Graco recalls strollers following infant deaths

Graco recalls strollers following infant deaths

Reports of four cases of baby deaths due to strangulation have prompted Graco Children’s Products, Inc. to announce a voluntary recall of 2 million MetroLite and Quattro brand strollers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said on Wednesday.

Graco’s website says that “entrapment and strangulation can occur, especially to infants younger than 12 months of age, when a child is not harnessed. An infant can pass through the opening between the stroller tray and seat bottom, but his/her head and neck can become entrapped by the tray.”

The Quattro Tour units being recalled were made prior to November 2006 and MetroLite strollers were manufactured before July 2007. They were sold between November 2000 and December 2007.

Buyers can get the model number of their stroller on a label at the back portion of the stroller and can compare this against a reference list posted online by the CPSC and Graco.

“Consumers can continue use of the stroller as a ‘travel system’”, the CPSC said. “When the stroller is used with the infant car seat, the entrapment and strangulation hazards posed by the space gap are not present.”

The strollers were made in China and were sold in many department stores and retail outlets across the United States. Graco said that it no longer manufactures the affected models but they may still be in use by many families.

Meanwhile, Health Canada also issued an advisory warning parents and caregivers not to leave babies alone in strollers because of the possibility that they may fall, get trapped, or choked.

Posted by Melanie Mendoza on Friday October 22 2010, 8:11 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Shopping. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0