The entire purpose of a baby monitor is to keep an ear or an eye on your baby while it sleeps in a different room. The Angelcare monitor adds an extra component to that: a pad that monitors movement and rests under the mattress. Sounded like a great idea…until two babies got hold of the cord and were strangled to death.

The problem comes in when the cord is loose and loops pack close to the crib mattress, and the baby can get hold of it. The infants who died in these horrible accidents were able to pull on the cord and pull enough of it into the crib to wrap around their necks.

Customers could have bought the monitors at Babies R Us/Toys R Us, Burlington Coat Factory, Meijer, Sears, Walmart, Amazon.com, Target.com, Overstock.com, and at specialty baby stores. The recalled models include AC1100, AC201, AC300, AC401 AC601, and 49255, and retailed for $100-$300. They’ve been on the market since 1999.

Reader Keiko uses one of these monitors for her baby, and happens to have bought it from Amazon. When customers buy something from Amazon that’s later recalled, the company sends out an e-mail notice: one case where it’s good that an all-seeing, all-knowing company has your purchase history.

She notes that the company will ask for a model number from the product box, which you probably threw away. “You can find it on the back of the main receiver unit that connects to the sensor pad itself, just above where the cord plugs in,” she told Consumerist.

Keiko decided to keep using the monitor while waiting for the repair kit. “Until then, we’ve double checked that the sensor pad cord is completely out of our 6 month old son’s reach,” she writes. The repair kit is simply a device that keeps the cord close to the floor and out of the baby’s reach.

Angelcare Recalls to Repair Movement and Sound Baby Monitors After Two Deaths Due to Strangulation Hazard [CPSC]

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