Babies’ and children’s products may be the most dangerous items in your house, experts have revealed.
Personal injury attorneys at Bana Law in California combed through recall data from 2025 compiled by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
They found that while food recalls most often make headlines and result in illnesses like salmonella and E. coli, thousands of consumer products are pulled from the shelves every year as well.
They found that out of nearly 11,000 nationwide recalls so far this year, almost 25 percent were for baby and kid’s items such as high chairs, strollers, car seats and swings, resulting in hundreds of illnesses.
These included several hundred baby loungers and crib bumpers feared to cause suffocation in infants and 3,000 crib mobiles with button batteries, which can tear holes in the esophagus if swallowed.
Most recently, just over 4,000 high chairs from Harppa were urgently recalled because they were sold without restraints, leaving babies at risk of dangerous falls.
Baby product recalls were 50 percent higher than the next most common category, sports and recreation equipment, which made up 16 percent of the year’s recalls.
The most recent, issued on October 30, was for 5,000 off-road vehicles that had improperly installed cables connected to the battery, increasing the risk of fire.
Baby products like high chairs were the most frequently recalled items in the US this year, according to data from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (stock image)
Home appliances like power tools and ladders, toys and clothing all rounded out the top five most recalled items, with all of these categories combined making up nearly 70 percent of all products pulled from US shelves this year.
Bana Law experts behind the study said: ‘These statistics highlight serious safety concerns with products that families use every day. With 2,642 recalls in the babies and children category alone, parents need to take immediate steps to protect their children.
‘Many recalled children’s products violated federal safety standards designed to prevent injuries and deaths.’
They also encouraged parents to complete product registration cards to receive recall notices directly from manufacturers.
Baby products are often recalled due to choking hazards and risks of strangulation. Small parts of these products can break off and be eaten by an infant without a parent’s knowledge.
Loungers, swings and mattresses with thick padding also pose a risk of suffocation because infants don’t have the strength or reflexes to pull away when they can’t breathe.
About 17,000 children in the US under 14 are treated in emergency rooms every year for choking, and 75 die, with three in four of those deaths occurring in children under three years old.
And roughly 1,000 children die from accidental suffocation annually, the most common cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Other recent recalls in this category, according to CPSC, include 15,000 of Modera’s Pack N Play Mattresses due to risks of entrapment and 20,000 cooling gel insert pads for strollers from AMTRADING due to burn hazards if they become hot in the sun.
There were 1,794 recalls for sports and recreation equipment like treadmills and golf carts, the study shows.
Last month, more than 40,000 NordicTrack rowing machines from Utah-based IFit were recalled after the company received reports of the screen console overheating, catching on fire, smoking, melting and causing property damage.
There were eight reported incidents but no injuries.
Sports and recreation equipment were also frequently recalled, including rowing machines, treadmills and exercise bikes (stock image)
Another recall was initiated last month for golf carts made by Yamaha. Just under 20,000 units were found to not have stop lights, making crashes more likely, while another 4,300 were unable to break.
Home appliances was the third-most recalled category based on the CPSC data, making up 1,202 recalls this year.
The most recent recall in this category was for 90,000 top handle chainsaws from Milwaukee Tool over a ‘laceration hazard’ because the chainsaw’s brake would not always activate. There were two incident reports, including one in which a person’s finger was lacerated.
Additionally, 302,000 Dorel Home Furnishings Cosco 2-Step Kitchen Steppers were pulled from stores in July because the safety bar could detach or break, increasing the risk of fall injury. Two cases of head injuries were reported as a result.
Toys and clothing reported 1,178 and 875 recalls respectively.
In August, 192,000 KidKraft Farm to Table play kitchens were recalled after the company learned that metal hooks meant to hold toy pots and pans can snag a child’s clothing, posing a serious strangulation hazard.
In February 2023, a 23-month-old in Oregon died after his shirt got caught on one of the hooks while he was climbing or crawling through the back opening of the wooden kitchen set.
The above high chair from Harppa was recalled because several models did not have safety restraints
IFit, which is headquartered in Utah, voluntarily recalled its NordicTrack rowing machine after reports of the screen console overheating, catching on fire, smoking and melting
The CPSC said in August that the child was unable to free himself and died from strangulation and asphyxia.
Meanwhile, for clothing, Fieldsheer Apparel Technologies recalled about 45,000 pairs of its heated merino wool socks after receiving multiple reports of injuries, including burns and blisters.
The study experts said: ‘The high number of recalls in sports equipment and home appliances shows these risks extend beyond the nursery. Nearly every room in the American home contains products that have been subject to safety recalls.
‘To stay safe, consumers should subscribe to recall alerts from the CPSC website, regularly check for new recalls, and immediately remove recalled products from their homes.
‘Taking these simple precautions can prevent serious injuries that we see far too often in our practice.’
