Bedroom and nurseries are filled with hidden dangers. Any person, facility or business that has been entrusted with the child’s care and safety may be found responsible for not taking measures to prevent child accidents. If your child suffered a fatality or injury because of a careless or negligent caregiver then you may be able to seek compensation for the injuries that could have easily been avoided if proper care and attention had been exercised.

Crib, Playpen, Bassinet Injury

Every year 100,000 children are brought to the hospital emergency department for crib, playpen or bassinet related injuries. Crib related deaths have decreased from approximately 200 a year in the late 1970’s to 35 a year in the late 1990’s due to an increase in awareness and product safety standards.

In the late 70’s and early 80’s several mandatory standards for crib safety were issued which required crib manufacturers to produce cribs that were not inherently defective. Despite these new safety standards cribs are still the number one cause of bedroom and nursery related child fatalities.

Most of the cribs that cause child deaths are old cribs that were manufactured before the mandatory safety standards were issued. Often times people will use hand-me-down cribs like when a younger sibling uses the same crib an older sibling used when they were younger. Several of these outdated cribs are still sold in flea markets, used furniture stores and yard sales.

Most infant crib-related deaths are due to suffocation or strangulation. This most commonly occurs when the infant gets trapped in-between crib components (i.e. falling in the crack in-between the mattress and rails) because of defective, missing or properly installed attachments.

Bunk Bed Injury

In the late 1990’s an estimate 37,000 children ages 15 years old and under were annually treated at emergency rooms for bunk bed related injuries. Most injuries were fall-related. However, 91 child deaths were caused by bunk bed injuries from 1990 to 1999. 57 of these child fatalities were due to suffocation from the child being entrapped within the space between the guardrail and the mattress. 55 of 57 children that died from entrapment injuries were under the age of three. A law was passed in 2000 making entrapment warning labels standard on all bunk beds.

Adult Bed, Water Bed, Air Mattress Injuries

394 children ages two and under died from 1990 to 1997 after being placed on standard adult beds, water-bed and daybeds. Most deaths occurred due to the following:

  • asphyxia when the child’s head got caught between the mattress and the bed frame or the wall
  • suffocation after being placed face-down on water-beds
  • strangulation between headboards, footboards or bed railings.

Clothing String Injury

From 1985 to 1998 22 children under the age of 15 dies due to clothing drawstrings. Another 48 nonfatal injuries were also reported. The drawstring strangulation deaths occurred when the strings got caught on objects like bed frames of playground equipment. Most drawstring fatalities involved drawstrings located on the hood or neck area of the child’s clothes.

Plymouth County Personal Injury Attorneys With Experience You Can Count On

Initial Consultations Are Always Free – No Fee Unless We Recover For You

If your child has been injured due to another’s negligence, you have the right to hold that person or company responsible for their actions and any injuries caused to your child. The child accident victim and personal injury claims attorneys at The Law Offices of Gerald J. Noonan have represented many families with children that have been injured. With decades of experience successfully representing victims in all types of child injury cases, including accidents involving children, our skilled lawyers will advocate on your child’s behalf.

No matter where you are located, we are just a phone call away. Call our law offices today to schedule a free no-obligation case review and consultation at (508) 588-0422 or click the link below to use our Free Case Evaluation Form.

Massachusetts Child Injury Attorney assist clients throughout all of Massachusetts including, but not limited to, those in the following counties, cities and towns: Plymouth County, Brockton, Plymouth, Bridgewater, Marshfield, Hingham, Duxbury, Wareham, Abington, Rockland, Whitman, Hanson, Holbrook, Middleborough; Norfolk County including Quincy, Stoughton, Dedham, Weymouth, Braintree, Avon, Holbrook, Randolph, Canton, Sharon, Brookline, Franklin; Bristol County including New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, Attleboro, Westport, Dartmouth, Mansfield, Easton, Raynham, Lakeville, Norton; Cape Cod, Hyannis, Falmouth, Barnstable and the Greater Boston area including Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Everett, Lawrence, Lynn, Revere, Dorchester, Roxbury.