Tools to help parents keep track of kid-related recalls
Another day, another safety recall involving products made for kids.
So far this month, there have been a dozen safety recalls triggered by potential threats to kids.
Millions of shades and blinds that can strangle were recalled on Tuesday. Before that,choking hazards in books, strangulation hazard on hooded sweatshirts, a shock hazard with kids nightlights and flammable kids' pajamas prompted recalls.
Now the Consumer Product Safety Commission says the painted logo in the insoles of kids Timberland boots have excessive levels of lead. The Classic Scuffproof Boots were sold nationwide this year for kids as young as one year old.
But with all these recalls, thousands of parents will never get the word and continue to use, share, sell and giveaway potentially dangerous products for years.
As the busy new mother of a 5 month old boy, local radio personality Monti Carlo is admittedly obsessed about child safety. She shares the obsession with her morning "Ladies Room" audience on Movin' 92.5 FM.
"I report news every morning," said Carlo. "I'm a little bit on the psycho side about checking out how safe things are. I look at recall lists all the time to see if it's newsworthy."
But like thousands of parents, Carlo missed the recall last week for her son's hammock-bed called Amby Baby.
The motion beds are blamed for the deaths of two small infants. Swinging and shifting can cause the baby to roll over, get trapped against the side, and suffocate in the cloth fabric. A 4-month-old girl in Georgia died as a result in June, and a 5-month-old boy in Oregon died in August.
"I missed it." said Carlo. "I feel like a jerk, because I missed it."
The recall notice came out Dec. 8 -- the same day the memorial for the four fallen Lakewood Police officers was held. The event was the largest police memorial in the county drawing nationwide media coverage. The recall did make the news, but for many, the alert went under the radar.
Carlo happened to stumbled upon it when she went to the Amby Baby company's Web site for something altogether different.
"And there it was, the first headline," she said. "I was furious! I was so mad because they have my e-mail they have my contact information. They have everything, because I purchased it online. I mean, how hard is it to copy and paste a bunch of e-mails and let people know? It's not that complicated to do a mass e-mail if you keep a customer list, and I know they do. It's all Web-based."
Truth is most companies wait for the government to announce recalls after an investigation. Some recalls are launched after the inspection of imported products. Most are launched after consumer complaints of death and injury trigger an investigation that could take months.
If you miss an alert - and thousands do - you may be using all sorts of products that were pulled of the market because they might cause harm. Carlo feels manufacturers are putting sales before customer safety.
"If my (contact) information is good enough to sell, why isn't it good enough to contact me if something goes wrong? I think it's impossible to keep up with all of it," she said. "If you put a product out there and something goes wrong with the product, you need to let your customers know, period. "
She's also furious that while American customers of Amby Baby are being asked to stop using the bed until they receive a free repair kit, which will not be available until January, the Canadian government is instructing Canadian consumers to dismantle the beds and throw them out so they cannot be used again.
"If it was repairable, why would Canada ask you to throw it away? That just doesn't make any sense to me." she said.
Because the flood of recall information can be easy to miss- it's important to be proactive. Make it a point to check the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Web site frequently for both recalled toy and non-toy products.
For more information:
Food recalls
Babycenter.com
Parents.com
CarSeat.org
Cafe Mom
Family Watchdog
So far this month, there have been a dozen safety recalls triggered by potential threats to kids.
Millions of shades and blinds that can strangle were recalled on Tuesday. Before that,choking hazards in books, strangulation hazard on hooded sweatshirts, a shock hazard with kids nightlights and flammable kids' pajamas prompted recalls.
Now the Consumer Product Safety Commission says the painted logo in the insoles of kids Timberland boots have excessive levels of lead. The Classic Scuffproof Boots were sold nationwide this year for kids as young as one year old.
But with all these recalls, thousands of parents will never get the word and continue to use, share, sell and giveaway potentially dangerous products for years.
As the busy new mother of a 5 month old boy, local radio personality Monti Carlo is admittedly obsessed about child safety. She shares the obsession with her morning "Ladies Room" audience on Movin' 92.5 FM.
"I report news every morning," said Carlo. "I'm a little bit on the psycho side about checking out how safe things are. I look at recall lists all the time to see if it's newsworthy."
But like thousands of parents, Carlo missed the recall last week for her son's hammock-bed called Amby Baby.
The motion beds are blamed for the deaths of two small infants. Swinging and shifting can cause the baby to roll over, get trapped against the side, and suffocate in the cloth fabric. A 4-month-old girl in Georgia died as a result in June, and a 5-month-old boy in Oregon died in August.
"I missed it." said Carlo. "I feel like a jerk, because I missed it."
The recall notice came out Dec. 8 -- the same day the memorial for the four fallen Lakewood Police officers was held. The event was the largest police memorial in the county drawing nationwide media coverage. The recall did make the news, but for many, the alert went under the radar.
Carlo happened to stumbled upon it when she went to the Amby Baby company's Web site for something altogether different.
"And there it was, the first headline," she said. "I was furious! I was so mad because they have my e-mail they have my contact information. They have everything, because I purchased it online. I mean, how hard is it to copy and paste a bunch of e-mails and let people know? It's not that complicated to do a mass e-mail if you keep a customer list, and I know they do. It's all Web-based."
Truth is most companies wait for the government to announce recalls after an investigation. Some recalls are launched after the inspection of imported products. Most are launched after consumer complaints of death and injury trigger an investigation that could take months.
If you miss an alert - and thousands do - you may be using all sorts of products that were pulled of the market because they might cause harm. Carlo feels manufacturers are putting sales before customer safety.
"If my (contact) information is good enough to sell, why isn't it good enough to contact me if something goes wrong? I think it's impossible to keep up with all of it," she said. "If you put a product out there and something goes wrong with the product, you need to let your customers know, period. "
She's also furious that while American customers of Amby Baby are being asked to stop using the bed until they receive a free repair kit, which will not be available until January, the Canadian government is instructing Canadian consumers to dismantle the beds and throw them out so they cannot be used again.
"If it was repairable, why would Canada ask you to throw it away? That just doesn't make any sense to me." she said.
Because the flood of recall information can be easy to miss- it's important to be proactive. Make it a point to check the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Web site frequently for both recalled toy and non-toy products.
For more information:
Food recalls
Babycenter.com
Parents.com
CarSeat.org
Cafe Mom
Family Watchdog
