Chairs For Kids

There’s been a somewhat disturbing trend going on around the world these days. What not the recent recalls we’ve heard in the automotive industry, now even chairs for kids are being recalled due to safety issues.

Here’s another important piece of news I’d like to share with fellow parents. Britax Blink Stroller chairs for kids are currently being recalled due to concerns with their hinge mechanism.

So far, 15,000 of their “Blink” umbrella strollers have been recalled due to possible fingertip amputation hazards when the stroller is being opened of closed.

I’ve also highlighted in the past that Graco and MacLaren had also initiated their own stroller recalls due to hinge safety issues as well. Most of the strollers available in the market have similar hinge designs so it’s not surprising that more recalls are taking place.

All Britax Blink strollers are included in the recall. The model numbers found on these strollers are U261813, U261814, U261815, U261816, U261817, U271813, U271817 and U271815 which were manufactured between May and September 2009.

Parents are advised to stop using the recalled strollers and contact Britax to receive free stroller hinge covers.

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Our most favoured toy store retailer Toys R Us is urging customers to turn in potentially unsafe children’s products, as it launches its second “Great Trade-In” event.

From now through February 20, customers can bring in their used cribs, strollers, high chairs and play pens among other baby items.

In exchange, parents will get a 25 percent discount on a new purchase of any new baby product that qualifies.

Going by the first event held, customers traded in tens of thousands of unsafe baby products during last year’s Great Trade-In event.

Used car seats were the item most-frequently traded in and the item most-frequently purchased with the discounts.

Eddie Bauer, Evenflo, Graco and Jeep are all brands that are participating in the event.

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Here’s some news for parents living in the UK. The V&A Museum of Childhood is going to showcase it’s Sit Down Chairs For Kids exhibition, inviting fellow parents to consider just what makes a successful chair. Is it comfort? Is it style? Or ease of use?

Spanning four centuries, the exhibition features over 70 examples of seating made for children, ranging from school chairs to armchairs, saddles to swings, highchairs to potties. Designs by Charles Eames, Vitra and El Ultimo Grito are on display, as well as the Modernist high chair by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld and Spotty, the 1960s paper chairs for kids designed by Peter Murdoch.

Ideas around the growing popularity of designer chairs for kids as well as how and why styles have changed over the centuries are also considered.

After centuries of traditional seating forms following accepted design conventions, the 20th century witnessed an explosion of creative solutions to the idea of seating, including chairs for kids. This exploration of new forms, materials, and production methods, as well as technological developments, resulted in more colourful and innovative seating designs for children.

I’ve also found an armchair which might just catch your child’s interest:

Rating:

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Parents, take note on this important announcement. Graco Children’s Products Inc has announced a voluntary recall of about 1.5 million Graco Passage, Alano, and Spree stroller chairs for kids and travel systems. Customers are being advised to stop using these affected products.

According the recent reports on this chairs for kids, the stroller’s canopy could pose a safety hazard. Accidental amputation and laceration to the child can happen when opening or closing the canopy. So far, Graco has received seven reports of children placing their fingers in the stroller’s canopy hinge mechanism while it was being opened or closed, resulting in five fingertip amputations and two fingertip lacerations.

The recall involves Graco Passage, Alano, and Spree stroller chairs for kids and travel systems with 64 different model numbers and two different styles of hinge mechanisms. Only strollers or travel systems with a plastic, jointed hinge mechanism that has indented canopy positioning notches are affected by this recall.

The recalled stroller chairs for kids were manufactured between October 2004 and February 2008, and sold at AAFES, Burlington Coat Factory, Babies “R” Us, Toys “R” Us, Kmart, Fred Meyer, Meijers, Navy Exchange, Sears, Target, Walmart and other retailers nationwide from October 2004 and December 2009 for between $80 and $90 for the strollers and between $150 and $200 for the travel systems.

Parents can also check the model number and manufacture date located on the lower inside portion of the rear frame, just above the rear wheels.

Parents should immediately stop using the recalled stroller chairs for kids and contact Graco to receive a free protective cover repair kit.

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Now, this piece of news I got to know of is mainly for parents in the United States. The government is now requiring manufacturers of products for children to create programs for keeping in touch with parents who own chairs for kids.

Under the new rule, manufacturers will have to include and provide postage paid registration forms for each and every product and then keep records of those customers who register. Every single product will also have to feature in a permanent way the following information:

• Manufacturer’s name
• Contact information
• Product’s model name
• Product’s model number
• Date of manufacture

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, these requirements will help to improve the speed of sending out important information about product recalls and they have unanimously approved this new rule last week.

This new requirement applies to 18 categories of children products which also includes the following chairs for kids:

• High Chairs
• Booster Chairs
• Hook-on Chairs
• Stroller Chairs
• Folding Chairs
• Baby Bouncer Chairs

Parents should be delighted to know that this new rule will be in effect 180 days after publication in the Federal Register next week.

However, the sad thing is I noticed that 6 out of the 18 products would only be in effect after ONE year from the publication date and in these 6 categories, chairs for kids that are affected are the folding chairs and the baby bouncer chairs.

What do you think about this new requirement? Would it be helpful for us parents?

Technorati Tags: Chair News, Chairs, Chairs For Kids

Parents, take note. It seems that furniture giant Ikea has issued a global recall for their Leopard Children’s High Chairs for kids due to a detected defect. This chair has been in the market since October 2009 and from what I estimate, it looks like around 5 to 6 thousand of these high chairs are going back to Ikea.

The defect? According to Ikea, the problem seems to be due to it’s snap locks. The snap lock which is used to secure the seat to the frame is at rick of breaking, making it possible for the seat to drop. Not only does this directly post an injury risk to children falling from the chair but the plastic itself can be a choking hazard.

So far, there has been 11 reports worldwide of broken locks while there have been 2 incidents in Europe. One, a child actually fell from the chair while in the other case, the detached lock was found in a child’s mouth.

If you own one of these high chairs for kids, it is recommended that you stop using it immediately, get in contact with Ikea and they will offer you a full refund for your chair.

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Maclaren, founded by Owen Finlay Maclaren, a former Royal Air Force engineer, who made the first folding push chairs for kids in 1965 are now advising their customers to stop using them following incidents in the United States where children lost the tips of fingers in folding hinges.

The voluntary recall relates to various models of Maclaren push chairs for kids where the hinges, which unfold on opening, are exposed. In an immediate response, I found out that the company has deployed at least 2 vans in New York city offering repair kits to parents with pushchairs. However, it’s also been announced that MacLaren would also be offering appropriate hinge covers to owners elsewhere in the world.

Repair kits were also being offered through retailers and directly from the company, so for parents with these chairs it’s best to get them fixed. The best advise for parents with these chairs is that they should keep children at a safe distance when opening the pushchairs.

The affected models are Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechnoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller.

Technorati Tags: Chair News, Chairs, Chairs For Kids, MacLaren Push Chair