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  Magnet Ingestion and lead/lead paint recalls
 
 

Deadly Danger: Consumer Products Safety Commission Urges Parents To Not Place Infants On Air Mattresses

The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning families nationwide that air mattresses are too soft for use with sleeping infants. Never place infants to sleep on air mattresses or other soft surfaces (such as water beds and adult beds), which are not specifically designed or safe for infant use.

Since 2002, CPSC has received reports of 16 tragic deaths, mostly infants younger than 8 months of age who were placed to sleep on air mattresses: 11 suffocated in a face down position on an air mattress and 5 died due to suffocation after falling into gaps between the mattress and bed frame and mattress and adjacent furniture or wall.

Generic twin-, full-, or queen-sized inflatable mattresses are usually intended for adults and older children. Even properly inflated air mattresses are usually too soft for infants to maintain a clear airway. Air leaks and under-inflation also contribute to incidents.

Wherever your baby sleeps should be as safe as possible. CPSC recommends these safe sleeping tips:

  • Always place your baby to sleep on his or her back to reduce the risk of SIDS.
  • Never place baby to sleep on an adult bed. Infants can suffocate on bedding or can become entrapped between the mattress and bed frame or mattress and wall.
  • When using a crib, make sure it meets current safety standards, has a firm, tight-fitting mattress and tight-fitting bottom sheet.
  • When using a portable crib or play yard, be sure to use only the mattress or pad provided by the manufacturer.

. . .click here to go to the CPSC press release

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MAGNETS

Since 2005: 1 Death, 86 Injuries; 8 million magnetic toys recalled.

Today's rare-earth magnets can be very small and powerful making them popular in toys, building sets, and jewelry. As the number of products with magnets has increased, so has the number of serious injuries to children. In several hundred incidents, magnets have fallen out of various toys and been swallowed by children. Small intact pieces of building sets that contain magnets have also been swallowed by children. If two or more magnets, or a magnet and another metal object are swallowed separately, they can attract to one another through intestinal walls and get trapped in place. The injury is hard to diagnose. Parents and physicians may think that the materials will pass through the child without consequence, but magnets can attract in the body and twist or pinch the intestines, causing holes, blockages, infection, and death, if not treated properly and promptly.


from the U.S. consumer Product Safety Commission website

 
TIP: Watch carefully for loose magnets and magnetic pieces and keep away from younger children (less than 6).
If you have a recalled product with magnets, stop using it, call the company today, and ask for the remedy.
 
 

 
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