Recalled products could still be at your child's day care, father warns
We have a new warning about recalled products that could be in use at your child's day care facility. By now many families are aware that the Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play has been recalled after the deaths of more than 30 babies in the inclined sleeper. But Action News has learned some day care centers may not be getting critical recall information and many children may still be in danger.
Like most parents Adam Garber's priority is keeping his son, Elon, out of harm's way. So he was shocked when he made a disturbing discovery at Elon's day care.
"They were still using the Fisher-Price Rock 'n Plays, which were recalled back in April," he said. "I trust that when I send my kid to the child care facility that he's going to be safe and I know that the day care wants them to be safe as well so I was surprised really to see them there."
Garber immediately alerted the day care to the recall and the Rock 'n Plays have since been removed.
But Garber said the incident illustrates fundamental flaws in our recall system.
"We do a great job, for the most part, of preventing the sale of devices or products that have been recalled but we have a long way to go to remove them from people's homes and child care facilities," he explained.
Garber is well positioned to make a difference. He is the consumer watchdog for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which is calling for product manufacturers and retailers to take a more proactive approach to notify the public of all recalls.
U.S. PIRG is also conducting a new study.
"So we're starting to survey childcare providers around the country to understand how widespread the continued use of these rock 'n play sleepers are as well as other recalled sleepers," he said.
Pennsylvania law requires day cares to check for recalled products and remove them but facilities are inspected only once a year to ensure compliance. So any time you become aware of a recall, make sure your childcare provider is aware of it, too.
