A revealing new study was recently published regarding the safety of children in high chair seats. These products have always been somewhat controversial, simply because the product inherently places a baby in an elevated (and thus dangerous) position. However, most manufacturers of high chairs do everything they can to make sure their products are safe.
Or do they? The new study found from 2003 to 2010, high chair accidents jumped 22 percent. In addition, roughly 9,500 kids suffer injuries because of a high chair fall annually, meaning that about once an hour, a kid is falling out of a high chair. We’re mostly talking about kids under the age of one here, and because young kids have a higher center of gravity, the falls they suffer from a high chair mean there’s a very good chance the injuries will be to the head. According to one of the authors of the study, roughly 85 percent of the injuries are to the head or face.
This is a very serious problem. Falls from high chairs can cause severe head trauma to a young kid who is likely falling on a hard kitchen floor — not a pillowed or carpeted surface, though even then risks would remain.
So what is going on? It seems as though most of these falls are happening when the child stands up in the chair or is climbing around in the chair. Either the product isn’t working the way it should (or it is poorly made) or the parents are not properly using it.
It’s most likely a combination of the factors, as opposed to one being the culprit. With that in mind, it is imperative for parents to know their high chair inside and out. Read the instructions and properly secure your child in these products. If you are following everything properly and disaster still strikes, then the manufacturer of the high chair could be held product liable.
Source: HealthDay, “Rise in U.S. High Chair Injuries Stuns Experts,” Alan Mozes, Dec. 9, 2013
