The Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning parents and guardians
to exercise caution when using a corded baby audio and video camera monitor.
There have been reports of six baby strangulation deaths involving a baby
monitor cord since 2004. It was just this March that a 10-month-old girl
died in a Washington DC child injury accident after she became entangled
in her camera monitor’s cord. The monitor had been next to her crib.
The CPSC says it has also obtained three other reports of babies that
became entangled in a monitor cord and were fortunately rescued before
suffering serious injuries.
Although the CPSC is not at this time recalling baby monitors with cords,
to decrease the chances of strangulation, the agency is recommending that
caregivers and parents:
- Use a baby monitor that is wireless.
- If you are going to use a corded baby monitor, then keep the cord out of your child’s reach.
The CPSC is also continuing to recommend that you keep your son or daughter
away from any type of cord and that you remove drawstrings and long ribbons
from a child’s clothing.
The agency, along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is also
warning consumers to stop using infant sleep positioners. Although long
touted as a tool for helping babies stay on their backs while sleeping,
over the last 13 years there have been reports of 12 baby suffocation
deaths after the infants became entrapped between the positioner and the
side of a bassinet or crib.
There have also been dozens of reports of babies who ended up in potentially
dangerous positions while using the positioner even after they had been
placed on their side or back. Although an infant sleep positioner is supposed
to lower the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, the FDA and CPSC do
not know of any scientific studies that can verify that this infant product
prevents SIDS or suffocation.
Strangulation and Suffocation Accidents Involving Children
Over the years, too many kids and babies have died or sustained serious
injuries, such as brain damage, due to suffocation or strangulation. While
government and safety officials have taken steps to prevent products that
pose such hazards to children from entering the marketplace, unfortunately
there are still consumer items, including those that are made specifically
for infants and young kids, that continue to make their way onto store
shelves and into homes.
Infants can strangle in baby monitor cords, CPSC (PDF)
FDA & CPSC: Infant Sleep Positioners Pose Suffocation Risk, Parenting, September 29, 2010
Related Web Resources:
FDA
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Strangulation and Suffocation, Parents
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