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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Baby Trend warned consumers on February 9, 2023 about a head and neck entrapment hazard with Baby Trend Sit N’ Stand Double and Ultra strollers with model numbers beginning with SS76 or SS66. [1] One 14-month-old child died from asphyxiation after his neck became entrapped between the front canopy tube and armrest while his father was nearby but unable to see him. [1]
Wrongful Death and Injury Reports
Baby Trend received one report of fatal neck entrapment between the front canopy tube and armrest, resulting in the asphyxiation death of a non-occupant 14-month-old whose father was nearby. The company also received one report of entrapment between the back of the canopy tube and the front seat back, causing neck bruises to a partially secured 17-month-old child.
Design Defect: Deadly Entrapment Gaps
The space in front of and behind the strollers’ pivoting front canopy can entrap a child’s head or neck if a non-occupant child climbs on the exterior of the stroller. Entrapment also occurs when a child in the front seat is not securely restrained using all five points of the harness, leading to loss of consciousness, serious injury, or death.
Affected Products
The warning applies to Sit N’ Stand Double and Ultra strollers with model numbers beginning SS76 or SS66. These strollers feature black or silver frames with black front trays containing oval cutouts, “Sit N’ Stand” printed in white on the frame sides, and “Baby Trend” printed on the mesh basket under the seat.
Model numbers are printed on stickers located on the left inside rear of the frame near the left rear axle. Baby Trend has sold approximately one million of these strollers nationwide since 2009.
Retailers and Distribution
Baby Trend sold the defective strollers at Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, and buybuy BABY stores nationwide. Online retailers included Amazon.com, babytrend.com, and bedbathandbeyond.com, providing widespread distribution for the dangerous products over fourteen years.
No Official Recall Issued
Baby Trend did not announce a formal recall for the Sit N’ Stand strollers despite the fatal incident and injury reports. Instead, the company issued instructions asking consumers to remove the pivoting front canopy when not in use, never allow children to play on the stroller, and always secure children in the five-point harness.
This approach places the burden on parents to mitigate a known design defect rather than recalling dangerous products or providing free replacements. Federal law allows manufacturers to control the CPSC’s ability to release critical safety information, and the agency cannot unilaterally recall unsafe products without company cooperation.
Class Action Lawsuit Filed July 2023
A California consumer filed a 45-page class action complaint on July 3, 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Case 5:23-cv-01283). The plaintiff purchased a Sit N’ Stand Double stroller in April 2022, believing it would be safe for his children since packaging revealed no critical safety hazards.
The plaintiff’s infant child fell through spacing in the stroller into the diaper bag carriage underneath shortly after purchase. The lawsuit alleges Baby Trend knew about the entrapment hazard since at least 2010 but made a business decision not to take action before putting strollers up for sale in 2009.
Company Knew About Defect Since 2010
When the family of the deceased 14-month-old filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baby Trend in 2021, a litigation report revealed the company received at least five reports dating back to 2010 alerting it to child asphyxiation risks. In June 2013, Baby Trend was notified that a child had his “neck crushed, head stuck, arm smashed, and arm stuck” in the stroller’s entrapment area.
In July 2014, the company was informed that a 19-month-old “slipped through in between the seat and child tray,” became stuck and started choking. Baby Trend knew about the safety defect and its associated manifestations but made no substantive design modifications to eliminate the hazard.
Pre-Sale Testing Detected Defect
The class action alleges Baby Trend, as an experienced juvenile products manufacturer, detected the entrapment defect during pre-sale safety testing. The company made a business decision not to take corrective action before putting the strollers up for sale in 2009, prioritizing profits over child safety.
False Safety Claims
One day after the joint CPSC warning, Baby Trend issued a statement to NBC News claiming the company and CPSC agreed that Sit N’ Stand strollers are “completely safe when used as intended and in accordance with the company’s operating instructions.” The CPSC publicly disputed this claim, stating it had not determined the products are “completely safe.”
Baby Trend’s false safety assertions misled consumers about the true nature and severity of the entrapment hazard. The company’s statement contradicted the joint warning’s acknowledgment that entrapment could lead to loss of consciousness, serious injury, or death.
