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Four children have been trapped by a crib sold through Babies “R” Us and its affiliated stores. The cribs, manufactured in China and Vietnam and sold for more than six years, pose a “trapping hazard” according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).  More than 320,000 childrens’ cribs are affected, the governmnet agency said.

The cribs in question are multiple models manufactured under the brand name Jardine. The government agency said that it had collected 42 reports of the crib’s slats or spindles breaking, allowing a child to be trapped.

Affected model numbers, which can be found on the inside of the bottom rail, are listed below.

BC-23, BC-36B, BC-36G, BC-36P, BC-007, BC-010, BC-010C, BC-010HP, BC-010W, BC-017, BC-107C, BC-107CR,BC-110C, BC-110HP, BC-110W, DA617BC, DA620BC, DA770BC, DV730N, DV730W, DV830-N, DV830-W, 0113B00, 0113K00, 0303B00, 0303C00, 0303G00, 0309K00.

Consumers have been instructed to stop using the cribs and contact Jardine for a full credit. The company can be reached by phone at (800) 646-4106 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday. Jardine has also created a website to help handle recalled crib claims.

Posted under Recalls

Those ubiquitous “Crocs” shoes (photo by antonde, left) and their many imitators are under fire again. Complaints to U.S. government regulators haven’t apparently gone far enough for the government to take action. The Japanese government, however, has asked the company to redesign the children’s shoes to protect their feet on escalator.

Crocs, Inc. (NADAQ:CROX) exploded with what intiially seemed to be a fad, and is now a business approaching $1 billion in annual revenues. Millions of pairs of shoes have been sold in Japan, and the government said this weekend that dozens of children suffered foot injuries, even losing toes, while wearing the plastic shoes.

Posted under Safety

Consumers may think of children’s toys with detachable magnets as a choking hazard, but in the case of Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets, the issues have become far more serious.

Working with the manufacturer, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a recall of 4 million units of the toy. The government agency has discovered at least two dozen cases of children ingesting the magnet. One of the children died and nearly all required surgery.

This is the second recall for the toy and by far the most sweeping. The toy contains more than 100 detachable pieces, some of which can cause serious injuries to a child’s digestive system or even be aspirated into a lung. What makes this issue so unusual is the age of the children involved. Although the hazard was initially thought to be a problem primarily for children younger than six, it has since been learned that at least ten injuries involved children between the ages of 6 and 11 years old.

“CPSC is deeply concerned about the dangers that small, powerful magnets can pose to children if swallowed,” said CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Nord. “In order for any product recall to be effective in protecting consumers, we must significantly reduce incidents and injuries from occurring after the recall is announced.” Mega Brands has been cooperative in this expanded recall, according to the CPSC.

Consumers should stop using the recalled magnetic sets immediately and contact Mega Brands for a comparable replacement toy. If consumers are uncertain as to whether their product is being recalled, they can contact Mega Brands at (800) 779-7122 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

The CPSC is also asking consumers to immediately report any incidents of loose magnets to the CPSC Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or to the CPSC Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

Posted under Recalls

Infantino and the United States Product Safety Commission have recalled the company’s SlingRider Infant Carriers. According to the agency, plastic sliders on the unit can break and cause the child to fall. There have been ten reports of the slider breaking, resulting in multiple babies falling from the unit. In at least one case, a baby’s skull was fractured.

Consumers should stop using these carriers immediately and contact Infantino to return them and receive a free replacement product. Infantino’s telephone number is (888) 808-3111 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. pacific time Monday through Friday.

This recall involves the Infantino SlingRider™ carriers with item numbers: 141-210; 151-210; 151-528; and 151-534. The SlingRider™ consists of a fabric carrier with a strap attached that is worn by the user to carry an infant up to 20 pounds. The carriers are sold in black or khaki. “Infantino” is printed on the plastic slider located on the strap. The item number is printed on a label inside the SlingRider.™ Products labeled “Made in Thailand” or “New 2007 Design” are not included in the recall.

Posted under Recalls

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning parents and caregivers about the dangers of televisions and heavy furniture tipping over and killing young children. The number of TV tip-over deaths reported to CPSC during the first seven months of 2006 is twice the typical yearly average.

“There are usually five deaths reported to CPSC each year caused by televisions tipping over onto young children, but we are aware of 10 deaths already in 2006,” said CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Nord. “We are issuing this warning so parents will take the necessary steps to prevent any more of these tragedies.”

These deaths and injuries frequently occur when children climb onto, fall against or pull themselves up on television stands, shelves, bookcases, dressers, desks and chests. In some cases, televisions placed on top of furniture tip over and cause a child to suffer traumatic and sometimes fatal injuries.

