Beware of Untested Baby Products

If you glance around the various baby products you would have bought for your little baby, you would see many products, that do not follow the standards, are not even required to follow industry and federal standards.

Millions of baby products are not subject to industry or federal standards

As a parent you may assume that the things you buy for your baby, after careful consideration, have been subjected to design, safety and other standards however you would frequently be wrong in this assumption.

Untested Baby ProductsFor instance did you know that the popular Bumbo Seat, or the Nap Nanny Recliner or popularly used travel beds are not covered by existing standards? All baby products do have to meet certain basic safety requirements so that they don’t have pointy ends or sharp edges that could cause injury.

Also strings and tassels that could choke, trap or cut, and materials that could smother are barred. They are also not allowed to contain toxins, lead and so on.

Unknown hazards of baby products

However there are so many other hazards that are beyond the purview of recognized standards and requirements. For instance products may have fall risks, entrapment or suffocation risks that we may not even be able to predict.

A case in point is that of Leslie Gudel, president of Baby Matters which manufactures the baby product Nap Nanny Recliner who asked about the industry standard before launching the product a couple of years ago. However she was told by the JPMA (Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association) that an industry standard would only be created when a safety issue arose.

So clearly there are a lot of lacunae regarding the federal and industry standards that govern baby products, and there is much that could go wrong which is not predictable. So what can parents do to keep baby safe at all times?

Ensuring safety of baby products

Make sure products you buy are built sturdily and that the materials used are not flimsy. Examine each baby product well before buying it and ensure that it is of good quality. Be doubly careful about using hand me downs, because these products could be older and subject to even fewer regulations and standards. Don’t use anything that is broken, chipped or otherwise faulty.

And finally remember that there is no substitute for supervision. Be with your baby, monitor her or his actions at all times, to be sure that there are no nasty surprises that any baby product can spring on you.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

1 × 4 =

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.