If you're like any other mom in America, then sitting somewhere in your living room among your ridiculous amount of baby gear is a Bumbo seat. (Am I right?) That thing is awesome for helping babies sit up, and it's so convenient for feeding, etc. But if you do have one, then you'd better read on, because 4 million Bumbo baby seats have been recalled due to major safety hazards.
The seats present a falling risk to infants when they are placed on raised surfaces, which can result in injuries as severe as skull fractures. And as much as I'd like to say I only put my son in his Bumbo seat when it was on the floor, I can recall setting him on the kitchen counter in it a time or two. Because that thing fits so snugly around a baby's body, you'd never dream they'd fall out of it. Luckily, I never had any safety issues with my Bumbo seat -- but other parents haven't been so fortunate.
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The seats were originally recalled in 2007 after babies fell out of them, and as a result, a warning was issued to parents stating that the seats should never be used on elevated surfaces. But not everyone got the message, and since then, at least 50 babies have gotten hurt. Want to know the scariest part? Get this one -- some of the infants who suffered injuries fell out of their Bumbo seats while they were placed on the ground.
But before you panic and immediately take your Bumbo seat to the nearest dumpster, the CPSC has a solution to make your seat safe. All you need to do is contact Bumbo to be given a free kit that includes a safety belt for the seat and new instructions on how to use it properly. You can check out Bumbo's recall site for more information on the kit, or call (866) 898-4999.
Do you use a Bumbo seat, and have you ever worried about it not being safe?
Image via USCPSC/Flickr
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Comments 83
@Haley: My child is the same way. No elevated surfaces, PER DIRECTIONS PEOPLE!, only on good squishy surfaces, sometimes she's on the hard wood, but she's the same way! To get her out we have to pull it off of her butt after we lift her up! LMAO. It's so cute and funny.
It is because parents are stupid @brianne king. They SHOULD READ THE BACK OF THE FRIGGIN THING. I'm still going to get my kit though, just so I can make sure all precautions are taken. She's never been on an elevated surface in one, plus it gets stuck to her!
Oh my goodness, I bought one for my son who was born 10pds.. and he never could use it because his lil legs were so fat that it cut off his circulation...but even buying it I knew this wasnt something I was suppost to have on a counter, some people just dont read the box " do not place on elevated surfaces"... and dont have common sense..
This kinda goes along the same lines as the Tide Pod Recall....Why was your child ABLE to get the laundry detergent and eat it? Therefore, if you don't put the seat on a high surface, your kid can't fall out....
My daughter doesn't need it anymore but she still uses it for her personal chair and sometimes I use it as a booster sit at the table but I keep her in a chair next to me so I can hold onto her.
I would have thought it would be common sense that something like a bumbo and the way it's designed you would not put it on a raised surface, to me this is just parental neglect and stupidity instead of a fault with the Bumbos =|