Birth Trauma / Medical Malpractice

After the death of a baby, KidCo Inc. Friday voluntarily recalled roughly 220,000 PeaPod and PeaPod Plus Travel Beds. The recall was announced by both the Libertyville, Ill., company and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml13/13043.html

There have been several incidents involving the tents. The CPSC said that a 5-month-old boy who died in December 2011 in New York City was found with his face pressed against the side wall of the tent. The cause of death was not determined.

In addition, CPSC said that it is is aware of six reports, and that Health Canada has had three reports, of children who became entrapped or experienced physical distress in the product.

“Two of the six reports included infants who were found crying underneath of the mattress that had not been inserted into the zippered pocket on the bottom of the tent,” the CPSC said in a press release.

The KidCo PeaPod Travel Beds and PeaPod Plus Travel Beds are small, portable sleep tents for infants to three years and older, depending on the model.

“The tents have a zippered side for putting in and taking out the child and have an inflatable air mattress that fits into a zippered pocket underneath the floor of the tent, the CPSC said. “The tents fold into a compact round shape and come with a fabric bag for storage and transport.”

What is apparently happening is that infants and young children can roll off the edge of the air mattress, become trapped between the mattress and the fabric sides of the tent, and suffocate, according to the CPSC.

Manufactured in China, the travel tents were sold at independent juvenile specialty stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com from January 2005 through the present for between $70 and $100.

Consumers should immediately stop using the tents and contact KidCo to get a free repair kit. The kits will vary depending on the model and will be shipped to consumers starting in December.

Consumers should contact KidCo toll-free at (855) 847-8600 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or visit the company’s website at www.kidco.com to receive the kit.

The CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. They should go to SaferProducts.gov.