Baby Bassinet Scare Prompts Warning

CPSC: Two Infants Trapped, Strangled In Bars Of Crib Made By Pa. Company

(AP)  The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning parents and caregivers to immediately stop using a popular brand of bassinet after the death of a second baby attributed to the product. Six major retailers have stopped selling the bassinets.

The warning covers the Simplicity 3-in-1 and Simplicity 4-in-1 bassinets. CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese said Thursday the danger is so severe that the agency was compelled to issue the warning late Wednesday ahead of a likely recall.

"Recalls can take time, and the commission felt that time was of the essence and that warning the public about this product was so important that we could not wait until a recall was announced," she said.

Wal-Mart, one of the largest distributors of the product, said Thursday it is pulling the bassinets off of its shelves and its Web site.

"We are working with the supplier and CPSC and are directing store managers to remove product identified in the CPSC press release from store shelves and initiating a register block to prevent sale," Wal-Mart said in a statement. "In addition, we are in the process of removing this product from sale at Walmart.com."

In addition, Toys "R" Us Inc., Kmart Corp., Big Lots, Target, J.C. Penney have also recalled the bassinets, the CPSC said late Thursday.

Last week, a 6-month-old Shawnee, Kan., girl was strangled after trying to slip through the metal tubes that run down the side of the bassinet. Police say her body fit through the tubes, but her head was too big and she became hung.

In September 2007, a 4-month-old Pineville, Mo., girl died after being caught between the rail of her Simplicity 4-in-1 bassinet and the mattress.

The CPSC says the "close-sleeper/bedside sleeper" bassinets have metal bars spaced farther apart than the maximum 2 3/8 inches allowed under federal crib safety standards. The bars are covered by an adjustable fabric flap that is attached by Velcro, which can fall if not properly attached and allow an infant to slide between the bars.

Vallese said the agency is acting under new authority granted under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, signed by President Bush earlier this month.

"It is now clear what the foreseeable danger with this product is," she said. "The fact that we have put out this warning pretty much has determined that this is a product that should not be used by consumers."

Simplicity recalled about 1 million cribs Sept. 21, 2007, after reports of three deaths and seven babies who had become entrapped in its cribs. Vallese said the recall put Simplicity out of business, and its assets were purchased by SFCA Inc. in April.

In a release Wednesday, CPSC said SFCA "has refused to cooperate with the government and recall the products. SFCA maintains that it is not responsible for products previously manufactured by Simplicity Inc."

In a statement Thursday, SFCA insisted the warning does not involve any product it manufactures or distributes. It noted that the CPSC said its warning does not include bassinets produced in recent months that have fabric permanently attached over the bar — a feature SFCA says its bassinets include.

"All bassinets produced and sold by SFCA are produced in this manner, with fabric permanently attached over the lower bar, and meet or exceed ASTM standards and CPSC guidelines," the company said.

The model number of the bassinet in which 6-month-old Kennedy Jones was killed on Aug. 21 in Shawnee is 3112DOH7.

Vallese said there are about 1 million of the affected bassinets, which have been on the market for about seven years, in stores and in homes across the U.S.

Jeff Slaton, an attorney for the family of 4-month-old Katelyn Marie Simon, who died in September in Missouri, said his clients will be relieved when the defective bassinets are pulled off the shelves.

Slaton said he filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Simon family against Wal-Mart and Simplicity Inc. on Aug. 20, the day before the Kansas baby died.

"It's rather obvious when you look at this bassinet that it's defective and dangerous," he said. "The problem is that people don't think in those terms. When you go to Wal-Mart and find something covered with Walt Disney's Winnie the Pooh, you don't think like that."

Slaton said he hasn't been hired to handle the Kansas case.

[erasmus81]

"How about clackers? Anybody ever run behind the mosquito fogger truck?" Posted by observer2020 at 03:30 PM : Aug 28, 2008

What is "clackers"?

So is that what you did for excitement, run behind a mosquito fogger truck???? YIKES!! I''m surprised you are still alive.

[observer2020]

And to think, we played with Lawn Darts and survived!
lol
Posted by haoli25

How about clackers? We played with those and survived, too. Anybody ever run behind the mosquito fogger truck?

I feel very sorry for the families of these two little treasures.

[photogeezer]

This is nothing new. This company deserves a fat lawsuit, double the punitive damages for failure to take responsibility for it. Wonder if this piece of junk was made in China, and signed off on by the company because they got a good deal on the lot.

[carlylaine]

nospam...they will be charged with child endangerment because their children died as a result of reckless regardchild endangerment. How many parents have you heard of who had to faces societal charges because they did something a bit goofy and their child died? It happens all of the time. All of the time.

I feel very bad for these parents.

[andsab]

SFCA Inc., the company which purchased all of Simplicity Inc.''s assets in April, "has refused to cooperate with the government and recall the products," CPSC said in a release Wednesday. "SFCA maintains that it is not responsible for products previously manufactured by Simplicity Inc."

How sad that they won''t step up and take resposibility. They own it now, they should do all they can to help other families from suffering as these two have.

[haoli25]

And to think, we played with Lawn Darts and survived!
lol

[nospam33-2009]

CarlyLaine, why on earth will the parents be charged with child endangerment???

[carlylaine]

For those of you who are questioning...this is a FEDERAL LAW, never local.

Also, these parents will more-than-likely be indicted for child endangerment. They may have been young and not aware, but in any case, YOU WHO LOVE GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE on everything so that there is no longer room for human error should be happy and you''d better hope you are always and forever the robots that you want us all to be.

[docadams3]

How did they get past the federal standards in the first place?

[usclimey]

but two out of one million is LESS THAN .000002%
I''''ll take those odds ANY DAY!!!

Posted by DaVicar2

Conclusions the same but you have too many zeros. 2 in a million is 0.0002%.

[nospam33-2009]

For the record, my son didn''t start to roll over until he was 8 or 9 months old and slept in a bassinet until he was at least 6 months old, as he was still within the weight limit and couldn''t pull himself up or roll, so let''s not judge the parents.

And as to the poster who asked where the parents were? Uhm, maybe they were SLEEPING thinking their child was safe.

[erasmus81]

"I thought babies only used bassinets till they were about 2-3 months or started to ''''roll over'''' then they went to a crib?"
Posted by dragonmouse at 09:44 AM : Aug 28, 2008

Yeah, so did I. And I have never heard of a bassinet with metal bars before. Also, I thought that it was the law now that bars could only be so far apart. At least it is where I live.

[dragonmouse-2009]

Seems a little strange to me that the baby would become ''trapped'' between bars and not cry or scream?

I thought babies only used bassinets till they were about 2-3 months or started to ''roll over'' then they went to a crib?

[justfacts2]

The problem isn''t with the product. The problem is with the parents. These babies were too old to be sleeping in these bassinets in the first place. They are intended for babies less than a couple months old and only for use until the babies graduate to their crib. This story shows a lack of common sense on the parents.