website.

The risk comes from a side hinge that expands and contracts when opening and closing of the stroller.  As the hinge snaps shut, a child’s finger that happens to be in that position could have severe consequences — like those 12 finger amputations. Maclaren plans on sending safety covers to stroller owners.

The Maclaren strollers were sold mostly at Target and Babies-R-Us. The following models are being recalled: Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechnoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller — every Maclaren stroller sold in the last ten years.  Even if you no longer use your child’s stroller, check to see if it fits these descriptions.  Get the hinge cover even if you don’t think you’ll ever use the stroller again.  You never know  when a visitor comes and might need to use the stroller.

Maclaren urges owners not to use these strollers until a hinge cover is received from the manufacturer.  For more information on receiving the hinge cover, consumers can fill out a form at Mclaren’s website.

When choosing a stroller, be sure to check safety information as well as mobility and handling qualities.  Consumer Reports (subscription required) offers ideas for cheaper and safer strollers.  If buying a used stroller at a yard sale or other discount store, be absolutely certain to check for past recalls before trusting your baby inside it.

If your child has been injured by an unsafe product, you should get advice from a lawyer about whether to bring a claim against the manufacturer.  I can answer your questions. Call 703-260-6070, or send me an email at Sandra@RohrstaffLaw.com, or visit my firm’s website at www.RohrstaffLaw.com.

Common items have since been recalled in light of safety concerns before.  Easy bake ovens frequent the list because of the danger of fingers being trapped in the oven resulting in serious burns.  Playpens and play yards are other items that have commonly been recalled.  Playpens and play yards are often used as portable cribs or play areas for children while on vacation and are often even provided by hotels.  The recall applies to the Evenflo Happy Camper Play Yard and the Playskool Travel-Lite play yard.  These products are dangerous because the bars can collapse without warning, leaving sharp exposed bars and the possibility of suffocating the child.

While these items may seem like steals when you find them at yard sales for a good price, if your child gets injured as a result, it won’t seem like such a good deal.  View the original article for the complete list of top 10 yard sale recalls.

Don’t put your child at risk by trying to save a few dollars.  Check to see if an item has been recalled.  You can sign up for email updates from the CPSC on their website or check back to this blog for regular notices of recalls of children’s products.

Here’s a picture of the label:

The company’s recall letter did not use the word “botulism”, but merely said that its investigation revealed that the formulation was incorrect.  While I approve of the company’s swift action in recalling its contaminated baby food, a recall is serious business but the letter didn’t sound too alarming to me.  I’m glad I read elsewhere about the real problem, because botulism can kill people.

Jump and Jive Recall

The problem with this product is in the detachable toys on the straps.  The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled this product because of the possibility a baby could choke on these detachable toys. 

Graco insists that once the toys and fabric straps are removed, the jumper is still safe to use. 

That’s great, but what do babies this age do?  They pull on toys — and put them in their mouths. 

Bad response, Graco.

For a replacement set of toys, consumers should contact Graco at (800) 345-4109.