Parents bring furniture and nursery products into their homes because they are supposed to make caring for a child safer and easier. A dresser should stay upright. A high chair should support a child during meals. A changing table should remain stable. An activity center or booster seat should hold a child securely during normal use.
When one of these products tips over, collapses or traps a child, the result can be terrifying.
Dangerous nursery products can cause falls, crush injuries, entrapment and other serious harm. In some cases, the problem may involve a defective design. In others, a product may have been made incorrectly, sold without proper warnings or allowed to remain on the market despite known safety concerns.
At Breit Biniazan, we understand that families may have many questions after a child is hurt by a product they trusted. Our team handles product liability cases involving dangerous and defective consumer products. We may be able to investigate what happened, identify the companies involved and fight for accountability when the evidence supports a claim.
When Furniture And Nursery Products Put Children At Risk
Young children explore their surroundings by climbing, pulling, reaching and pushing. Product manufacturers must account for the ways children can reasonably interact with furniture and other nursery products.
Federal safety standards address many of these risks.
For example, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulates products such as high chairs, changing products, stationary activity centers and booster seats. These standards address hazards that can include falls, entrapment, instability and structural failure.
Dressers and other clothing storage units are also subject to federal requirements intended to reduce tip-over injuries involving young children.
Even with safety rules in place, defective children's products and toys can still reach families. A product may have a weak part, poor restraint system, unstable frame or another problem that is not clear until something goes wrong.
Dressers And Furniture Tip-Overs
A dresser may look heavy and stable. But when drawers are opened, weight shifts forward. If a child pulls on a drawer, tries to climb the furniture or puts additional weight on the front of it, an unstable unit can tip.
A falling dresser can trap or crush a child in seconds.
Federal law includes specific requirements aimed at preventing clothing storage unit tip-overs. The STURDY Act directed the CPSC to establish safety requirements for certain freestanding clothing storage units, including dressers, armoires and wardrobes. Those requirements address stability under conditions that can include open and loaded drawers and placement on carpeting.
A furniture injury claim may raise questions such as:
- Was the dresser stable during normal and reasonably foreseeable use?
- Did it meet the safety requirements that applied when it was sold?
- Were anchoring hardware and instructions provided?
- Were warnings clear and easy for caregivers to understand?
- Had the manufacturer received earlier complaints or reports involving similar problems?
The answers may help show whether the product itself contributed to the injury.
High Chairs
High chairs are designed to hold children above the floor during feeding and meals. That height can make a fall especially dangerous.
A child may be injured if a restraint system fails, the chair tips, a tray unexpectedly releases or part of the frame collapses.
CPSC safety requirements for high chairs are intended to address hazards such as falls, tray disengagement, entrapment and tip-over incidents.
A high chair may become dangerous because of a problem with its:
- Harness or restraint system
- Tray connection
- Locking mechanism
- Legs or frame
- Seat attachment
- Folding mechanism
A defect does not have to cause the entire chair to break apart. A small latch or restraint failure may be enough to allow a child to fall.
Falls from high chairs and other elevated nursery products may cause serious head trauma. Our team also represents clients dealing with traumatic brain injuries caused by another party's actions or a dangerous product.
Changing Tables
Changing tables are used at a height where a fall can cause serious harm.
The CPSC regulates baby changing products under federal safety standards. These products generally include elevated surfaces intended for changing a child's diaper or clothing.
Danger may arise when a changing table is unstable, folds unexpectedly, has weak supports or includes barriers that do not perform as intended.
A child may also be placed at risk if the product's design creates an opening where an arm, leg, head or other body part can become trapped.
When a changing table fails, an investigation may look at its structural design, hardware, restraints, assembly instructions and warnings. It may also examine whether a defective part prevented the product from being assembled or secured properly.
Activity Centers
Stationary activity centers are designed to let young children sit or stand while playing within a limited area. They may allow a child to bounce, rock, spin or move while being supported by the product.
Because the child's weight is supported above the ground, stability matters.
CPSC safety requirements for stationary activity centers address risks that can include falls from elevated surfaces, collapse, disassembly and instability.
An activity center could become dangerous if:
- A supporting leg or frame gives way
- A seat separates from the surrounding structure
- A locking component does not stay engaged
- The product tips during expected movement
- An opening creates an entrapment hazard
Parents may have little warning before a structural failure happens. A child may be playing normally one moment and on the floor the next.
Booster Seats
Booster seats raise a child to table height by attaching to or resting on an adult chair. Because the booster depends on another chair for support, both the booster design and its attachment system can be important.
Federal booster seat requirements are intended to reduce hazards that include falls, entrapment and structural problems. Requirements also address areas such as restraint systems and product performance.
