WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with Baby Matters LLC, of Berwyn, Pa., is announcing the voluntary recall of 30,000 Nap Nanny® portable baby recliners. CPSC is investigating a report of a 4-month-old girl from Royal Oak, Mich. who died in a Nap Nanny® that was being used in a crib. According to preliminary reports, the infant was in her harness and found hanging over the side of the product, caught between the Nap Nanny® and the crib bumper.

CPSC and Baby Matters are aware of one other incident in which an infant became entrapped when the Nap Nanny was used in a crib, contrary to the product instructions. In that incident, the infant fell over the side of the Nap Nanny®, despite being harnessed in, and was caught between the baby recliner and the side of the crib. The infant sustained a cut to the forehead.

CPSC and the firm have received 22 reports of infants, primarily younger than 5-months-old, hanging or falling out over the side of the Nap Nanny® despite most of the infants being placed in the harness. One infant received a bruise as a result of hanging over the side of the product.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 28, 2010 — Britax today announced a full redesign and relaunch of its line of best-selling convertible car seats. The new line offers Superior 360 Degree Protection with Revolutionary Head Safety Technology that dramatically reduces the risk of head injury and provides complete protection from all sides in the event of a vehicle crash.

 Head safety is critical because even tiny increases in head excursion — the distance the head travels forward during the crash — can exponentially increase the risk of head injury. Head injury is the leading cause of death for children up to 12 years old involved in vehicle crashes and comprises 65 percent of injuries in both frontal and side impact crashes, according to Child Injury Led Design and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. With this in mind, Britax designed its new line to help prevent real world injury for children and make it that much easier for parents and caregivers to use their children’s car seats correctly each and every time. 

 Unprecedented Head Safety

 “Many parents don’t realize the violence of a crash. Even if a child is restrained in a car seat, his head can be thrown violently forward in a collision. Should his head make contact with the back of the front seat he can be seriously injured,” said Ron Marsilio, vice president of engineering and new product development for Britax. “We are on a never-ending mission to engineer car seats to be as safe as they can possibly be, especially when it comes to protecting the head. That’s why we designed Britax Revolutionary Head Safety Technology to minimize head excursion and help protect the child from injury.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following product. Consumers should stop using products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of product: CYBEX 2.GO Infant Carriers

Units: About 2,700 in the United States and 400 in Canada

Distributor: Regal Lager Inc., of Kennesaw, Ga.

Hazard: A shoulder strap slider buckle can break, posing a fall hazard to babies.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received three reports of broken buckles. No injuries have been reported.

Description: This recall involves CYBEX 2.GO infant carriers. “CYBEX” is embroidered on the fabric covering on the top of the head support. “2.GO” is printed on an orange tag near the head support. They were sold in the following colors: chili, indigo, purple and slate.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 24, 2010 — Drawing on its history of thoughtful engineering, leading car seat and stroller manufacturer Britax introduced today the B-READY, a versatile and stylish modular stroller equipped to meet the growing family’s needs. The B-READY can be converted from a single child system to a two-child or twin system utilizing any combination of seats, bassinets and infant car seats in 14 possible configurations. This allows little ones to be secured comfortably in various appropriate positions on the stroller, also making it easy for parents to watch them as they rest or sleep. B-READY is the most comprehensive stroller on the market with single-child configurations and the option to expand it for infant twins or two children. As a result, this stroller helps ensure that parents will “be ready” as their families grow.

“For years parents and caregivers have relied on Britax for the thoughtful details that make life on the go easier and safer,” said Jon Chamberlain, president of Britax USA. “Our product designers know that parents want products with extended life spans that can grow with their family. The B-READY was designed with more options when traveling with one or two children. The result is a feature-rich and adaptive stroller design inspired by how parents hold and connect with their children.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 21, 2010

BabyLuxe announces the launch of its new website, babyluxebrands.com

Livermore, CA May 21, 2010 – BabyLuxe, a leading brand in bedding essentials for the juvenile products industry, announces the launch of their new website. The site, www.babyluxebrands.com was designed to showcase the extensive selection of product offerings and provide informative content for consumers.

Consumers can browse the full catalog of BabyLuxe products, learn about organic cotton and the certification process, and find a local or online store to purchase BabyLuxe products.

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Halo Innovations, the maker of the best selling Halo® SleepSack™ wearable blanket, announced today a new partnership with Safe Kids USA. Halo will be recognized as a Gold Level Member of the Safe Kids USA’s 2010 Business Champions Program.

Minnetonka, MN March 24, 2010 — Halo Innovations, the maker of the best selling Halo® SleepSack™ wearable blanket, announced today a new partnership with Safe Kids USA. Halo will be recognized as a Gold Level Member of the Safe Kids USA’s 2010 Business Champions Program.

“As a company whose mission is to help babies sleep safely, we wanted to support an organization that works everyday to keep kids safe,” says Halo’s founder, Bill Schmid. “We are always seeking new ways to communicate safe sleep practices to parents and becoming a member of Safe Kids USA’s Business Champions Program will give us the opportunity to reach their network of coalitions throughout the country.”

Bill Schmid founded Halo in 1994 after spending three years researching safe sleep environments when he lost his infant daughter to SIDS in 1991. Halo is dedicated to developing products that set new standards for the safety and improved health of sleeping infants and to bring peace of mind to parents and caregivers.

