Britax Recalls More Than 650,000 Strollers After Infant Accidents
Child care product manufacturer Britax is recalling 676,000 strollers in the United States, after more than 30 babies fell while using them. The company is specifically recalling Britax B-Agile and BOB Motion Strollers with Click & Go receivers.
These receivers connect to the strollers and create a mount for car seats to click into, allowing parents and caregivers to use the strollers for infants who can’t yet sit up on their own or to allow them to use a stroller without removing their baby from their car seat. A damaged receiver mount on the stroller itself can cause the car seat to disengage and fall unexpectedly, putting infants in danger, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says.
Britax received 33 reports of car seats unexpectedly disconnecting from the strollers and falling to the ground. As a result of those falls, 26 children were reported suffering injuries such as scratches, bruises, cuts, and bumps to the head. Britax is also aware of 1,337 reports of strollers with damaged Click & Go receiver mounts, the CPSC says.
The recall is the biggest in strollers since the Graco stroller recall in November 2014, which affected 4.7 million people, CPSC spokeswoman Patty Davis told Yahoo Beauty.
Britax told Yahoo Beauty that the “voluntary recall affects the B-Agile and BOB Motion strollers when used as a travel system: they are safe to use individually. Free repair kits are available through Britax.”
The CPSC recommends that people immediately stop using their Click & Go receiver mounts and contact Britax for a free repair kit for single strollers. Owners who have the recalled double strollers should stop using them with the car seat attachment. However, the CPSC says that people can continue to use their stroller or car seat without attaching it to the stroller.
CPSC’s Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle told Yahoo Beauty that this is a “pretty simple fix” that their engineers “spent a great deal of time” on to remove the hazard. Buerkle also gave credit to Britax for coming to the CPSC about the problem. “This is a good example of a company coming to us and saying with an abundance of caution, ‘Let’s take care of this, let the parents know.'” she says. “This is the best case scenario. The next piece is to get the parents to do something about this.”
Danelle Fisher, chair of pediatrics at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., tells Yahoo Beauty that babies can still hurt themselves if they fall — even when they’re strapped into a car seat. “The baby could still hit his or her head on the way down — that can cause an injury — or, depending on how a car seat is weighted, it could tip and end up landing on the baby’s head,” she says. “These are not benign injuries. They could actually cause damage to a baby.”
If your baby falls and hits its head, Fisher says it’s important to look out for several things: If the baby loses consciousness, is bleeding, behaving unusually, or becomes lethargic. In this case, you need to seek medical attention for an evaluation. However, it’s important not to panic. “In most situations, when a baby is awake, alert, is crying but didn’t lose consciousness, and is pink, the baby is going to be OK,” she says. However, when in doubt, call your pediatrician. “As a pediatrician, I have fielded hundreds, maybe a thousand, calls from parents after a baby has taken a tumble,” she says. “It’s a very scary situation.”
Mercy Medical Center attending pediatrician Ashanti Woods, M.D., tells Yahoo Beauty that it’s important for parents to register their stroller and car seat with the manufacturer as soon as possible after purchasing the item so that the family can be promptly notified of any recalls.
He also noted that items like bags and purses shouldn’t be hung or attached to a stroller’s handlebars, as the additional weight may cause the stroller to tip backwards. In addition, strollers with a narrow base are more likely to tip over than those with a wide base. “Buy wide,” he says.
If you’re unsure whether your stroller is part of the recall, you can check the model number on the inside of the stroller’s metal frame (near the right wheel for single strollers, and the front middle underside of the frame for double strollers). Those numbers include:
B-Agile:
S01298600, S01298700, S01635200, S02063600, S02063700, S02063800, S02063900, S02064000, S03803400, S03803500, S03803700, S03803800, S03803900, S04144400, S04144500, S04144600, S04144700, S04144800, S04144900, S04145000, S04183700, S04183800, S04184000, S04281200, S04281300, S04402800, S04437700, S04628500, S04884200, S04884300, S04884400, S04884500, S04975600, S04978900, S05060600, S05260200, S05511600, S05511700, S865800, S865900, S874300, S874400, S874500, S877200, S890100, S896000, S896200, S896600, S907200, S907300, S907400, S907500, S907600, S910200, S910300, S910400, S910500, S912300, S914300, S914500, S914700, S914900, S915200, S915400, S917400, S921800, S921900, S923700, U341763, U341764, U341782, U341783, U341825, U341826, U341828, U341X82, U34X782, U361763, U361818, U361819, U361825, U391875, U451835, U451837, U451841, U461763, U461764, U461782, U461783, U461825, U461826, U461828, U471818, U471819, U491842, U491843, U491844, U491908, U491909, U491910, U511875, U511877, U551835, U551837, U551841, U551861, U551862, U551863, U551864, U551865, U551905, U551906, U691878, U691879, U691881, U691882, U691884, U691904, U691905, U721895, U721896
BOB Motion:
S888600, S890200, S890300, S890400, S890500, S909700, S910600, S910700, S910800, S910900, S912600, U391820, U391821, U391822, U481820, U481821, U481822, U501820, U501821, U501822, U501907
If you own one of the recalled strollers, you can contact Britax online at www.us.britax.com and click on the Safety Notice on the homepage, or visit us.britax.com/recall. You can also call the company at (844) 227-0300 from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET Saturday, or email Britax at stroller.recall@britax.com.
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