Here are some recent recalls issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). For details, including information on what you should do and picture of the recalled items, please use the links provided.

Mother Hubbard’s Cupboards Cribs: Recalled due to fall hazard. The cribs fail to meet the federal safety standards. The distance between the mattress support bracket in the lowest position and the top of the side rail in the highest position is less than the required 26 inches, posing a fall hazard to children who climb over the railing.
Mother Hubbard’s Cupboards Cribs Recall Information

Baby Appleseed Cribs: Recalled due to fall hazard. The cribs fail to meet the federal safety standards for cribs. The cribs have a two mattress support system. The secondary mattress support, used for the lowest position, does not meet the full 26 inch minimum height in its lowest position, allowing children inside to crawl over the railing, posing a fall hazard.
Baby Appleseed Cribs Recall Information

Wooden Toys by Earthentree: Recalled due to choking and strangulation hazards. The recalled toys contain small parts or can break into small parts, posing a choking hazard. The recalled rattles violate the federal rattle standard. Some of the toys also have a string longer than 12 inches, which can pose a strangulation hazard to young children.
Earthentree Wooden Toys Recall Information

Kids II Infant Rattles: Recalled due to choking hazard. The tip of the rattle’s antenna, which is attached to a bee figure, can detach and pose a choking hazard to small children.
Kids II Infant Rattle Recall Information

Did you know that sparkers burn at a temperature of about 2000 degrees? This is hot enough to melt some metals, and could severely burn your child. I wasn’t aware of this until I read this article about firework safety on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) site, and I shudder to think of the many times I’ve watched children happily waving sparklers in the air. Serious burns were just a spark away.

Please practice these fireworks safety tips:

• Make sure consumer fireworks are legal where you live. Be aware that M-80s, cherry bombs and quarter sticks are so highly explosive that they have been banned by Federal law since 1966.
• Read and follow all warnings and instructions.
• A responsible adult should closely supervise all fireworks activities. Never allow young children to play with or ignite fireworks.
• Be sure other people are out of range before lighting fireworks.
• Never point or throw fireworks at another person.
• Only light fireworks on a smooth, flat surface away from the house, dry leaves, and flammable materials.
• Light one item at a time, then move back quickly.
• Never try to re-light fireworks that have not fully functioned.
• Never carry fireworks in a pocket or shoot them in metal or glass containers.
• Keep a bucket of water or a hose handy in case of a malfunction or fire.

CPSC also has a fireworks safety page especially for children.

Summer is fast approaching (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere), so I thought it would be helpful to share a few warm weather safety tips based on information from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

Be sure to wear a helmet and other safety gear when biking, skating and skateboarding, and when riding scooters, all-terrain vehicles, and horses. Studies on bicycle helmets have shown they can reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent. However, these helmets should not be worn while on the playground, climbing trees and similar types of play. The strap can become caught on play equipment or branches, possible choking your child.

If you have a charcoal grill, never use it indoors. Burning charcoal produces deadly carbon monoxide.

Make sure your home playground is safe. Falls cause 60 percent of playground injuries, so having a safe surface is critical. Concrete, asphalt or packed dirt surfaces are too hard. Surfaces around and under playground equipment should be covered with at least 12 inches of loose-fill surfacing materials such as wood chips, mulch, sand, or pea gravel, or be made of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like materials.

Don’t allow a game of hide-n-seek to end in tragedy. CPSC has received reports of children who suffocated when they crawled inside old cedar chests, latch-type freezers and refrigerators, iceboxes in campers, clothes dryers and picnic coolers. Be sure to childproof old appliances and warn children not to play inside them.

Install window guards to prevent children from falling out of open windows. Guards should be installed in any room where young children spend time. You could also install window stops that permit windows to open no more than 4 inches. Whenever possible, open windows from the top—not the bottom. And keep furniture away from windows to discourage children from climbing near windows.

For more summer safety tips visit the CPSC site.

It only takes a few seconds, just a shake or two in anger because the baby won’t stop crying….

But these few seconds can mean permanent damage, even death, to the innocent child.

According to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, when an infant or small child is violently shaken, her brain rotates within her skull cavity, injuring or destroying her brain tissue. Also, blood vessels leading to her brain can be torn and blood can pool within her skull, which can cause even more brain damage.

Every year in the United States treatment is sought for an estimated 1200 - 1400 children who have been shaken. Of these, 25 -30% will die as a result of their injuries. The rest will have lifelong complications. And these are only the children who have been brought in for help….

What can happen to a baby when you shake her?

