When you think of the most dangerous things for baby, you probably are more worried about knives, electric sockets and the random piece of hot dog. What may surprise you is that the most dangerous products in the house for baby are actually products made for baby.
That’s right. Every day baby products like bath seats and baby carriers are the source of 66,000 injuries requiring a trip to the emergency room each year in the United States.
As reported by the New York Times, analysts used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System to estimate that from 1991 to 2011, there were 1,391,844 injuries between 1991 and 2011.
The most dangerous things for baby:
- Baby carriers – 19.5 percent of all injuries
- Cribs and mattresses – 18.6 percent of injuries
- Strollers or carriages – 16.5 percent
- high chairs – 12.6 percent.
The rate of injuries decreased from 1991 to 2003, mainly because there were fewer baby walker- or jumper-related mishaps. But in 2003, the rate began to rise, and by 2011 the number of injuries had increased by 23.5 percent. Three-fifths of the injuries were caused by falls.
Mobile baby walkers accounted for 16.2 percent of emergency room visits. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended a ban on the products.
Surprisingly, swallowing pennies, Legos and other foreign objects accounted for only 1.1 percent of hospital visits.
This doesn’t mean you don’t need to baby-proof your house. The highest risk items, however, aren’t the ones that get the biggest headlines. They are the baby products at the top of everyone’s wishlist. That’s not because these products are all unsafe. But it does underline how you have to always be attentive to baby safety, even when you’re using a product that’s designed with baby safety in mind.
Source: Common Nursery Products Send Thousands of Children to Hospitals – The New York Times