Nursery-Product-Related Injuries

Toddlers get into everything – and often hurt themselves. An analysis of injury reports of children three years old or younger seen in emergency departments found some interesting trends.

They found nearly 1.4 million injuries from nursery products over the 21 years from 1991 through 2011. They found a 34% decline in the number of injuries from 1991 to 2003. Then there was a 24% increase from 2003 to 2011. 

They found that the initial decline was due to a decrease in the use of baby walkers, jumpers, and exercisers. The increase was driven by a rise in concussions and closed head injuries primarily due to falls.

The products most frequently associated with injuries were baby carriers (20%), cribs and mattresses (19%), strollers and carriages (17%), and baby walkers/jumpers/exercisers (16%). Falls accounted for 80% of the injuries, and the head or neck were the most commonly injured body part (47%).