These are some of the consequences of shaking an infant or toddler, from tne National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Immediate consequences can include:

• Problems with breathing
• Extreme irritability
• Seizures
• Limp arms and legs or rigidity/posturing
• Decreased level of consciousness
• Vomiting/poor feeding
• Inability to suck or swallow
• Heart may stop
• Death

Long-term consequences can include:

• Learning disabilities
• Physical disabilities
• Visual disabilities or blindness
• Hearing impairment and speech disabilities
• Cerebral palsy
• Seizures
• Behavior disorders
• Cognitive impairment
• Death

Please visit the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome for more information, including

• Common Symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome
• Special Education for Survivors of Shaken Baby Syndrome
• Family stories

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of about 18,400 Rainbow Play Systems Swing Seats. The seats can break in half, dumping the swinging child to the ground. Rainbow has received 84 reports of broken swing seats, including one injury report of a 2-year-old girl who broke her wrist .

The recall involves sling swing seats sold as an accessory with Carnival, Sunshine, and Rainbow Series residential play structures manufactured by Rainbow Play Systems, Inc. The seats are about 25 inches in length and were sold in red, yellow, blue and green with 64-inch yellow or green dipped chains. The seats have pointed ends with three black dots and black grommets.

Play structures with the sling swings contain a metal plate on the main beam with the writing, “Rainbow Play Systems Inc. 1-800-RAINBOW.”

If you have one of these sling swings, remove it from your play structure and either contact Rainbow Play Systems, Inc. or return the sling to the place you bought it for a free replacement swing. If you have already been contacted by Rainbow and had your swing seat replaced, you are are not affected by this recall.

For more information, contact Rainbow Play Systems at (800) 724-6269 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit Rainbow’s Web site at www.rainbowplay.com

For more information about the Rainbow Play Systems Swing Seats recall visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission website.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 26,000 Adventure Playsets Wooden Swing Sets have been recalled. These sets have defective bolts which could allow the frame of the swing set to detach from the fort structure, leading to possible falls and injuries to the children who are using it.

Backyard Ventures has received 64 reports of the bolt heads twisting off during installation. No injuries have been reported.

The recalled swing set models include the Durango, Tacoma, Oddsey, Bellvue, Monarch, Grand Teton and Outlook II. The sets are made of wood, and feature various types of slides, swings and a fabric canopy over part of the structure.

If you have one of these sets, have your children stop using it immediately. Then contact Backyard Ventures to receive repair instructions and free replacement bolts for the recalled swing sets.

For more information, call Backyard Ventures at (800) 856-4445 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, visit the firm’s Web site at www.adventureplaysets.com or e-mail the firm at custservice@adventureplaysets.com

Visit the CPSC web site for more information about the Adventure Playsets Wooden Swing Sets recall.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. about 14,000 Schwinn Deluxe Bicycle Child Carriers have been recalled

If the seat is not fully seated on the rack, the plastic guide tabs on the carrier can break. If these tabs break, it could cause the seat to fall off. This poses a risk of serious injury to a child seated in the carrier.

The manufacturer, PTI Sports, has received five reports of the bicycle child carriers falling, including three reports of minor injuries, such as bumps and scratches.

The carrier is a seat for a child that is attached to the back of an adult bicycle. The carrier is gray plastic with a blue rubber back and seat pad, a gray head rest, and black straps. Model number SW571T is printed on the carrier’s packaging and in the owner’s manual. “PTI” is printed on a yellow warning sticker on the back of the carrierseat.

The carrier was sold at department stores, discount department stores, and military exchanges nationwide from September 2004 through November 2005 for about $50.

What should you do?

If you have one of these bicycle child carriers, stop using it immediately. Do not return the carrier to store. Contact PTI Sports for a free safety bracket and revised installation instructions.

For additional information, contact PTI Sports at (800) 515-0074 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, e-mail the firm at customerservice@ptisports.com, or visit the firm’s
web site at www.schwinnbike.com

Visit the CPSC web site for more information about the Schwinn Deluxe Bicycle Child Carriers recall, including a picture.

Did you know that deaths from fires and burns are the second leading cause of death in children between 1 and 9 years old? (Motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause.) Or that the rate of deaths for preschool children in home fires is more than double, relative to population, the rate for all age groups combined?

This information is included in Reducing the Number of Deaths and Injuries From Residential Fires, a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics published in the June 2000 issue of Pediatrics journal.

Other facts from the report:

• In 1997 children playing with fire accounted for 8% of the home fire deaths and 2/5 of the home fire deaths of preschool children.
• In 1996, cigarettes and other lighted tobacco products caused 1/3 of the home fires that resulted in deaths.
• Most fire-related deaths in all age groups occur as a result of smoke inhalation, rather than directly from burns.
• Arson is the known or suspected cause of 13% of residential fires in 1993-1997. 52% of people arrested for arson during those years were children and adolescents younger than 18 years; more than one third were younger than 15.

The report gives specific recommendations for both parents and pediatricians. These include teaching parents about fire and burn prevention, providing psychological help to school-age children who set fires, and encouraging adolescents and adults not to smoke.

What can you do to reduce the risk of your children being hurt or killed in a fire?

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