"By the time we finally got there, he had no pulse. They said three minutes more and he would be dead," Kevin Lamm recalled. The story of his son, little Dylan Lamm, launched 7 On Your Side's investigation into the Bumbo baby chair. Dylan nearly died when he was sitting in a Bumbo baby seat. "He had arched his back and Bumbo tilted the Bumbo until it was in this position. The back folded and he toppled over backwards," Kevin said.
Dylan was minutes from death. Emergency surgery saved his life. However, his wasn't the only catastrophe. "She had one leg come out and she completely tumbled onto the floor below. I watched the whole thing and gasped," recalled Amber Black of Discovery Bay.
After 7 On Your Side's reports, dozens more parents came forward to say their children also fell from the chair. Following 7 On Your Side's investigation in 2007, the company voluntarily recalled the chairs and added prominent warnings: Don't use up high and don't use unattended. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there have been 130 incidents including 35 skull fractures.
The federal government issued a new warning. Still, Bumbo continued to say the chair was safe. "The Bumbo is definitely a safe seat. We believe it's safe and it is to be used on the floor, never on elevated surfaces," Rene Tolmay with Bumbo International said. However, now the company is once again voluntarily recalling the chairs so it can add a seat harness which it says will now make the chairs safe. "Bumbo is confident that this is a safe product when it's used properly on the floor, never on raised surfaces, with adult supervision, and with a belt," said Tarush Anand with Bumbo International.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the belt isn't foolproof but will make the chair safer, but there aren't any guarantees. One consumer advocate says he wished it was off store shelves entirely. "We didn't get that, but what we see now is significant fixes put into place and hopefully that will solve the problem," said Jon Fox California Public Interest Research Group.
