There are many baby related products that are being constantly introduced in the market that at times aim to assist parents to raise their children in an easier way.

However, not all baby products can be safe at all times. There are many possible hazards that can be posed by such products and most of the times parents or caretakers can be oblivious about this which can lead to serious injuries and lost of life among babies.   

Buying a product for your child may be a simple task to do but before doing so, there is high need for parents to pay attention on some of the safety features of the products to ensure that it is safe at all times.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission United States (US CPSC), the highest estimated injuries in 2009 among children under age five was due to infant carriers, cribs/cots/mattress and followed by strollers and carriages.

Some may be wondering how these products can ever be dangerous to their child. Below are some of the potential dangers that may be posed by certain baby products and what parents should take into careful consideration before purchasing the appropriate one for their child.  

If we take cots or cribs for example, they pose dangers to babies due to the space between the vertical cot bars. Babies may fall out of the cot if they are able to climb over one of the cot edges.

In some cots, the sides may serve as ladders if the mattress in the cot is too high, and if your baby has objects such as soft toys in the cot to climb upon, or if the cot has horizontal bars on the frame, the child may be able to climb out of the cot.

A baby’s clothing may become caught on protruding parts of the cot, creating a potentially fatal strangulation hazard for the baby. Some of the toys that are put inside may also suffocate them.  

For baby walkers, most injuries are caused by falls. Baby walkers can tip over and the baby may be thrown down stairs or steps, crash into furniture with sharp surfaces or fall onto fires, heaters or hot ovens.

Some of the babies can be reaching out for hot items like heaters, kettles and irons and this can cause burns. Babies can also reach out for chemicals such as perfumes, medicines, and small objects that can be swallowed.  

Strollers and prams pose a hazard with the hinges; the children’s tiny fingers could get caught in them, get cut and possibly even be sliced off from these hinges by accident                         

Any product can be a dangerous product if it is not manufactured according to safety standards. These standards can be a national, regional or an international standard. To determine whether a product complies with the safety standards, in this case the baby product, it first has to have a    standard for the necessary requirements, and then it must be tested to see if it complies with the standard.

In most of the developing countries, one big challenge is the absence of testing facilities. When this happens, it makes it more difficult for the regulators to enforce or take action on any products that is considered unsafe.

So far, the International Organisation of Standardisation (ISO) has developed two standards on baby cots where one specifies the safety requirements and another explains the test methods to test whether the cot that is produced complies with the requirements.  

Children especially infants and toddlers are very vulnerable to injury due to unsafe products. Apart from ensuring that you have purchased a safe product, parents or caregivers must ensure that the child is monitored at all times to avoid injuries and unnecessary death which actually can be easily prevented.

Mohana Priya is a member of the Malaysian Association of Standards Users.