I just can't believe how clueless some parents are....

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Graco is recalling 1.5 millions strollers because of possible amputation of children's fingers. The company received "seven reports of children placing their fingers in a stroller's canopy hinge as the canopy was being opened or closed. Five children had their fingertips severed and two children received cuts on their fingertips."

I do not understand how some parents can think their 'little angels' will just sit quietly and still while they snap that canopy around with the force necessary to sever a finger.

Another case where we must protect children from the stupidity of their parents.

 

Oh my gods! That's terrible!

Did the company not look at the design that thoroughly? Surely SOMEONE in the company must have thought about children doing things like that and have allowed for it.

It's bad enough hearing of the children who get caught in car doors when they haven't been strapped in properly or have been stood near the door and the parents haven't noticed.

But to have parents not notice in a stroller where there's hardly any great obstacle of vision, it's just terrible. I can only hope they were taken to a hospital quick enough to repair the damage

 

We owned one of those strollers. Granted, Jack is almost two and half now, so he doesn't ride the stroller very much anymore. We were hoping we could get a refund on the stroller (since Jack never really uses it anyway), but when we called up they mailed us these clips that fit over the hinges so a kid can get his finger stuck in it.

I agree with your larger point though - we always got everything in the stoller setup before we put the kid in it.

EDIT: Actually this is the second recall of a child's stroller. We had the MacLaren that is also referenced in the article that was recalled late last year. That wasn't the canopy though - it was actually the hinge that allows the stroller to open or close. I thought that was strange as you shouldn't be opening or closing the stroller while the child is inside the stroller to begin with. Perhaps a toddler standing beside the stroller when opening or closing though?

 

Aldeth, sometimes people do stupid things. Even smart people do them sometimes, and it only takes on person trying to fold the stroller while the child is still inside.

All in all, though, I agree that the first stroller should never have been designed with hinges where a child could put their fingers which are also capable of severing said fingers. That's just bad design.

 

We have 2 Graco strollers, one is a single, the other a double. I would like to see how a baby that is strapped in could get his or her little paws up there. Not possible for my newborn in either stroller. My 2 yr old maybe, but only if she wasn't strapped in while we would be trying to manuever the canopy. That would be a stupid move on our part. Kids can get hurt in a padded room and accidents do happen. Now Graco has to pay the price for bad parenting. It's an amazing country we live in.

Stollers fold up for easy storage. The parents know this when buying the item, as it makes life easier on them. But they don't want the responsibility of actually learning how to use it.

 

...bad design, stupid parents, out of control kiddies...and they were built in China...will the "fun" ever end?

 

I don't know much about the strollers in question, but kids can move so fast sometimes -- in the blink of an eye -- that you cannot prevent all accidents. It physically frickin impossible. I don't know of a single person out there who as a child didn't get hurt in one way or another -- it's part of life. Doesn't necessarily mean that the parents are bad or clueless.

 

True, LKD. Every toddler is going to fall down and scrape his knee, or bonk his head on something, and as a parent, no matter how watchful you are, there's not much you can do. Heck, my toddler has done both dozens of times. A kid may even fall down a flight of stairs through no fault of the parents (I guess I'm lucky that never happened to my toddler). However, there's a big difference between something that will leave no lasting damage, and an amputated finger. Certainly the parents weren't aware that the hinges could sever fingers, but they were certainly aware that it would be at the least very painful if a finger got stuck in the hinge. An extra level of vigilance is always required during such times, just like you wouldn't let your toddler near the stove when you have a pot of boiling water on it.

 

...it's also the amount of force the parents must have used on the canopy to cause such injuries. The use of such force under those conditions is simply irresponsible.