A dangerous booster seat may involve loose or failing straps, weak attachment points, unstable positioning or a structural part that cracks or separates.
If a booster detaches from an adult chair or allows a child to slip through a restraint, the resulting fall can happen quickly.
Common Injuries From Defective Nursery Products
Furniture and nursery products can fail in different ways, but many incidents involve the same general dangers.
Tip-over accidents can happen when furniture becomes unstable and falls forward. A child may be struck, pinned or trapped underneath it.
Falls can occur from high chairs, changing tables, booster seats or elevated activity centers. A failed restraint, latch, support or connection may contribute to the fall.
Entrapment happens when a child's body becomes caught in a gap, opening or moving part of a product. Depending on where the child becomes trapped, the situation may become dangerous very quickly.
Collapse injuries can occur when a frame, leg, hinge, lock or other structural component fails. A collapsing product may cause a child to fall or become trapped between moving parts.
Some incidents can result in catastrophic injuries that affect far more than a child's immediate medical care. A serious injury can change a family's daily routine, finances and plans for the future.
What Can Make Furniture Or A Nursery Product Defective?
A child injury does not automatically mean a product was defective. Determining what happened usually requires looking closely at the product and the circumstances surrounding the incident.
A design defect may involve a danger built into the product itself. For example, furniture may have poor stability or a nursery product may include a locking system that can release too easily during normal or reasonably foreseeable use.
A manufacturing defect may occur when an individual product is made differently from its intended design. A weak part, missing fastener or improperly installed component may cause a product to fail.
A failure to warn may involve instructions or labels that do not clearly explain a serious danger or provide important information about safe use.
There may also be questions about whether the product complied with federal safety requirements that applied when it entered the market.
Each situation is different. The product itself, its instructions and its history may all provide important evidence.
Who May Be Responsible For A Defective Nursery Product?
Several businesses may be involved in bringing a piece of furniture or nursery equipment into a family's home.
Depending on the facts, an investigation may involve a:
- Designer or manufacturer
- Component manufacturer
- Distributor
- Importer
- Retailer or other seller
Furniture and nursery items are among the many consumer products that may become the subject of a product liability investigation when a dangerous defect causes an injury.
Virginia law provides that a lack of a direct contract between an injured person and a manufacturer or seller does not automatically bar certain negligence or warranty claims when the injured person was someone the company might reasonably have expected to use, consume or be affected by the product.
Responsibility depends on what went wrong, which companies were involved and what the evidence shows.
Why Product Recalls And Safety Warnings Matter
A recall or CPSC warning can provide important information about a product's safety history.
These notices may identify problems such as instability, entrapment hazards, defective restraints or structural failures. They may also identify model numbers, dates of sale and other details that can help determine whether a particular product was affected.
But a recall is not the only sign that a product may be dangerous.
A child can be injured by a product that has not been recalled. A recall may also be announced after an injury has already occurred. For that reason, an investigation may look beyond public notices and examine complaints, testing, warnings and reports of similar failures.
Preserving Evidence After A Furniture Or Nursery Product Injury
After a frightening product incident, a family may understandably want the dangerous product out of the home. But the actual item can contain important information about what failed.
Depending on the circumstances, useful evidence may include the product itself, packaging, instructions, receipts, model and serial numbers, photographs and videos.
Communications from the manufacturer or retailer may also matter.
The condition of a broken latch, cracked frame or failed anchor can sometimes provide information that is difficult or impossible to recover after the product has been thrown away, repaired or taken apart.
Virginia Product Liability Claims And Filing Deadlines
Claims involving defective furniture or nursery products can depend on several areas of Virginia law, including negligence and warranty principles.
Virginia also places filing deadlines on personal injury cases. Under Virginia Code § 8.01-243, personal injury actions are generally subject to a two-year limitations period. Different rules or exceptions may apply depending on the facts, including circumstances involving minors.
Because these legal standards and deadlines depend on the individual case, a licensed Virginia attorney can explain how they may apply to a particular family's situation.
Talk With Breit Biniazan About A Dangerous Furniture Or Nursery Product
Parents should not have to wonder whether a dresser will fall on their child or whether a high chair will collapse underneath them.
When a nursery product fails and a child is hurt, families deserve clear answers about what happened and why.
Breit Biniazan may be able to investigate an injury involving a dresser, high chair, changing table, activity center, booster seat or another nursery product. Our team can look at the product's design, manufacturing, warnings and safety history and fight for accountability when the evidence supports a claim.
Contact Breit Biniazan to discuss your family's situation and learn more about your options.
