Washington-- Alert for parents before you use that baby bather for you infant tonight. Please beware that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada has issued a voluntary recall on the item.
Mother's Touch/Deluxe Baby Bathers manufactured by Summer Infants Inc are being recalled in the US and Canada.
According to the CPSC and Summer Infant, there have been seven reports of accidents involving the bather. Five of those were reports of infants suffering head injuries from falls from the bathers.
And the agency said, four children between two weeks and two months old received skull fractures, including one that required intensive care for bleeding on the brain. The fifth child received a bump to the head requiring emergency room treatment.
The falls happened when the bather is lifted and/or carried with an infant in it. Its folding wire frame can suddenly disengage from the side hinge, dropping the baby out of the bather, posing a fall hazard and a risk of serious head injury to infants.
Description: This recall involves Summer Infant baby bathers with a small, nearly square blue or pink plastic base measuring about 13 ½ inches long by 12 ½ inches wide and with the following model numbers listed below.
Anyone with the bather should stop using it and get the repair kit ASAP by calling: Summer Infant at (800) 426-8627 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The company says do not return the item to the store, because they won't have the repair kits.
Model numbers are located either on the side of the baby bather near the warning label or on the front near the wash instructions. Some units have multiple model numbers. Model numbers with an additional letter at the end of the model number are also included in this recall.
Recalled Summer Infant Baby Bathers Model Numbers:
08020, 08050, 08054, 08070, 08401, 08409, 08404, 08405, 08650, 08655, 08659, 08754, 08940, 08944 18004, 18040, 18049, 18050, 18120, 18125, 18129, 18254, 18360, 18375, 18379, 18390, 18394, 18440, 18445, 18449, 18470, 18475, 18479 38510, 38515, 38750, 38755
The bathers have adjustable side hinges with five rivets each and a white wire frame with a mesh fabric sling seat and two or three positions for the seats. Some also have a head support cushion. The fabric seat comes in various colors including white, blue, green, yellow and orange with fish, turtles, butterflies, frogs, flowers and duck patterns. Bathers manufactured since July 2007 include the warning "Never lift or carry the bather with infant in it."
The item was sold in mass merchandise to stores nationwide and on the Web from September 2004 through November 2011 for between $15 and $30.
The recall affects about 2 million in the United States and an additional 65,000 in Canada.
CPSC/WFMY News 2