CPSC Handbook Addressed Entrapment Hazards
The CPSC published A Handbook for Public Playground Safety in 1981 that specifically addressed entrapment hazards. The handbook warned that no component should form angles or openings that could trap any part of a child’s body or head, and that strangulation may result if children cannot withdraw their heads easily and cannot support their weight by means other than their heads or necks.
Stroller Industry Standards
As an experienced manufacturer of juvenile products since 1988, Baby Trend had access to industry safety standards and CPSC guidance addressing entrapment hazards. The company’s failure to design strollers eliminating known entrapment gaps demonstrates willful disregard for established safety principles and child welfare.
Inadequate Warnings at Point of Sale
At the point of sale, consumers had no way of knowing about the dangerous nature of Baby Trend strollers. Product packaging revealed no critical safety hazards such as the risk of strangulation and death, misleading parents into believing the strollers were safe for their children.
Legal Claims
Strict products liability claims allege Baby Trend manufactured and sold strollers with defective designs containing deadly entrapment gaps. Design defect claims assert the pivoting front canopy creates hazardous spaces that can trap children’s heads and necks, leading to asphyxiation.
Failure to warn claims allege Baby Trend failed to disclose known entrapment risks despite receiving incident reports since 2010. Negligence claims assert the company breached its duty to design safe products and warn consumers about known hazards.
Fraudulent concealment claims allege Baby Trend actively concealed the entrapment defect from consumers while falsely representing products as safe. Breach of warranty claims assert strollers were not fit for their ordinary purpose of safely transporting children.
Wrongful Death Claims
Families of children who died from strangulation or asphyxiation in Baby Trend strollers may pursue wrongful death claims for funeral expenses, loss of companionship, and emotional devastation. Wrongful death lawsuits can seek compensatory and punitive damages against manufacturers who knowingly sold deadly products without adequate warnings.
Personal Injury Claims
Children who suffered neck injuries, bruising, choking incidents, or other harm from entrapment in Baby Trend strollers may recover damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and emotional trauma. Parents may also recover for their own emotional distress from witnessing their children’s injuries or near-death experiences.
Economic Loss and Product Worthlessness
The alleged defect rendered Baby Trend strollers worthless to parents who purchased them expecting safe products. Class members paid premium prices for strollers that pose deadly entrapment risks, suffering economic losses when Baby Trend refused to recall products, provide free replacements, or reimburse consumers.
Punitive Damages
Baby Trend’s conduct may warrant punitive damages for willfully selling dangerous strollers despite knowing about fatal entrapment risks since 2010. The company’s decision to continue sales without design modifications, issue false safety claims, and refuse a formal recall demonstrates callous disregard for child safety justifying punitive awards.
Contact an Attorney
If your child was injured or died due to entrapment in a Baby Trend Sit N’ Stand stroller, contact a product liability attorney immediately. Document all medical records, photographs of injuries, the stroller model number, purchase records, and communications with Baby Trend or retailers.
References
1. https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2023/CPSC-and-Baby-Trend-Warn-Consumers-About-Entrapment-Hazard-with-the-Detachable-Canopy-on-Baby-Trend-Sit-N-Stand-Strollers-One-Death-Reported
2. https://www.classaction.org/blog/maker-of-baby-trend-sit-n-stand-strollers-hit-with-class-action-over-undisclosed-infant-strangulation-risk
3. https://www.classaction.org/media/johnson-v-baby-trend-inc.pdf
4. https://www.consumerreports.org/product-safety/cpsc-warning-baby-trend-sit-n-stand-double-ultra-strollers-a2501920822/
5. https://feldmanshepherd.com/blog/cpsc-warns-of-baby-trend-stroller-entrapment-risk/
6. https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/02/11/recall-alert-baby-trend-sit-and-stand-strollers-recalled-after-sudden-infant-death/
7. https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/02/09/baby-trend-cpsc-warn-about-stroller-canopy-after-child-dies/
8. https://babytrend.com/pages/safety-notices