Monday, October 29, 2007

Anyone remember the lawsuit where the woman got burned by hot coffee, sued McDonald's because they didn't tell her that the COFFEE was HOT - and WON?

Well, this kind of stuff really ticks me off. No, honestly it really just baffles me, because it's hard to believe that people in this world can be so STUPID.

I just read on my triplet parenting board that the Bumbo Seat has been recalled. Here is a Bumbo seat:

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Now, apparently the seat had a warning on it to not leave your baby unattended, and to not put it on a table or anywhere but on the floor. It is not a safety seat; it's just to let the baby sit up and get a different view for a bit. But if the baby is at all mobile, it WILL get out of this seat. Is there anyone reading this really stupid enough to not get what that means if the baby is sitting unattended on a table?

So they recalled it, but only just to get stronger warnings put on them. Is anyone here naive enough to think that these warnings will not be ignored as well?

In the same thread someone mentioned that bath seats had been recalled as well in the past. Bumbo seats came out after I would have needed them so I hadn't seen one. But those bath seats were priceless to me with ONE baby. When I had to get stuff for three, they were some of the first things on my list - 2 more bath seats, please, STAT! I don't know how I would have gotten along without those bath seats. I stuffed those kids into them at bathtime until they just couldn't fit anymore! :lol: Here are the bath seats I used:

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There were warnings plastered all over the thing, but does it really take much of a brain to realize that use of these seats does NOT mean you can leave the child alone and, say, go talk on the phone or surf the internet for new shoes? :? Seriously -- does anyone here think that?

Anyway, that seat was recalled (after I stopped using mine, so I had no idea of this till now) because people were leaving the bathroom and their babies were drowning. They came out with a new model, pictured below:

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Note: the "improved" model would have been absolutely NO use to me, since I needed to fit three in the tub at once.

But then these seats were also recalled. I have no idea if they came out with anything new after that; I can't find any info. But I did find this article:

http://www.keepingbabiessafe.org/recalls070705.shtml

A couple of notable quotes from the article, with my comments in italics following each:

CPSC and industry are moving too slowly to protect babies from an unsafe
product.


The product was NOT unsafe, if used as directed.

The alert from CPSC does little to keep babies safe.

Because people were ignoring it, dipshit.

Consumer groups urge caregivers not to use baby bath seats, and renew their
warning to parents and caregivers that they should never leave their baby
unattended while bathing them in a bathtub or any bath product.

That second bit would be enough.

Most of the deaths took place when the caregiver was not in the room or had left
the baby in the care of an older child.

Oh, really. Wonder why that is?

Why is the product blamed for the stupidity of the parent? Is it some sort of "s/he's suffered enough" thing? Really, I am not completely unsympathetic. But while there are truly dangerous products out there, in this case it was 100% the neglect of the caregiver who was supposed to be bathing the baby. Wouldn't it be more useful to educate the public that these were stupid mistakes, rather than blame the company and remove a perfectly good product from the market? Can we lay off the PC bullshit for once and just tell it like it is - these people LEFT their BABIES in the BATHTUB and didn't watch them. I dunno. Seems like a no brainer to me.

“To protect children from these deadly products, the CPSC must act quickly to
ban baby bath seats and recall both new and older models,” said Janell Mayo Duncan, Legislative and Regulatory Counsel for Consumers Union.

Who will protect the children from deadly parents? :