Topple Hazards Cause Grave Injury, Death

Concerned parents are always on the lookout for potential safety hazards in the home, and now there is another to add to the list — the dangers of furniture toppling on kids, which can cause harm or even death to active little ones.

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“Any furniture that can rock is a hazard to children,” Stacy Greenspan, owner of Make It Safe Childproofing in Boston, Massachusetts, told LifeZette. “If you’ve ever used a hand trolley, you know that with just a little bit of tilt, even heavy things can move quite easily. Kids are so active, and they climb on things to reach other things. If they’re playing alone, with siblings or with other kids, they shouldn’t be left alone with any topple hazards.”

Swedish furniture retailer IKEA is now recalling almost 36 million chests and dressers in both the U.S. and Canada after their furniture has been linked to the deaths of six children, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said Tuesday. Known for its streamlined design and family-friendly price points, Ikea’s bedroom furniture can tip over if not properly anchored to the wall.

Open dresser drawers can also pose a hazard to toddlers. “If a young child climbs up open dresser drawers, the dresser can tip over and pose the risk of entrapment,” noted the CPSC on its website in conjunction with a 2013 recall of Natarte Chelsea dressers. “CPSC and the company [Natarte] have received a report of a two-year-old boy from Barrington, Illinois, who reportedly suffocated when he climbed on or up an open lower drawer into the second dresser drawer, causing the dresser to fall and entrap him between the unit and the floor.”

Six models of IKEA’s MALM chests or dressers made from 2002 to 2016, as well as about 100 other families of chests or dressers, are included in the current IKEA recall.

“It is simply too dangerous to have the recalled furniture in your home unanchored, especially if you have young children,” CPSC Chairman Elliott Kaye said in a statement regarding the recall. Furniture or TV sets that tip over kill a U.S. child every two weeks, Kaye also noted.

The dresser and chest recall represented a victory for consumer safety advocates in their long battle to hold IKEA accountable for a rising death toll from unstable furniture dating back to 1989, said The New York Times.

“I don’t think we should forget that it took seven deaths and more than 70 injuries and an untold number of near-misses before IKEA was shamed into taking action,” Alan M. Feldman, a lawyer representing three families in lawsuits against IKEA, told The Times.

[lz_table title=”Top Hazards for Young Kids” source=”Babycenter.com”]

Auto accidents,29% of deaths

Blocked airway,17% of deaths

Drowning,16% of deaths

Hit by car,11% of deaths

Fire and burns,10% of deaths

Bikes/ falls/ poisoning,2% of deaths (each)

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“IKEA is alerting a lot of people to topple danger, and that is a good thing,” said Greenspan. “Any furniture in children’s bedrooms, any furniture in the home period that can move — including drawers tumbling out — needs to be anchored. Even very little kids shock parents with the things they can move.”

One Columbia, Maryland, mother and grandmother recalled a frightening topple incident with her small daughter.

“We forget how strong toddlers can be, and how determined they can be, as well,” she said. “My little toddler — who was just barely walking at the time — pulled a television placed on a rolling stand over on her. It happened so fast I didn’t have time to even respond.”

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She added, “Luckily she was fine, but the giant crack down the middle of the television reminded us of the damage that could have been done to her little head.”