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View Full Version : Warning: Safety 1st Tubside Bathseat


o_mom
03-06-2009, 10:18 PM
This is cut/paste with permission from another board.

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DS is 6.5 months old, and can sit on his own, unassisted. I've been bathing him in a baby bathtub up until this point, which he always tries to climb out of. So today, we were at BRU and I bought this Safety1st Tubside Bath Seat.

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt155/josiesmith624/pTRU1-4318517dt.jpg

Box says for babies 5-10 months. Once they can sit unassisted until they can stand and climb out. He LOVED it! Had so much fun splashing with his feet and trying to lean over and grab the water with his hands.

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt155/josiesmith624/DSC01965.jpg

We got through his bath without him throwing a fit or trying to climb out, which was a real accomplishment. And then as I was grabbing him to pull him out and dry him off, he twisted himself and somehow ended up getting his right leg into the left leg hole. And he was stuck. Wouldn't budge. I tried twisting him; tried getting one hip out at a time; he wasn't moving. And of course the stupid thing was stuck to the bathtub with suction cups all over the place and I hadn't let the water out yet... so I climbed into the bathtub with my clothes on, kicked up the drain release with my feet, and somehow managed to slide one arm underneath him to support him so I could release all the suction cups one at a time. I wanted to get him out of the tub for a couple of reasons - the water, and the space.

So I got him and the seat to the living room and still couldn't get him out.

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt155/josiesmith624/DSC01969.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt155/josiesmith624/DSC01970.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt155/josiesmith624/DSC01968.jpg

I ended up having to call the fire department and they came in with saws and clamps and giant "clippers"... cut it a little on one side to loosen it up so they could spread it open a little and after squeezing and pinching and pushing, he finally came loose.

I'm writing to the manufacturer (Dorel/Safety1st, wouldn't ya know!) with pictures, and they will be getting my bill from the EMT's, as well. I checked their website, no recalls or safety notices on this product as of yet.

If anyone's contemplated getting this seat, I would reccommend that you NOT!! The leg holes are too big to keep them from slipping through them and too small to get them out if they do get stuck!

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JBaxter
03-06-2009, 10:23 PM
I HAVE one of those! Guess Jack wont be using it.
srhs
03-06-2009, 10:34 PM
Poor little guy! :( Looks like he was handling it okay, though.
I think this bath seat has had issues before (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml05/05219.html)...not fitting in nonstandard tubs properly. I know one of the baby gear books I read didn't recommend it. Maybe it was that? Maybe it was a false sense of security?
infomama
03-06-2009, 10:41 PM
Yeee-ikes. I remember how worked up I got when DD1 got her finger stuck in a pop bead a few years ago. Not sure I would have handled that sitch very well (although as pp said, the baby looks like he is taking it in stride). They should recall that thing.
DrSally
03-06-2009, 11:08 PM
Yikes! I think my sister has one of these (or something similar). We've always used a baby tub, then the snug tub, then the big tub.
kimberley-k
03-06-2009, 11:23 PM
Oooh, poor guy! Sorry you went through that. We have the same one, but haven't gotten it out for DS2 (9.5 months) yet since he's still doing well in the inflatable tub within our bath tub. Guess I won't bother now since it only goes up to 10 mos. I'm sure we used it WAY past that with DS1. Anyway, I remember it had some kind of height adjustment that made the leg holes smaller - I'm curious, did you have that in the highest (smallest leg hole) position?

-Kim
o_mom
03-06-2009, 11:41 PM
Oooh, poor guy! Sorry you went through that. We have the same one, but haven't gotten it out for DS2 (9.5 months) yet since he's still doing well in the inflatable tub within our bath tub. Guess I won't bother now since it only goes up to 10 mos. I'm sure we used it WAY past that with DS1. Anyway, I remember it had some kind of height adjustment that made the leg holes smaller - I'm curious, did you have that in the highest (smallest leg hole) position?

-Kim


This was from someone on another board. I have no idea about the height adjustment.

ETA: I asked her and this was her response: "She must have had a different seat. The only thing on this seat that was adjustable was the height of the arm to accommodate deeper/shallower tubs. The seat itself and the leg hole size is not adjustable."
shawnandangel
03-07-2009, 12:37 AM
Not only should she write the manufacturer, but also the CPSC.
o_mom
03-07-2009, 08:01 AM
Not only should she write the manufacturer, but also the CPSC.

I think she has - several people mentioned it to her.
Pennylane
03-07-2009, 09:00 AM
I used that seat with all three of mine and never had a problem. That is so scary though!

Ann
egoldber
03-07-2009, 09:44 AM
I used a similar seat with both kids and never had an issue. But that must have been scary.
TaChapm
03-07-2009, 10:24 AM
I used that with Tyler and Jaci and never had any issues. My sister also used it with her son and never had any issues and her son could really wiggle around. Ours was adjustable where the lighter the baby the smaller the leg openings were. The blue part would adjust when you set them in there. That is scary but probably just a very rare incidnet.