Study: Baby Gear Injuries Surge 24 Percent

Researchers say an increasing number of children aged three and under are visiting the emergency department these days due to injuries related to common baby products like cribs, strollers, walkers, and baby carriers.

According to a new study published in Pediatrics last week, more than 66,000 injuries occur on average each year. Many of the injuries are the result of the child falling from these products.

“What’s surprising is how many children are still experiencing nursery product-related injuries serious enough to result in a trip to the emergency department – one every eight minutes,” says Dr. Gary Smith, the study’s senior author and director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Most of the emergency department visits involve head injuries and concussions.

“This increase parallels an increase in awareness on a national level about concussions, especially sports-related concussions, and the potential consequences,” says Smith.

Smith and his research team analyzed emergency department data related to baby gear between 1991 and 2011. They found nearly 1.4 million injuries during that time frame. Of note, were the last eight years of the study period, in which researchers discovered a 24 percent surge in injuries.

Nearly 20 percent of all the injuries involved baby carriers. In some cases, the carriers were placed on a table or other high surface instead of on the floor. In other cases, parents neglected to properly secure safety straps and buckles.

Following closely behind baby carriers were cribs, mattresses and bedding, which represented 19 percent of injuries during the study period. Strollers were next, with 17 percent of injuries caused by failure to properly secure the child in the stroller seat.

In a number of cases, the products themselves were not the issue. Distracted parents preoccupied with cell phones or other small children, simply did not pay close enough attention to properly restrain their child.

In an email interview with Reuters Health, Dr. Tanya Altmann, founder of Calabasas Pediatrics in California and a researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles said distracted parents is something she sees often.

“I see more and more parents at the park or out and about with their babies, not interacting with their babies but with their face in their phone,” says Altmann. “A reaching or grabbing baby trying to get their parents' attention is often when falls and accidents occur.”