Suffocation, Entrapment Risks Prompt Recall of PeaPod Travel Tents by KidCo

By The CPSC / February 9, 2013
Consumers Businesses

Consumers should stop using this product unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

PeaPod and PeaPod Plus Travel Beds

Infants and young children can roll off the edge of the inflatable air mattress, become entrapped between the mattress and the fabric sides of the tent, and suffocate.

KidCo toll-free at (855) 847-8600, 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s website at www.kidco.com to receive the free repair kit.

Infants and young children can roll off the edge of the inflatable air mattress, become entrapped between the mattress and the fabric sides of the tent, and suffocate.

CPSC is aware of a death of a 5-month-old boy in December 2011 in New York, New York, who was found with his face pressed against the side wall of the tent. The cause of death was not determined.

In addition, CPSC is aware of six reports and Health Canada is aware of three reports of children who became entrapped or experienced physical distress in the product. Two of the six reports included infants who were found crying underneath of the mattress that had not been inserted into the zippered pocket on the bottom of the tent.

The KidCo PeaPod Travel Beds and PeaPod Plus Travel Beds are small, portable sleep tents marketed for use by infants from birth to 3+ years, depending on the model. The tents have a zippered side for putting in and taking out the child and have an inflatable air mattress that fits into a zippered pocket underneath the floor of the tent. The tents fold into a compact round shape and come with a fabric bag for storage and transport.

The following models and corresponding tent fabric colors are included in this recall:

The model number can be found on a small tag on the underside of the product.

The travel tents were made in China and sold at independent juvenile specialty stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com from January 2005 through the present for between $70 and $100.

Consumers should immediately stop using the tents and contact KidCo to get a free repair kit. Upon receiving the repair kit, consumers should immediately install the new mattress and support brackets (the kit for the P100 model does not include brackets). New instructions and warning labels for all models advises parents that the PeaPod should only be used with children who are 1 year of age or older. To ensure that the tents are made safer, all consumers who own a recalled model should order the repair kit. Contact KidCo toll-free at (855) 847-8600 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s website at www.kidco.com to receive the kit.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about your experience with the product on SaferProducts.gov

CPSC is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of the thousands of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $900 billion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products – such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals – contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

Under federal law, it is illegal to attempt to sell or resell this or any other recalled product.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, go online to: SaferProducts.gov, call CPSC’s Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054 for the hearing and speech impaired. Consumers can obtain this news release and product safety information at www.cpsc.gov. To join a free e-mail subscription list, please go to http://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/Subscribe/.

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