It has been almost one year since the announcement that Baby Matters’ popular Nap Nanny child seats were being recalled and pulled from the market. This dangerous child seat was pulled from the market a little too late though for the families of the 5 children that were killed and 90+ other children that were injured. We wrote about the dangers of this seat in a Consumer Alert last year – click here to see the article: June 2013 Recall.
We now have another grieving family as a 6th child has been reportedly killed by these dangerous Nap Nanny child seats. The recent death has the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission once aga in urging all parents and caregivers who own a Nap Nanny or Nap Nanny Chill recliner to stop using it immediately and throw it out. Deaths to these infants have occurred in two ways:
1. The baby partly falls or hangs over the side of the Nap Nanny and gets trapped between the product and crib bumpers;
2. The baby suffocates on the inside of the Nap Nanny.
The latest death hits home for me as it happened in the area that I grew up in Northern New Jersey. An 8-month-old girl, secured by a belt, was found partly hanging over the side of a Nap Nanny recliner, trapped between the product and a crib bumper. The baby girl was strangled by this dangerous seat.
Although all models of the Nap Nanny were recalled in 2013, officials at the CPSC believe that parents and caregivers are still picking up these hazardous products from yard sales, online auction sites, or using them as hand-me-down gifts. Parents should be aware that once a product is officially recalled, it is illegal to sell or resell them.
As a parent, child safety advocate and trial lawyer, I am continually troubled by the fact that manufacturers continue to sell dangerous products. Manufacturers, in their zeal to get products on the market, often cut corners and overlook safety when designing and manufacturing products. Manufacturers have an obligation and opportunity to thoroughly assess product safety before the launch of a product. It should not take to child to get injured or killed for a manufacturer to make a product safe.
Please contact Sean E. Quinn of the Quinn Law Group, LLC, with offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Cherry Hill, New Jersey, if you or a loved one has been injured by a dangerous product.