Dangerous Bassinet
I recently received an email from a “free local reuse” list offering a free bassinet.
I had no idea what a bassinet was, or whether I wanted one, so I did a quick Google search, only to find that Fischer-Price has recalled its portable Bassinets:
Fisher-Price has received 24 reports of fingers getting caught or pinched in the bassinet frame, including 10 children with cut fingertips, one infection and one broken finger.
Apparently it’s a sort of baby seat. The recall notice was quite scary. Does “cut fingertips” mean a cut on the fingertip, or that it cut the fingertip entirely off?
So my first impulse was to think of ways to spread the word about these deadly bassinets. Even though I have nothing personally to do with them, if it’s going to cut off babies’ fingers, then we should all know.
But then I remembered how I had come across the notice in the first place: it’s the top result from google. Apparently enough other people also felt that this was the most important thing to know about bassinets and had linked similarly back to the recall notice.
I think this is an example of google doing it’s job well: emulating and amplifying “word of mouth” communication. If the CPSC posts recall notices on its site and no one linked there, I doubt anyone would have ever come across the notice. I mean, how often do you check to see if any of the thousands of household items you own have been recalled? But the weight of enough people coming across this has pushed it up to the top result.
I also noticed another bassinet recall, which seemed to apply to a slightly different product: “Although the drop leaf shelf is not intended as a support shelf for infants, when used in this manner, the drop leaf shelf support mechanism will fail to support the infant. The infant could fall causing head or other bodily injury.” In fact, a search for bassinet recall reveals an extraordinary number of problems! One of them says “infants can become entrapped in an opening between the bassinet’s side and mattress platform and suffocate.” Who would have guessed?
So my advice to prospective parents: stay away from bassinets entirely. I think a traditional crib is probably the safest way to go.
Amayita Jan 28
I don’t know if fingers get cut or not, but there’s a report of at least one broken finger, and that’s awful considering it’s just babies… :-(
Long Jan 28
A bassinet is a small crib. It is like a wicker basket on legs. The one I slept in as a baby (my children used it too) was lined with a solid material so that no little fingers little fingers could get pinched or broken, unless you consider the hood. But babies are moved to a bigger crib before they can sit up and lift the hood.
Megan Feb 7
“I think this is an example of google doing it’s job well: emulating and amplifying “word of mouth†communication. If the CPSC posts recall notices on its site and no one linked there, I doubt anyone would have ever come across the notice.”
There should be better communication between consumers and the CSPC in my opinion. They don’t do a very good job of getting the word out about recalled products and that’s putting people in danger. Other than a humble press release here and there, they basically do nothing to get this news out.