Amby Baby is facing a lawsuit over defective baby hammock beds recalled last month by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
Jonathan Kuzma, of Gresham, Ore., lost his son Matteo in August when the baby was suffocated by Amby's Motion Bed. The death of Kuzma's son, along with a four-month-old in Georgia, prompted the CPSC to recallapproximately 24,000 Motion Beds on December 8, 2009.
The Commission said that the hammock-style bed's side-to-side shifting could cause children to become wedged against the mattress pad or the bed's fabric. Health Canada also issued an advisory warning of the bed's dangers.
Kuzma's suit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, seeks $5 million from Minneapolis-based Amby.
Recalls of baby cribs and hammocks are relatively common, given infants' limited range of motion and their still-developing bodies. Over the past two years alone, almost five million cribs have been recalled. In November, CPSC recalled over two million Stork Craft cribs with drop-down sides after learning of over 100 incidents in the U.S. and Canada. The cribs contained a design defect that caused posed a risk of strangulation.
That recall, the largest-ever for baby cribs, sparked a wave of lawsuits across Canada and spurred calls for an overhaul of that country's consumer protection legislation. South of the border, the CPSC considered issuing a blanket ban on all drop-down cribs.
The recalled Amby bed has a steel frame and a fabric hammock, connected by a spring and metal crossbar. The affected model has a label reading "Amby -- Babies Love It, Naturally" attached to the hammock. Amby's website raves that the bed helps babies and parents get the sleep they need with its womb-like design and gentle motion that babies love, and says the beds are especially good for children with reflux, and colic.
Interestingly, the site also touts the bed as ideal for premature babies, who it says "crave environments that mimic the time they missed in the womb." The Motion Bed, according to Amby, provides a "warm, snuggled feeling along with gentle motion [that] give baby the feeling that she is still being carried."
The recalled units were manufactured in China and sold on various retail websites, including Ambybaby.com, between October 2003 and October 2009, for around $250.
Consumers should immediately stop using the beds and contact Amby for a repair kit. Those seeking additional information should contact Amby at toll-free at (866) 544-9721 between 9 a.m. and 5p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit their Web site at www.ambybaby.com.
