KidCo Inc. Recalls Children’s PeaPod Travel Beds

On Friday, November 16, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that KidCo Inc., of Libertyville, IL is recalling about 220,000 units of PeaPod and PeaPod Plus Travel Beds. The recalled items were sold from January 2005 to November 2012 for $70 to $100 at nationwide juvenile specialty stores and online at Amazon.com.

The recalled travel beds, which were manufactured in China, are small, portable sleep tents that are intended to be used by infants from birth to 3+ years, depending on the model. The tents have an inflatable air mattress that fits into a zippered pocket underneath the floor of the tent. The following models and colors are included in this recall, which can be found on a small tag on the underside of the travel bed:

P100 Teal

P101 Red

P102 Lime

P103 Periwinkle

P104 Ocean

P201 Princess/Red

P202 Camouflage

P203 QuickSilver

P204 Sagebrush

P205 Cardinal

P900CS Green

 The PeaPod and PeaPod Plus Travel Beds pose suffocation and entrapment risks because infants and young children can roll off the edge of the inflatable air mattress, become trapped between the mattress, and in turn can suffocate. So far, KidCo Inc. has received several incident reports. One such report involves the death of a 5-month-old boy in December 2011, who was found with his face against the sidewall of the tent. Another nine reports involve children who were entrapped or experienced physical distress in the PeaPod products.
At any point during the design and manufacturing process, failures regarding safety issues associated with children’s tents, toys, and other children’s products may contribute to a product’s hazards, including (1) missteps during the early design stages; (2) inadequate testing to ensure safe performance, and (3) marketing efforts that include inadequate instructions and warnings, or failure to include any relevant cautions. Even one act of negligence during the process from the product’s conception to its sale can cause catastrophic injuries and even wrongful death once the product reaches homes, schools, and workplaces of consumers.
If you or a family member have suffered significant personal injuries as the result of a defective product, contact the law office of Swartz & Swartz, P.C. Call (617) 742-1900 in the Boston area, or for clients in greater Massachusetts, New England, or other states across the U.S., call toll-free at 1-800-545-3732.