Following the recall of the popular Bumbo Baby Sitters in the US and Canada, parents in the UK are waiting to see if the recall will be extended to Europe and how that will affect their rights to make claims for baby injury compensation if their child has sustained an injury due to the negligent design of the product.
The recall follows a series of complaints to the American Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and reports of injuries sustained by children falling out of the recalled Bumbo Baby Sitters – several of whom have suffered fractured skulls by toppling backwards out of the seat and hitting their head on a hard floor surface.
Previous concerns about the safety of Bumbo Baby Sitters resulted to the product being withdrawn in 2007 and re-marketed with substantial labels warning parents of the dangers associated with using the baby seats on tables and other elevated positions. However, after the seats were re-launched onto the market, claims of Bumbo Baby Sitter injuries continued – with more than twenty skulls fractures reported out of the scores of complaints concerning the lack of safety of the product.
Of these reports, the CPSC was specifically concerned about 34 injuries which occurred when the Bumbo Baby Sitter had been placed on the floor – two of which were confirmed as fractured skull injuries – and the injuries continued after a November 2011 warning to parents to only use the Bumbo Baby Sitter with caution.
Now the CPSC has issued further advice in light of the Bumbo Baby Sitter recall which is applicable only to residents of the USA and Canada until such time as the Bumbo Baby Sitter recall is extended to Europe.
Consumers should immediately stop using the product until they order and install a free repair kit, which includes: a restraint belt with a warning label, installation instructions, safe use instructions and a new warning sticker. The belt should always be used when a child is placed in the seat. Even with the belt, the seat should never be used on any raised surface. Consumers should also immediately stop using Bumbo seat covers that interfere with the installation and use of the belt.
Parents in the UK concerned about the safety of Bumbo Baby Sitters should contact the retail outlet from which their child seat was purchased and request that the repair kit be sent to them. Those parents whose child has suffered an injury due to the faulty design of the Bumbo Baby Sitter should speak with a lawyer at the first possible opportunity.