Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Bumbo Seat Recall

Okay folks, there is yet another recall on the news today and I am not happy about this! It's not about the modification I'm unhappy about, (I'll explain in a minute) because I'm all for safety and have long since thought this item needed some sort of a safety strap (or was my kid just a Houdini and could wriggle his way out of it?)! What am I talking about...


The Bumbo seat of course!
(Do not use as we are using because we are not using this seat properly. We are using it ON THE KITCKEN COUNTER-BIG NO-NO!)

I was just saying the other day what a great invention this little seat is. My babies get to sit up and feel big in it well before they can actually sit up on their own. High chairs are big and bulky for a four month old and who wants to place a huge, albeit comfy and padded, infant seat on a table for first feeding moments? Along came the Bumbo!
Our first introduction to the infamous Bumbo seat came about four years ago. The first time we put our daughter in it, we opened the box, placed the Bumbo seat in the middle of the living room floor and my husband and I and our three boys all chuckled. It is, after all, kind of silly shaped! We placed my 5 1/2 month old daughter in it, so bright and eager to engage with her older brothers, and she looked up at us like we had just offered her her very own queen's chair! We gathered around her, laid on our tummies to get eye level with her and we had the grandest night of entertainment watching our daughter with a brand new view of the world!
This seat really is one of the greatest, newest inventions for infants! We bring it to the beach and the baby can sit up in the sand while I feed him his lunch. I put it on the picnic table at the park (again, don't do as I do, this is a no-no) and sit beside him and chat with a friend for more than a half an hour. My son loves this seat!
Okay, so if I LOVE this seat why am I unhappy for this newest recall? Well, first of all I can't believe the seat came without a buckle in the first place. It's kind of like when we put astronauts on the moon but forgot to install a place for them to go to the bathroom, this was a no-brainer for me. 
Secondly, "skull fractures? Seriously! This just breaks my heart more than making me feel "unhappy". THE ONLY WAY  a child could get a skull fracture from using this product is if it's being used on counters or elevated surfaces-UNATTENDED. That's what makes me so unhappy. A whole society of people willing to place buckles on infant seats in hopes of keeping our kids safe. Good theory, good practice, but larger things loom that aim to harm our children than missing buckles on seats. Putting a buckle on this seat WILL make it safer, however, it will only INCREASE the lack of parental interaction with the child. It's kind of like when I put a life jacket on my two year-old at the beach. I'm supposed to feel safer and will enjoy MYSELF knowing my daughter has this safety device on. I can relinquish my parenting to a life preserver. It doesn't work that way. Knowing she is wearing a life jacket should make me more conscious of where she is and what larger dangers lie in front of her as she takes bigger risks away from me.
So parents, and caregivers of infants, please go out and get this buckle for your child's Bumbo seat.I just did, it was fast, easy, and painless! But please remember, this is for the safety of the child and will NEVER replace the number one safety factor in her life, YOU! Spend time with your baby. If the Bumbo seat allows you to bring your baby into your activities in a closer way safely, as we have enjoyed this seat, then use the seat. If a strap on it is only going to make you more inclined to walk away and leave your precious one unattended, please don't use the seat, even if it has a buckle. Their lives are just too precious.


"Allow the little ones to come to Me, and do not forbid or restrain or hinder them, for of such [as these] is the kingdom of heaven composed." Matthew 19:14

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