I found this on another forum that I am on, and thought I would post it over here.



bumbo seat safety warning


Lots of parents are raving about a new baby chair called the Bumbo Baby Sitter but a 7 On Your Side investigation found this chair may have serious safety problems.


Parents say they love how Bumbo helps their babies sit upright. But our investigation uncovered some serious concerns that the chair may not be so safe and some cases where it proved to be pretty dangerous.
Dylan Lamm of Santa Rosa is just a baby but he's already come close to death.
"If it had been three minutes later he wouldn't have made it," said Mary Catherine Doherty, Dylan's mother, Santa Rosa.
"He arched his back and the Bumbo tilted and the back folded and he toppled over backwards. When I picked him up, I could feel his head and I could tell it wasn't good," said Kevin Lamm of Santa Rosa
Dylan landed head first on the hard kitchen floor. He was rushed to the hospital with a cracked skull and it was filling with blood.
"By the time we got there, there was no pulse -- three minutes more and he would have been dead. I dont' know what I'd do if I lost him. He means everything to us," says Kevin Lamm.
Emergency surgery saved his life and now the Lamms want to warn everybody about the Bumbo Baby Sitter. You may not have heard of it, but parents are snapping these things up.
Now the Lamms want to warn everybody about this chair which is made by Bumbo International of South Africa.
"The Bumbo seat and the pod seat these are my top selling support chairs," Debbie Licolli, co-owner Lullaby Lane.
Debbie Licolli sells about 75 Bumbo seats a month at Lullaby Lane -- her big kids store in San Mateo. The Bumbo is meant for babies as young as three months old. It's supposed to help them sit up for the first time.
The Lamms loved theirs at first.
"He could be experiencing things as he was sitting up and not just be a bystander," said Mary Catherine Doherty.
But the Bumbo is very unusual because it has no straps. It's designed to secure babies because the seat is lower than the leg openings. Lots of parents rave about this seat. Thousands have been sold in the U.S..
"You put them in here and they can really view the world," said Debbie Licolli.
7 On Your Side did a little test as well. We took nine-month-old Emil Grotta and had his mother put him in a Bumbo chair on the floor. When Emil reached for a book, we saw him wiggle out and fall. Dylan was almost killed because he fell off a tabletop, but the Lamms say the Bumbo instructions led them to believe it was safe to use up high.
A look at the Bumbo website says use Bumbo "on any level surface.'' It shows babies on top of a picnic table even playing the piano.
"Pictures on the box show several kids in a row sitting on a table," said Licolli.
But the Bumbo seat also has a small warning label that contradicts all that, it says: "never use on a raised surface." The Bumbo Company told 7 On Your Side its seat is safe with "suitable supervision." The term safe on any "level" surface means "ground level.''
But Dylan isn't the only baby who got hurt in a Bumbo. Our investigation found more problems. KSN TV in Kansas reported that a baby was in a Bumbo when he arched his back and tumbled head-first off a countertop, cracking his skull.

We wanted to find out if there were any other cases similar to the Lamm's. We contacted the federal government to try and get details of any other incidents with the Bumbo, but they wouldn't release the information.
7 On Your Side filed a Freedom Of Information Act request, forcing the release of these documents. They show at least three more Bumbo seat accidents were reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, including another one in Colorado, where a 10 month old fell head-first off a countertop  just like Dylan and the baby in Kansas.
The commission has not issued any warnings or recalls of this seat but spokesman Scott Wolfson told us the commission recently opened an investigation into the Bumbo seat. He would not reveal findings so far.
Meanwhile parents are snapping up Bumbo seats.
Because of our report, storeowner Debbie Licolli posted warnings at her store and tells parents not to use the chair up high.
The Lamms meanwhile filed a lawsuit against the Bumbo company and Target stores, where a friend bought their chair as a gift.
Target and Bumbo, so far, have declined comment on the lawsuit, but Bumbo did issue a statement, saying the chair is safe as long as there is "suitable supervision.''
The company says it has received reports of babies getting out of the seat, but no reports of the seat tipping over on a flat surface.
Since our inquiries, many photos have been removed from the company website. Bumbo says it wants to avoid "contradictory'' messages.
The consumer product safety commission told us the investigation into the Bumbo chair will get greater priority because it involves possible danger to children. The commission said parent complaints triggered this probe although it didn't start until we began asking questions.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...ide&id=5664881

and here is a story with a photo of the seat:

http://www.meta-dad.com/2007/09/21/u...umbo-kids-seat

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When I got it, I read - Never use on a raised surface so we have only ever used it one the floor.

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Thanks for posting that, we use ours all the time on the counter when I am cooking dinner and on the table when we are eating dinner. I will have to make sure I watch Jack closer.

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I put Mia in hers on the toilet while I do my hair and make-up, she fell off face first with the thing stuck to her so she looked like a turtle on the ground. She didnt even really cry, but I am way more careful now.

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Ethan flipped his on the ground about a week and a half ago. He was sitting in it and the back folded when he arched. I figured he must be getting to long and weighs to much for it. I stopped using it thinking he was too big.

lisa- wow I'm glad Mia was not hurt. What a big girl for not crying, she was probably shocked! LOL about the turtle. I know it was not funny, but I could picture it.

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WOW! Thanks for posting that. Alyssa had one and we never had any problems but again I never used it when I wasnt watching her. She use to sit on the livingroom table around 4 months old and watch tv in it.

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Bina I sent you 2 pms

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