21,000 Children in Shopping Cart Injuries a Year: Is Your Child Safe?

The Dangers of Shopping Carts

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that more than 21,000 children under the age of five are treated in emergency rooms every year for injuries related to shopping carts. About 75 percent of those injuries are to the head and neck. (2)

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reports that falls from the cart and cart tip-overs account for 58 percent and 26 percent of injuries, respectively, and 40 percent of the cart-related injuries to children under 2 years of age were due to carts tipping over. (2)

In 2011, a 3-month-old infant died after his car seat fell out of a shopping cart when the shopping cart rolled over a speed bump in a grocery store parking lot. “In 1994, a 3-year-old boy died after he stood up in the cart and fell over backward and hit his head.” (1)

Safety Standards for Carts

Most moms are familiar with these rules, but one store that did a survey reported that there is only about 14 percent parental compliance in proper use of the restraint straps.(2):

- Always use the seatbelts to restrain your child in the cart seat.

- Stay with your child at all times.

- Don’t allow your child to ride in the cart basket.

- Don’t place a personal infant carrier or car seat in the cart seat or basket.

- Don’t allow your child to ride or climb on the sides or front of the cart.

- Don’t allow a child to push the cart with another child in it. (1)

Some even suggest leaving infants and children at home, which is hardly practical for single parents and it means that families miss out on this potential for time together.

While the practice is discouraged by safety experts, some suggest that putting an infant carrier in the cart basket is a safer alternative to placing it in the cart seat, but that leaves the question of where do you put your groceries if the cart space is taken up with the baby seat?

Progress in Shopping Cart Design

One of the earlier solutions to the infant carrier dilemma, in particular, was to design infant carriers with clips that would fasten onto the cart. But there were safety concerns with this arrangement, too, and so infant carriers are no longer designed this way.

As an alternative, SafeStrap, the company that invented the first seat belt for shopping carts, has invented the Safe-Dock system, which allows parents to safely secure their infant seat to the shopping cart while still leaving the “cargo area” free for groceries.

You can find out more information about the Safe-Dock system here.

For older children, stores are required to have child safety restraints (seat belts) installed on their carts, but little ones are smart and learn to wiggle out of them. So what’s a mama to do?

Some say, it’s time for a complete redesign of shopping carts such as:

- Lowering cart seat to improve overall cart stability and reduce the potential for serious injury in case of a fall.

- Improving overall cart stability.

- New restraint design to prevent “escapees” and lessen the chances of a fall.

Until these measures are implemented, however:

- Consider using a front or backpack carrier for your infant or toddler while shopping.

- Teach children right from the very beginning about wearing the safety straps. There’s no compromise when they’re in the car and there should be no compromise when they’re in a cart.

- Older children should not be allowed to stand up in the cart or ride in or hanging off the outside of the basket area.

- Advocate for supervised in-store child play areas, child-friendly cart designs and restraints with area stores.

Sources:

1) CPSC Safety Alert: Falls from Shopping Carts Cause Serious Head Injuries to Children. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Web. Oct 9, 2013.
http://www.cpsc.gov/PageFiles/122338/5075.pdf

2) Grocery Carts Pose Hidden Risks to Children. SafeRideNews.com. Web. Oct 9, 2013.
http://www.saferidenews.com/srndnn/SafetyTopics/OtherTransportationSafetyIssues/GroceryCartSafety/tabid/334/Default.aspx

3) Infant Dies After Falling Out of Shopping Cart. Wade, Jake. 13WMAZ. Web. Oct 9, 2013.
http://macon.13wmaz.com/news/news/58804-infant-dies-after-falling-out-shopping-cart?hpt=us_bn5

4) Safe-Dock: Universal Infant Docking Station for Shopping Carts. ShoppingCartSafety.com. Web. Oct 9, 2013.
http://shoppingcartsafety.com/the-safe-dock-infant-carrier-cart-holder/

Reviewed October 10, 2013
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith

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• Parenting