Federal product safety officials announced one of the largest crib recalls in the nation’s history Tuesday, with retailers voluntarily pulling 320,000 items due to breaking slats or spindles that can cause injury.
The cribs were sold over six years in Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us stores and affiliates nationwide, beginning in 2002 and ending in May. Click here for more pictures of the cribs involved.
The Disney Store has recalled about 4,100 sleeping bags and 8,000 Tinker Bell wands because they contain paint that violates lead standards, according to two news releases from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: sleeping bags and wands.
Last week, safety officials announced a recall of 24,000 cribs and also warned parents against putting their babies to bed with pillows and other soft bedding that could suffocate them.
Just days before Christmas, Planet Toys Inc. wants stores to remove the company's CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit from their shelves after some tests had revealed samples of asbestos included in the kits.
Shelby Esses said her 20-month-old son Jacob, fell down and was limp after getting into his older sister's Aqua Dots, a Chinese-made toy recalled Wednesday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Check out the interview here.
Just when we think worrying about lead paint in toys is too much to handle, we are learning about another shocking recall.
About 4.2 million Chinese-made children's toys were recalled today after U.S. regulators learned a chemical on the toy beads turns into a powerful "date-rape" drug when swallowed.
Two children in the USA went into comas after ingesting beads that were part of Aqua Dots craft sets. They have since recovered, CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said.
The toy, distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master, was sold in the USA in mass-merchandise stores from April through November of this year, CPSC said. Wal-Mart named Aqua Dots one of its 12 top toys this year, and it was the 2007 Toy of the Year in Australia.
Spin Master says it has stopped shipping the toy. Retailers have removed it from store shelves.
Mattel Inc. on Tuesday recalled more than 172,000 Fisher-Price kitchen toys in the United States and Europe because several children choked and gagged on small, detachable parts. The company has received 48 reports of small parts separating from these toys, which feature a sink, a refrigerator and a range.
For a free repair kit, toy owners should contact Fisher-Price at 888-812-7187. For more information, visit Mattel's website or the CPSC.
>> Fisher-Price Medical Kit May Contain Harmful Levels of Lead
>> Family Dollar Stores Recalls Halloween Pails Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard
>> Wyeth recalls Robitussin and Dimetapp on a dosage cup issue. The cup does not have a half-teaspoon mark, which is the recommended dose for children age two to under six.
Check out the advice below: Reducing Lead Exposure in Your Home and Home Lead-Testing Kits.
Here's some advice for consumers from consumersunion.org, the independent, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.
Given lead’s potential for harm, Consumers Union believes that manufacturers should eliminate its use or reduce it to the smallest trace amounts. But for consumers who are looking to minimize their lead risks, Consumer Reports advises the following:
Consumer Reports recently tested five home lead-testing kits and concluded that three of the five kits tested were useful though limited screening tools for consumers concerned about lead levels in the products in their homes.
In Consumer Reports tests, the Homax Lead Check ($8) and the Lead Check Household Lead Test Kit ($18.45) were the easiest to use and identified accessible lead in toys, ceramic dishware, and vinyl or plastic. Consumer Reports notes that the Lead Inspector ($13) test kit might be superior for pink or red items, because if those shades of paint bled onto a Lead Check swab, it might falsely appear to be positive.
In the Consumer Reports tests, the First Alert ($13) kit indicated some false negatives for accessible lead and the Pro-Lab Lead Surface ($10) test kit was less sensitive and more difficult to use than the others.
Consumerunion.org goes into more detail about the testing of these kits about 2/3 of the way down on the link here.
On September 25th, BBA announced that the Bumbo Baby Seat was under government investigation.
Today, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Bumbo, announced a voluntary recall of 1 million Bumbo “Baby Sitter” Seats.
The CPSC and Bumbo are voluntarily making available free downloads of updated instructional leaflets and safety warning labels. In the meantime, Bumbo has temporarily stopped selling the Bumbo Baby Seat until the packaging can be updated to ensure there is no confusion about the safe, proper use of the Bumbo Baby Seat. They expect to resume sales of the Bumbo Baby Seat in the next several days.
From the comments I read, it sounds like a similar warning is already included with the Bumbo seat. This "recall" is more of an addition of information/warnings rather than a true recall. So as long as you do not put the seat on a high surface and do not leave your child unattended, you are ok!
Last month the FDA tentatively recommended adding the words "do not use in children under two years" to product labeling.
Today, Johnson & Johnson, Wyeth and other makers of infants' non-prescription cough and cold products are voluntarily pulling certain medicines off store shelves in the United States because of the danger of overdose.
