Do You Continue Using Recalled Products?
Another recent comment has me thinking. This time it's about the recently recalled nails from the Little Tikes workshop toys. Yvonne says:
"Honestly, I find this a bit ridiculous. Those workshop nails help develop fine motor skills and can lend hours of fun for children. I think recalling toys because they pose a choking hazard is encouraging this idea that our kids need to live in a bubble-wrapped, feel-no-pain kind of world. I don’t find that realistic and I think you should just leave well enough alone. If I had one of those toys, I would not be bringing the nails back. I feel sorry for the companies who have to deal with this."
In the case of the nails, there was a report of a child who got one of the nails lodged in his throat and had to be hospitalized. No deaths were reported, thankfully. When I read about recalls and there have been injuries or incidents reported, I always imagine that there are also incidents with those toys or products that go unreported. Surely, in the more than 10 years that these nails have been out there, other children have perhaps choked on them but turned out just fine. So is a recall really necessary? And should we feel sorry for Little Tikes because they have to do all the hard work of replacing nails for consumers?
Personally, I don't think I've ever come across a product recall that I would ignore if I owned the product. When I purchase a product, I do so with the expectation that if I use it as intended it will not kill or seriously injure anyone in my family. It's my hope that the companies responsible for the design and manufacture of the products I buy have my safety in mind rather than just profits.
But still, let's talk about profits and a company's bottom line. If a consumer, especially a child, dies using a company's product and it is found that the product was outside of established guidelines for things like lead levels or choking hazards, is that OK? Does that company continue to have good standing in the eyes of parents and do we all just throw our hands up and say, "Well, it's natural selection -- survival of the fittest," or "Sounds like that parent should have been doing a better job of supervising."
The Consumer Product Safety Commission just issued a renewed statement about just such an issue. In August of last year, parents first heard about the Simplicity Close Sleeper Bassinet causing 2 infant deaths and the CPSC urged parents to stop using the product. A recall was not made by the company who made them or the company who bought out the company, however, but the stores that sold them took action and offered refunds and replacements. Now, there are reports that two more infants have died and two others became entrapped in the bassinet's bars but were freed and lived.
At the time of the first deaths, the same sentiment that Yvonne voices was in the air. Was the product really unsafe? Were the parents using it right? Were the babies that died too old for a bassinet in the first place? Is this just one of the risks of childhood?
I read on the Wall Street Journal blog about a mom who loved the product and was planning on still using it with her next child on the way. She said:
"I called the retailer ... and they are working on this as we speak. May I say they are doing quite well in keeping me informed of progress. I don’t know what the outcome will be… but in the meantime, I am home stitching the modifications myself onto the simplicity 4-in-1 bassinet I have. At very least if I can’t get the product returned and refunded, I know I have made the necessary modifications to my model that will make it safe for the new baby."
Is that enough? And if a parent continues to use a recalled product and their child is injured or dies then what do we, as a community of parents, think and feel about the situation? Do we feel bad for them, but, "Oh well, accidents happen all the time"? Do those parents lose the right to sue a company for damages? What do you think and would you ever continue using a recalled product?
Comments
It seems that everyone is ignoring the fact that the child who choked on the Little Tikes nail was under a year old. The product packaging, as shown on the television news, is VERY clearly marked as being for children ages 2 and up. The company should not be held responsible for this incident! At some point, parents need to take responsibility for their actions, up to and including providing safe, supervised play for their children.
I agree with Melissa. At some point parents need to be responsible as well. I have to ask, if the child was properly supervised, how in the world did (s)he get the nail into his/her mouth to be swallowed? Too often parents give their children age inappropriate toys and leave them unsupervised. Toy companies cannot be responsible for parental mistakes.
If the product was used with a child that was not the appropriate age and it met the guidelines for the said age then it is not the companies fault. I know for a fact that we as parents have a right to expect that the products that we buy are safe and properly tested. I now have 4 children and my knowledge with each new child is always years beyond the last one. Also with every passing year I grow far more seasoned and mature than I was at my 20 yr. old start in parenting. I am now at 36yrs. old, it does make a difference. I wonder if Yvonne ever went out to dinner and had to use a babysitter? How about a Mom that needs to use a daycare? Would any of you ever get together at a friends house or join a Moms group? Many others even use their church nursery on Sunday. All opportunities for your baby or child to play with others “age appropriate” toys,that were purchased by a well meaning adult, or under the direct supervision of another adult. Theses things don’t always happen because we are bad parents, sometimes we just have to use the bathroom or get a haircut!
My son’s crib wasn’t technically recalled, but other Storkcraft cribs were – a problem with metal brackets. My son’s crib has similar brackets. After researching why they were recalled (and after using the crib 18 months!), I made an educated decision to continue the use of the crib. I’ll call and get replacement brackets before I give the crib away to someone else, to make it compliant, but I know my husband didn’t bend the metal brackets back and forth a dozen times before installing them. Plus, the 2 children involved in accidents were barely hurt. I feel comfortable with my son in a Storkcraft crib.
By Marcella’s argument, no one should have small toys because a baby or young child may get a hold of it. Good bye, Legos! So long, Barbie shoes! Nothing can take the place of a watchful eye, but I think we are forgetting something very important: common sense.
I have a 4 year old who LOVES little tykes toys…and it seems to me that the goody goody authorities that seem to not have kids , are trying to make it to where every house that has kids has padded walls and cotton floors. Kids are gonna be kids…Parents need to be parents..watch your kids , and dont let others tell you how to do it. its about time us parents stood up for ourselves and other parents as well..stop telling us what to buy, how to dress em , how long their hair needs to be, what they need or need not be listening to and mainly what to and not to watch on tv…freedom of speech my butt..stop all the censorship and ordering us around !!!! Give the kids their toys back!
I can see both sides of this, but Carrie has some very valid points. Another thing that comes to mind is the cold medicine recall. I am all for better labeling and education on how to properly use a product but I want to be the one who decides. My child is over 2, but he still eats play-doh (labeled for over 2). We have to take each individual child and how/when they will be using the toy into consideration. I have absolutely NO tolerance for problems with cribs, carseats and things of that nature however. A crib is supposed to be used while a child is unsupervised and you are sleeping! Other recalls I take on a case by case basis.