Watch out for the Bumbo Seat
You’ve got to have heard of this one, right? The Bumbo Seat is a molded yet somehow soft seat that is designed to help babies sit up, even if they’re not sitting up on their own yet. Many parents find them invaluable during that draining first year for keeping their little ones happy and baby showers haven’t been the same since they were first released several years ago. However, maybe they aren’t as safe as they would first appear to be. According to this article over on ParentDish, apparently a baby named Dylan Lamm from Santa Rosa, California suffered quite a nasty fall thanks to his Bumbo seat. He was sitting in the seat up on the kitchen table when he and the seat toppled from the surface and onto the hard floor below. His father, Kevin, rushed to pick him up and could tell right away that there was something the matter with his head. Indeed, his skull had cracked and was filling with blood. Luckily, surgery saved Dylan’s life but the Lamms have filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer. Apparently there are pictures on the box of the product that show it being used on raised surfaces such as a tabletop. They feel they were led to believe that the seat would be safe to use in such a manner as no warnings were included. Believe it or not, this isn’t the only story of just such an event happening either. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is opening an investigation on the seat and will hopefully decide if a recall is needed or a revision to the warnings included with the product is called for.
This is a scary story, to be sure. I guess the lesson here is don’t trust the product and watch your child like a hawk at all times. Which most of us do anyhow, I’m sure. But I’m sure I would think twice before using the Bumbo seat on an elevated surface from here on out, how about you?
September 20th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
I guess I never really thought of the Bumbo as a secure seat to leave the child in… undersupervised…on a tabletop. I’m surprised that they don’t have a warning on the seat already but, I guess they assumed the Bumbo was to be used less as a keeper seat, and more as a developmental tool. Even the website says “The Bumbo is as secure as the surface it is placed on and the mobility of the baby”. I think this is a case of “A pound of prevention…”
September 20th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
I guess I never really thought of the Bumbo as a secure seat to leave the child in… undersupervised…on a tabletop. I’m surprised that they don’t have a warning on the seat already but, I guess they assumed the Bumbo was to be used less as a keeper seat, and more as a developmental tool. Even the website says “The Bumbo is as secure as the surface it is placed on and the mobility of the baby”. I think this is a case of “A pound of prevention…”
October 25th, 2007 at 8:51 am
I have to say if your stupid enough to leave your child alone on the top of a table in a seat that you should take a class or two about parenting. I don’t think that someone in there right state of mind would leave a infant on the table alone. Come on people if they fell it is the parents fault how can you sew somone over your stupid decision.