Novartis and Prestige Brands Holdings are also recalling their oral infant cough and cold medicines, as well, because data show that when the medicines are misused, it can lead to overdose, especially in children under the age of 2 years. CVS also said that it would remove the affected products as well as CVS-brand equivalents from store shelves.
Check out the brands of cough and cold medicines that are being voluntarily withdrawn in the left column on the article.
More than a half-million Chinese-made products were recalled Thursday, including Pirates of the Caribbean and Baby Einstein toys, because they contain dangerous levels of lead.
The recalls include:
• Baby Einstein Discover & Play Color Blocks sold between June and September. http://recall.kidsii.com/default.aspx.
• Pirates of the Caribbean medallion squeeze lights sold between September 2006 and October 2007. http://www.energizer.com/company/recall.html.
• Totally Me! Funky Room Decor Sets sold at Toys R Us stores and online between May and September 2007. http://www2.toysrus.com/guest/prodRecalls/624621.cfm?source=0.
• Wooden Pull-Along Alphabet & Math Blocks wagons, Pull-Along Learning Blocks wagons, 10-in-1 Activity Learning Carts and Flip-Flop alphabet blocks sold at KB Toys stores between August 2005 and September 2007. http://www.recall.kbtinfo.com/default.htm.
• Green plastic cups shaped like Frankenstein's head sold at Dollar General stores in September. http://www.dollargeneral.com/merchandise/recall.aspx.
• Key chains featuring a metal charm engraved with "wisdom," "truth," "believe," "love," "hope" or "dream," sold at Dollar General stores between June 2005 and August 2007. http://www.dollargeneral.com/merchandise/recall.aspx.
• Bookmarks and journals, imported by Antioch Publishing, featuring a variety of decorations including breast cancer awareness and Winnie the Pooh. They were sold at book, card and gift stores around the country between March 2005 and October 2007. Some of the bookmarks were sold with bracelets. http://www.antioch.com/cat-189-1-227/Product-Recall.htm.
Another violation of the lead paint standard. This time Target recalls the Happy Giddy Gardening Tools and the Sunny Patch Children’s Chairs that were sold at their stores nationwide from August 2006 through August 2007.
Consumers should immediately take the products away from children and return the item to the nearest Target store for a full refund.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is announcing a voluntary recall with Simplicity Inc., of Reading, Pa., of about 1 million cribs. The drop-side can detach from the crib, which can create a dangerous gap and lead to the entrapment and suffocation of infants. CPSC is aware of two deaths, seven infant entrapments and 55 incidents in these cribs.
The recalled Simplicity crib models include: Aspen 3 in 1, Aspen 4 in 1, Nursery-in-a-Box, Crib N Changer Combo, Chelsea and Pooh 4 in 1. The recall also involves the following Simplicity cribs that used the Graco logo: Aspen 3 in 1, Ultra 3 in 1, Ultra 4 in1, Ultra 5 in 1, Whitney and the Trio.
FDA Warning: Baby's Bliss Gripe Water May Be Contaminated. This product is marketed as a remedy for "colic, hiccups, and teething." The FDA said that bottles of Baby's Bliss Gripe Water might be contaminated with a parasite that causes severe diarrhea.
Suspected contaminated products carry the code "26952V" with an expiration date of October 2008 (shown as "10/08") on the label, according to the press release. Consumers should dispose of the unopened bottles of the product immediately, the FDA said.
Mattel recalls millions of Chinese-made toys that contain magnets that can be swallowed by children or could have lead paint.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said that magnets can come loose and be swallowed in more than 7 million Polly Pocket toys, 680,000 Barbie and Tanner sets, 1 million Doggie Daycare sets and 350,000 Batman figures. The surface paint on 250,000 Sarge cars from the movie "Cars" were also added to the recall.
Toy maker Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of toys - including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters - because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead.
The recall involves 967,000 plastic preschool toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August. It is the latest in a wave of recalls that has heightened global concern about the safety of Chinese-made products.
Check out the Consumer Product Safety Commission's website for a complete list of the products in this recall.
Pottery Barn Kids recalls crib bumpers due to entanglement hazard. The diamond matelassé, floral matelassé and polka dot matelassé crib bumpers included in the recall were sold at Pottery Barn Kids stores nationwide, in its catalog and online from February 2003 through June 2007.
Thanks for the heads-up on our Baby Blog Addict forum, Bridget.
Gerber Products Co. recalled all packages of its organic rice and organic oatmeal cereals Friday because of potential clumping, which can pose a choking hazard.
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