From 2000 through 2005, CPSC has reports of 36 TV tip-over-related deaths and 65 furniture tip-over deaths. More than 80 percent of all these deaths involved young children. Additionally, CPSC estimates that in 2005 at least 3,000 children younger than 5 were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms because of injuries associated with TV tip-overs.

Industry standards require that TV stands, chests, bureaus and dressers pass a stability test. If a piece of furniture violates these standards, the product can be subject to a safety recall.

To help prevent tip-over hazards, CPSC offers the following safety tips:

• Verify that furniture is stable on its own. For added security, anchor to the floor or attach to the wall all entertainment units, TV stands, bookcases, shelving and bureaus to the wall using appropriate hardware, such as brackets, screws, or toggles.
• Place televisions on sturdy furniture appropriate for the size of the TV or on a low-rise basPush the TV as far back as possible from the front of its stand
• Place electrical cords out of a child’s reach, and teach children not to play with the cords
• Remove items that might tempt kids to climb, such as toys and remote controls, from the top of the TV and furniture.

To download CPSC’s new safety alert “Preventing TV and Furniture Tip-Over Deaths,” visit http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5004.pdf

Posted under Safety

Social networking Web site operators Xanga.com, Inc. and its principals, Marc Ginsburg and John Hiler, will pay a $1 million civil penalty for allegedly violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and its implementing Rule, under the terms of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission announced this week.

According to the FTC, Xanga.com collected, used, and disclosed personal information from children under the age of 13 without first notifying parents and obtaining their consent. The penalty is the largest ever assessed by the FTC for a COPPA violation, and is more than twice the next largest penalty.

The complaint charges that the defendants had actual knowledge they were collecting and disclosing personal information from children. The Xanga site stated that children under 13 could not join, but then allowed visitors to create Xanga accounts even if they provided a birth date indicating they were under 13. Further, they failed to notify the children’s parents of their information practices or provide the parents with access to and control over their children’s information. The defendants created 1.7 million Xanga accounts over the past five years for users who submitted age information indicating they were under 13.

“Protecting kids’ privacy online is a top priority for America’s parents, and for the FTC,” said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras. “COPPA requires all commercial Web sites, including operators of social networking sites like Xanga, to give parents notice and obtain their consent before collecting personal information from kids they know are under 13. A million-dollar penalty should make that obligation crystal clear.”

Xanga.com - Xanga.com is one of the most popular social networking sites on the Internet. After setting up a personal profile, users can post information about themselves for other users to read and respond to. On Xanga.com, users can create their own pages or Web logs (blogs) that contain profile information, online journals, text, hypertext images, as well as links to audio, video, and other files or sites. Information on the Xanga site is available to the general public through the use of global search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

Incorporated in 1999 and based in New York City, privately held Xanga.com, Inc. was founded by Ginsburg and Hiler. In 2005, Xanga had about 25 million registered accounts.

The Commission’s Complaint - According to the Commission’s complaint, the defendants violated COPPA, the COPPA Rule, and the FTC Act by collecting personal information from children with actual knowledge that they were under the age of 13, failing to post on their site sufficient notice of their information practices regarding children, failing to notify parents directly about their information practices regarding children, and failing to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing children’s personal information. The complaint also alleges the defendants failed to provide parents with reasonable access to and control over their children’s information on the Xanga.com site.

The Consent Order- The consent order is designed to prohibit Xanga, Ginsburg, and Hiler from violating COPPA and the COPPA Rule in the future. Accordingly, it contains strong conduct provisions that will be monitored by the FTC. The order specifically prohibits the defendants from violating any provision of the Rule and requires them to delete all personal information collected and maintained by the site in violation of the Rule. The defendants further must distribute the order and the FTC’s How to Comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule to certain company personnel. The order also contains standard compliance, reporting, and record keeping provisions to help ensure the defendants abide by its terms.

To provide resources to parents and their children about the risks associated with social networking sites, the order additionally requires the defendants to provide links on certain of their sites to FTC consumer education materials for the next five years. First, the defendants must include a link to the Children’s Privacy section of the Commission’s ftc.gov site on any site they operate that is subject to COPPA. Second, the defendants must include links to the Commission’s recently published safety tips for social networking on any of their social networking sites.

The order requires the defendants to pay a civil penalty of $1 million for violating the COPPA Rule, as detailed above.

The Commission vote approving the complaint and consent decree and order was 5-0. They were filed by the Department of Justice on the FTC’s behalf on September 7, 2006, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Posted under Privacy