More Dead Infants Prompt Re-Recall Of Simplicity Bassinet
The CPSC has issued a second recall of convertible "close-sleeper/bedside sleeper" bassinets made by Simplicity after learning of two additional infant deaths since the bassinets were recalled last August. Here is a Consumer Reports video explaining the dangers of the recalled bassinets.
If you bought a recalled bassinet, you should return it to the retail store where it was purchased. Most stores have agreed to issue their own recalls and provide a refund to consumers.
The full announcement by the CPSC is available here later. In the meantime, you can look at the earlier Simplicity bassinet recalls to see which products were recalled.
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Comments:
As the parent of a one-year-old, just seeing that photo with the doll hanging off the side like that, makes me sick to my stomach.
Any my husband used to make fun of me when I'd put our baby to sleep in the big laundry basket. At least it didn't have movable parts and wide spaces and it was kept on the floor.
@Jevia: Was there any danger of it tipping over? Now that you say it, a laundry basket seems to be the best solution of all - just don't forget that you can't put any laundry in it.
It's a horrifically disturbing pic. Excuse me while I call my wife and ask her to hug the baby for me.
@techstar25:
It does come off as quite disturbing. Almost seems like a medieval execution device for infants. I don't know how many products I've seen out there designed for tots that if used just slightly differently than intended could end lives.
Before we were married my wife went to school to be a funeral director. She had to pick up an infant from the morgue because a baby sitter left the baby unattended with a bottle propped up for feeding. I was at the funeral home later when the pulled the infant out of the dead body cooler. That image in my head compels me to smack anyone I see feeding a baby with a bottle propped up on something.
@pecan 3.14159265: Or cats. They love laundry baskets, particularly if there is warm laundry in there. Or a baby.
@Jevia:
If they made firm mattresses to fit the basket then I'd be on board. That's a freebie for all you entrepreneurial sorts.
@sir_pantsalot:
They used to make stuffed animals that held a bottle upright. Now they just make these:
[www.podee.com]
So, this company that now owns the Simplicity brand, they want to make sure consumers read "Simplicity" as a warning label that it will kill your child and nobody will care, yes?
@ThinkerTDM: The cat in my icon loves empty laundry baskets... I can't figure out why.. maybe he's playing "jail" or something.
@Beki: A mattress would be a good idea. We just used a rather flat sofa pillow and wrapped her up (my husband used to say we were wrapping her up like a burrito).
Never had a tipping problem (and we had no cats). We had another laundry container we used to store clothes and only needed the basket to take clothes out to hang.
There were also many times we let our baby sleep in her infant carrier. Why wake her up to take her out of the carrier just to put her in the basket?
Worked just fine until she was too big for the basket and old enough for the crib. The only difference I can see with a basinet is that its higher up off the ground so the parent doesn't have to squat down to lift the baby. A little exercise never hurts.
@sir_pantsalot: Oh God that is terrible. Propped bottles are horribly dangerous. Parents think the milk won't pour out, but if the baby moves its head or mouth just so, or the angle changes, the milk all pours out into their mouth and nose and they can't breath. Terrible to even think about. So sad!
For whatever reason, my son used to love to sleep in his carseat as an infant (the kind that has the removable thing-the-baby-is-strapped-into that clips into the thing-that-is-strapped-into-the-actual-car. sorry for not knowing the proper names for things).
If he woke up screaming in the middle of the night, we'd take him out of the Pac N' Play (most useful baby product we purchased- pay attention, new parents) strap him into the car seat, swaddle him with his blanky, and put him on the floor in our bedroom. He'd fall right asleep.
A laundry basket sounds like a slightly less sophisitcated version of that.
@Jevia: Unless you got your gut cut in half. :) I couldn't bend over for weeeeeeks.
But I've actually been considering taking a laundry basket-as-bassinet when we travel later this month, instead of trying to fold up the travel thingie.
LOL Holy almost-offensive picture.
I peed a little.
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): If you plan on traveling a lot, I HIGHLY recommend the KidCo Pea Pod ([www.kidco.com]). Easy to fold, super light, and durable. We bought ours for our younger child before he was born (I wish they had it on the market when our older kid was little), and he just turned 3 and the PP is still going strong (though it is now a tighter fit for him!). It looks like the one we have is now the "basic" model (P100), but it's been enough for us.
Maybe as consumers we should stop trying to get the absolute cheapest stuff possible and focus on quality and safety.
I've found, for us, low-tech solutions have been best. We bought very little baby gear - people were horrified that I didn't "register" anywhere. And apparently I'm an idiot for co-sleeping.
We DO have an Amby Baby Hammock (baby is in it as I type), which might possibly be dangerous, but I don't think so.
So far, our three kids have survived.
@Radi0logy: In almost ALL of these crib/bassinet recalls, the problem lies with a defective mechanism or some other useless feature it's got. Get a basic solid crib, that's all you need. No fancy bassinet, no sliding doors or gates with latches, just a rock solid wood crib, and you'll be fine.
@narc1: First and foremost, yeah, really disturbing pic, and I was pretty horrified by this. That said, your comment, "medieval execution device for infants" made me laugh. I just imagined a tiny baby guillotine for all those baby criminals out there.
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Yea my wife had a c section and it was hell for her (for the first few weeks) to bend over and put him in his crib or pick up items off the floor. Pack-n-plays work great for travel (even took ours on the beach to keep the sand off him) but you gotta be willing to lug it around
@pollyannacowgirl: I wouldn't say anyone is an idiot for co-sleeping it just kind of depends on the parents and baby. I'm 225 lbs and 6'4 and sleep like a rock, I would be a horible candidate for co-sleeping with a baby as I probably wouldn't even notice rolling over on him. However, my wife being 5'2, 120 lbs, and the type to wake up to the smallest sound would be perfect.
Obviously parents have been co-sleeping with babies throughout different cultures since like the dawn of time and we all made it here thus far; as with most things in life I think it just depends on the specific situation.
@pecan 3.14159265: That seems plausable as well. I will have to see if he closes one eye while he plays it to be sure.
Maybe they should call it "simply hanged"...how many dead babies does it take? Geesh.
Anywho, this is a GOOD function of government, so the next time you hear repubs claiming government waste and wanting to axe this department, remember that results in more dead babies.
@pollyannacowgirl: I just look up that baby hammock, never heard of it before, and it looks hella comfy! My baby's 13 weeks old, but I might have to get one when the next kid comes around.
@Jevia: The in-laws got us a Pak-n-Play with a bassinet insert for our baby shower. We just pushed it up against our bed and had the baby sleep in there at night. All I had to do for nighttime feedings was reach over and put the baby in bed next to me.
This is really what makes me petrified about the wife and I deciding to have a baby in the coming years. I'm not sure how you forgive yourself for this happening, even though you know its not your fault.