Consumers Report Smoking Batteries in Baby Toy
Written by James P. Nevin
The Ocean Wonders Soothe & Glow Seahorse has been dubbed ‘the perfect companion for your little one’. With a soft glowing light and longplay music to calm baby and help create a peaceful environment perfect for bedtime. While there are hundreds of satisfied customers who purport that the Seahorse does exactly as described, soothing their baby to sleep and becoming a beloved childhood toy, other parents are less than satisfied.
The website saferproducts.gov has consumer posts about this toy smoking when the batteries are replaced. Allegedly, the battery coil becomes red hot and begins to emit smoke upon replacement of the batteries. This first battery replacement seems to take place after about 10 months of daily use of the product. While there have been no reports of an actual fire or any injuries to children, some parents are understandably concerned. The possibility of a product, designed to be left in the crib with an unattended baby overnight, potentially catching fire is terrifying to parents who have voiced their concerns on the FisherPrice Facebook page. Their concerns have not gone unnoticed. The toy distributor has encouraged concerned parents to send their Seahorse back to the company for inspection and replacement.
Some parents are upset that FisherPrice has failed to voluntarily recall the Soothe & Glow Seahorse product line as a whole. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a U.S. government agency that protects the American public from products that may create a potential hazard to safety, focuses on consumer products that pose an unreasonable risk of fire, chemical exposure, electrical malfunction, or mechanical failure. Though they also claim to put a high priority on products that expose children to danger and injury the Seahorse has yet to be investigated or recalled. Perhaps this lack of recall should reassure parents of the safety of the product, or perhaps it should create public concern on the scrutiny of the CPSC. Either way, if you have a Soothe & Glow Seahorse at home keep a watchful eye on it once you replace the batteries.
Sources: 1, 2, 3
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