Strollers are made to keep children safe. They have restraint systems and wheels that turn easily when they run into obstacles. But strollers are used to transport children quickly over pavement or in stores with hard floor surfaces by parents who don't always use the safety straps correctly. Strollers are also built to break down easily, leaving metal parts exposed to children's arms and legs – and fingers.
Number of Children Injured by Stroller Accidents
Every year over 13,000 children under age 3 are injured in stroller accidents. Stroller accidents have been studied in past years. One retrospective retrospective study on stroller injuries (meaning looking at past data) looked at over 65,000 stroller injuries reported by National Electronic Injury Surveillance System of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commissionfor between 1994 and1998.
The rate of injury was 184 per 100,000 children, with slightly more boys than girls injured (51% to 49%), and an average age of 11 months. Most injuries were from falls (76%) or the stroller tipping over (11%), with smaller number of injuries reported from stroller collapse, and accidents involving motor vehicles.
Types of Stroller Injuries Found in Studies
The number of injuries found were head or face injuries; 87% of all the injuries found were to the head or face. Of the nearly 1,000 children admitted to a hospital, 70% were for head trauma. Lacerations, contusions (bruises) closed head injuries and fractures accounted for most of the injuries.
The recent Maclaren stroller recall was instituted after a dozen children suffered fingertip amputations from hinge accidents. Children put fingers into the side hinge wither when getting in or out of the stroller or while riding in it. Over a million strollers manufactured from the present back to 1999 were recalled.
Using Strollers Correctly to Prevent Accidents
The main injuries reported in studies of strollers accidents are caused by falling out of the stroller. Child strollers all are made with some sort of restraint system, but parents sometimes forget to put them on or don’t put them on correctly. Just fastening the belt around the waist isn’t enough; young children need the crotch strap in place to keep them from sliding out from under the belt.
Children in strollers need a watchful eye. Child deaths have been reported when children became entangled in the leg opening after slipping under the belt or not being properly restrained and strangled. Others have died of asphyxiation from incorrect positioning in the stroller.
Strollers should never be carried up and down stairs with the child in them. Serious injuries and deaths have resulted when strollers were dropped, especially if the child wasn’t restrained and fell out of the stroller.
Always put the brakes on. Children have been injured or killed when strollers rolled into the path of cars or into bodies of water. Keep one hand on the stroller at all times, if possible. Check the stroller’s brakes and other mechanical parts regularly, to make sure they’re still working properly, especially if the stroller is an older model.
Examine the hinges and other parts that move on the stroller for pinching potential. Make sure children don't put hands or fingers near the hinge when getting in or out of the stroller or riding in it. Don't hang heavy bags or purses from stroller handles, especially lightweight strollers. They can cause the stroller to tip backward.
Avoiding Stroller Injuries
Strollers are designed to be safe, but even the safest stroller is only as good as the people using it. And even strollers with wonderful reputations for safety can malfunction or have design flaws. Parents should be vigilant about checking strollers for safety issues and always use restraints when the child is in the stroller, even on short trips.
Source:
Elizabeth C Powell MD, Edward Jovtis, BA, Robert Tanz MD. "Incidence and Description of Stroller Related Injuries to Children." Pediatrics (Vol. 110 No. 5, November 2002, pp. e62).
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