KID chosen for crowdSPRING's next Give Back project

Kids In Danger has been selected as the recipient of crowdSPRING's latest Give Back project!

Based in Chicago, crowdSPRING is a web and graphic design website specializing in giving access to creative talent from all over the world. Their goal is to present businesses with new, more affordable ways to buy creative products.

In 2008, crowdSPRING started a project called Give Back, the online web designers "way of helping worthy non-profit and charity causes in need." A creative (their name of a designer) suggested that crowdSPRING develop a way for other creatives to learn from each other's work. The Give Back project was born from this suggestion.

crowdSPRING has designed for companies such as Starbucks, Livestrong, Forbes and LG, although they cater to smaller businesses.

Calling all designers!! Submit your designs for KID's project on crowdSPRING.com today!

View the official blog post announcing KID as the new Give Back recipient here.

The Safest Line: a blog for parents

KID recently met with Ken Levinson, the author of The Safest Line blog. Ken is a Chicago attorney. We asked him some questions about the blog and his thoughts on safety for children.

What led you to start The Safest Line?

My experience helping injured children (plus having three boys of my own) inspired me to take a proactive stance to prevent child injuries by showing parents how to become active proponents of their own children’s safety.

What are your goals for the blog and outreach?

Parents are bombarded daily with child safety messages and warnings that create an environment of fear. The Safest Line helps parents move past the noise by cutting to the safety issues that matter. As parents we can do a better job educating ourselves and our children about child safety to reduce the amount of child injuries that occur each year.

I also want parents to feel empowered to take a stand against careless corporations and individuals. Being a child injury lawyer helps, but in the age of social media, parents have a whole new way of alerting the public about dangerous products and behaviors. The online petition to ban crib bumpers is a great example of the proactive steps we can take to improve child safety.

If you had to give parents one piece of safety advice, what would it be?

Be alert, be proactive, and stay educated – but don’t be overprotective. We want to raise children who think for themselves. Find effective ways to instill safety values in your kids. If parents are always doing the thinking for their children, those kids miss out on learning experiences that will protect them when they grow up and experience more personal freedoms.

What is the attorney’s role in product safety?

Traditionally, child injury lawyers haven’t become involved until after the child is injured. Unfortunately, this role will always exist, but I think we have an obligation to do more to prevent child injuries by better promoting child safety. I want to help families hold careless companies and people accountable, but I also want fewer dangerous products on the market. I firmly believe that one child injured is one too many.

Thanks Ken! You can read KID's blog post on The Safest Line here.

CPSC and Delta reannounce recall of deadly cribs

After learning of another death, CPSC and Delta today re-announced the 2008 recall of almost one million drop-side cribs. The design of the crib relies on little plastic pegs to keep the drop-side in place. When they inevitably fall out unnoticed, the drop side can separate from the crib, causing a gap where a baby can be entrapped. A seven-month-old Colorado Springs girl died in 2009 after becoming entrapped. At the time of the initial recall, CPSC was aware of 1 death, 2 entrapments and nine disengagements due to the design. Today's announcement doesn't list any additional disengagements, although doesn't say there weren't any -- too bad the database wasn't up and running!

These cribs were initially recalled because the tiny pegs come out of the crib leg, allowing the drop-side to push free and cause an entrapment hazard. It was recalled at the same time as another 600,000 Delta drop-side cribs using a different attachment mechanism that also fell out, causing entrapments and one death. Then last year, Delta recalled an additional 747,000 cribs whose drop-side mechanisms failed.

While CPSC has exerted strong leadership in pushing for a rigorous mandatory standard for cribs that will eliminate this dangerous design, they dropped on the ball on this re-release. Their main safety message delivered by Chairman Tenenbaum in the release? Be careful when you buy second-hand! Not that these products were unsafe from the day they were made and parents should avoid all drop-side cribs. Checking second hand products against the list of recalls and for safety goes without saying. But the reason to check is because these products are hazardous to begin with, not because they are second-hand.

So we'll say it -- Delta has recalled over 2.3 million drop-side cribs because the drop side hardware fails. Don't buy or use these cribs. It doesn't matter if you are the first or the tenth user -- they are unsafe. And while the recall announcement calls for Delta to send out more little plastic parts that they want you to check continuously to make sure they stay in -- don't. Just don't use these cribs-- they aren't safe.

UPDATE: A call to Delta confirms that there are no immobilizers available for this style drop-side crib. So we restate our warning -- do not use these cribs, with or without the new plastic 'safety' plugs!!

AAP and NHTSA -- new guidelines for car seats

In the April 2011 issue of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advised parents to keep their children in rear-facing car seats until age 2 or until the child reaches maximum height and weight limit for the seat. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released new child seat safety guidelines shortly after AAP's publication was released.

Both AAP and NHTSA suggested parents check the maximum height and weight limit on their child's seat before moving them up to the next type of seat. They also suggested older children should ride in a booster seat until they reach 4 feet 9 inches and are between the ages of 8 and 12 years old. At this time, a regular seat belt should fit them properly.

“A rear-facing child safety seat does a better job of supporting the head, neck and spine of infants and toddlers in a crash, because it distributes the force of the collision over the entire body,” Dr. Dennis Durbin, MD, FAAP said. “For larger children, a forward-facing seat with a harness is safer than a booster, and a belt-positioning booster seat provides better protection than a seat belt alone until the seat belt fits correctly.” Previous policy cited age 12 months and 20 pounds as the minimum for transitioning a child out of a rear-facing car seat.

NHTSA Administrator David Strickland pointed out that while all car seats sold in the U.S. must meet federal child restraint safety standards, he said, "Selecting the right seat for your child can be a challenge for many parents. NHTSA's new revised guidelines will help consumers pick the appropriate seat for their child."

As always, children should ride in the backseat of a vehicle until they are 13 years old. Learn more at AAP's Health Children site.

More on the database, four days after launch

Have you gone to check out SaferProducts.gov? That's the new CPSCsite dedicated to the publicly available consumer safety incident database.

Consumers and others can report problems with products, incidents and injuries related to consumer products. CPSC has always had an online form for reporting, but now, most reports will become part of the public database.

Remember that this is a site to report safety issues, not product reliability or quality, except as they affect safety. So if the infant seat doesn't swing like it shows on the package, that is a quality issue, perhaps to be reported to customer service or an online product rating site. But if the motor that is supposed run the swing gets so hot it melts its casing and starts a fire, that is a safety issue and should be reported here, to CPSC.

Gather and input as much information about the product as possible – including identifying information such as model name or number, date of manufacture, etc. The more complete the report, the more likely it is to be posted and to provide CPSC with the information they need to assess the risk and take action if needed. CPSC has helpful pop-ups on the form that will help you find the needed information.

You need to provide your name and contact information for your incident to go into the database, but that information will not be posted and will only be released to the manufacturer with your permission. Giving the manufacturer your contact information, either through the CPSC form or by reporting directly to the manufacturer will allow them to fully investigate your incident and determine if action is needed. If you choose to file a report anonymously, CPSC will still get the incident information, but it will not go into the public database.

Manufacturers have 10 days after they are notified of a report by CPSC to review it for material inaccuracy. The best way to have the full 10 days is to register now with CPSC. The report will then be sent automatically.

Then, the report, if it has all the necessary information will be posted online. Right now, you can see the format here which CPSC has populated now with recall notices. Once the database has injury and incident reports, those will show up here too.

If you have problems reporting incidents or finding the data you need, let CPSC know. They already have great tools on the site to help both consumers and businesses navigate the system. We’d also love to hear of your experiences with the new database in the comments below.