“We are excited to welcome Halo as our newest Business Champion,” says Mitch Stoller, president and CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide. “It’s because of their generous support that we are able to continue our work educating parents and caregivers in communities across the country on ways to keep the sleeping environments of their children safe.”

For more information about safe sleep practices, please visit www.halosleep.com.

Safe Kids USA works to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the leading cause of death and disability to children ages 1 to 14. More than 600 coalitions in the United States and nineteen member countries worldwide bring together health and safety experts, educators, corporations, foundations, governments and volunteers to educate and protect families. Safe Kids USA is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing unintentional injury. Safe Kids USA was founded in 1987 by Children’s National Medical Center.

The pride of sitting in a “big boy” or “big girl” chair accompanies this cushy, bright and portable booster seat with a raised back for secure seating and lap belt for safety. The POD attaches to a chair with safety straps that clip both under the chair seat and behind the chair back. A wide, non-skid bottom keeps the POD solidly in its place; six color combinations make a decorative statement. One tester claims that her son likes his boosterPOD so much that now he won’t go near his former, hard plastic booster seat!

“This is great for visiting grandma or a friend’s house who wouldn’t have a high chair.”
– Mom Tester
“I like this product better than others because it has a rubberized seat, a safety belt and a solid, hard plastic bottom.”
– Mom Tester

“It’s a nice soft seat, lightweight, portable and comes in great colors.”
– Mom Tester

“It’s reasonably priced for a great quality product.”
– Mom Tester

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2010
Release #10-177

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada (HC), in cooperation with Infantino LLC, of San Diego, Calif. are announcing a free replacement program for the Infantino “SlingRider” and “Wendy Bellissimo” infant slings. One million of these infant slings are being recalled in the United States and 15,000 are being recalled in Canada. CPSC advises consumers to immediately stop using these slings for infants younger than four months of age due to a risk of suffocation and contact Infantino for a free replacement product.

CPSC is aware of three reports of deaths that occurred in these slings in 2009; a 7-week-old infant in Philadelphia, Pa.; a 6-day-old infant in Salem, Ore.; and a 3-month-old infant in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Infantino “SlingRider,” is a soft fabric baby carrier with a padded shoulder strap that is worn by parents and caregivers to carry an infant weighing up to 20 lbs. “Infantino” is printed on the plastic slider located on the strap. “Infantino,” “SlingRider” and the item number are printed on the instruction/warning label inside the baby sling carrier. “Wendy Bellissimo” branded sling carriers were sold exclusively at Babies “R” Us and have a sewn-in label on the inside of the sling strap that says in part “Wendy Bellissimo Media, Inc.” and lists Item numbers 3937500H7 and 3937501H7.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 18, 2010
Release #10-171

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following product. Consumers should stop using product immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Graco Harmony™ High Chairs

Units: About 1.2 million

Manufacturer: Graco Children’s Products Inc., of Atlanta, Ga.

Hazard: The screws holding the front legs of the high chair can loosen and fall out and/or the plastic bracket on the rear legs can crack causing the high chair to become unstable and tip over unexpectedly. This poses a fall hazard to children.

Incidents/Injuries: Graco has received 464 reports of screws loosening/falling out and/or plastic brackets cracking causing the high chair to tip over unexpectedly. These tip-over’s resulted in 24 reports of injuries including bumps and bruises to the head, a hairline fracture to the arm, and cuts, bumps, bruises and scratches to the body.

Description: This recall involves all Harmony™ High Chairs. The Harmony™ high chair was manufactured from November 2003 through December 2009 and is no longer in production. The model number can be found on the label that is located on the underside of the foot rest.

Sold at: AAFES, Burlington Coat Factory, Babies “R” Us, Toys “R” Us, Sears, Target, Target.com, Walmart, WalMart.com, Shopko, USA Baby, and other retailers nationwide from December 2003 through March 2010 for between $70 and $120.

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REVISED RELEASE
Contact:          Linda Woody
lwoody@ahint.com
856-642-4420

JPMA Provides Additional Guidance Regarding CPSC Warning on Slings Issued March 12, 2010

JPMA provides safety tips for parents and caregivers when using slings.

MOUNT LAUREL, NJ March 17, 2010—The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), a non-profit association dedicated to promoting the industry and the safe use of juvenile products, is providing important safety information to parents and caregivers on the proper use of infant slings. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a warning for infant slings on March 12, 2010 advising parents and caregivers to be cautious when using infant slings for babies younger than four months of age.

The CPSC warning does not include soft infant carriers, for which there is an ASTM standard and which JPMA certifies. It is important to note that JPMA does not certify slings and currently there is no ASTM standard covering slings. The ASTM subcommittee on infant slings met on March 16, 2010 to review a draft standard for sling carriers and work to develop a voluntary standard is ongoing.

“The JPMA is committed to providing the latest safety information to parents in the prenatal to preschool market,” said Michael Dwyer, CAE, Executive Director of the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association. “Parents and caregivers are looking for answers to tough questions regarding baby gear, and the JPMA can provide those helpful reminders that an important first step toward raising a happy, healthy baby is to create the safest environment possible.”

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