A dad has issued a warning to parents after his three-month-old daughter fell through a Shnuggle bath stand.
Simon Archer, 35, and his wife Pauline bought the baby bath stand for £25 to help bathe their baby daughter.
Pauline gave birth to Alice via a caesarean section and this meant she could not bend over for some time, reports Manchester Evening News.
Needing help when it came to bathing Alice, she chose to purchase the handy accessory from Shnuggle - which rose to fame after appearing BBC's Dragon's Den in 2017.
The couple, from Stretford, Greater Manchester, did not have any issues with the bath stand in the two months they had been using it - until last week.
Simon said that when they were bathing their daughter the bath fell through the stand and Alice dropped to the floor. Worried their daughter had sustained serious injuries, they rushed her to A&E where doctors checked her over.
Fortunately, she did not sustain any serious injuries and was sent home with paracetamol that night.
Simon said : "Me and my wife were using it together and the bath just fell through the stand and our baby daughter fell to the floor
"It was a very scary thing to happen. She fell from around waist height so it wasn’t a small fall. It was quite a shock and she was initially very upset."
Simon says he contacted the company to inform of them of what happened, and said he was shocked to find other reviews online saying that the same thing had happened to other parents.
Approached by the MEN, Shnuggle said its investigations revealed the 'unfortunate accident' happened because the bath had not been fitted to the stand correctly. They added they have since been in touch with Trading Standards and are now offering all customers a free safety strap which they say 'fully removes the risk' of the bath falling.
Simon does not agree with the company's investigation, and says he is confident he and his wife did not make an error when attaching the bath to the stand. He claims the company never asked him for any information about what happened and have stated that they don't require the stand back for testing.
The dad is now calling for the product to be recalled to prevent the same thing happening to another baby.
"We placed the bath in the stand full of water and placed our daughter into it," he said. "The bath stayed in place for a few minutes before falling. Whenever we'd tried to reproduce the issue before, the bath had to be placed completely off kilter for it to fall. We're confident we didn't place it like this."
Simon, who is a new father, said he bought the bath stand for £25 after being recommended the company by lots of other parents.
"The stand itself we got because my wife had a c-section and was not able to bend down," he said. "I got the stand so that my wife could give our daughter a bath whilst standing up and we never had any issues with it for about two months.
Following the incident, Simon and Pauline decided to take their daughter to hospital to be checked over.
"We don’t think she hit her head but it all happened so fast," he said. "They saw us really quickly. They didn’t do any scans but gave her a head to toe check and told us to give her paracetamol as she would likely be bruised and sore. It feels like she got off very lightly but it was really horrible to see her fall like that."
Simon said he has since been in contact with around four other parents who say the exact same thing happened to them.
"I've spoken to the CEO previously and requested it be taken off the market," he said. "If it has happened this many times it must be faulty and is obviously not safe."
What Shnuggle says
A company spokesperson said: "At Shnuggle, safety is our highest priority, and all our products are fully tested to all applicable safety standards by independent UKAS accredited labs.
"As part of this we monitor all customer complaints carefully and take additional action where necessary.
"Simon did indeed get in contact with us and after investigation, we determined that the bath had not been fitted to the stand correctly which led to the unfortunate accident.
"Thankfully the child was not hurt during the incident but the root cause was misuse of the product. Despite this, we have already advised Simon that we have already agreed an action with Trading Standards to remove this risk.
"Shnuggle has worked closely over the last few months with Trading Standards (CCPC) to fully understand the cause of this type of incident, and our full investigation determined that when the bath is fitted correctly the Folding Bath Stand fully meets European safety standard EN 17072:2019 and does not pose a safety risk.
"However, if the Shnuggle baby bath is fitted to the bath stand incorrectly there is a risk that the bath can fall from the stand, therefore after full review of our independent 3rd party test results and in-house test results, Trading Standards (CCPC) agreed that the safety strap fully removes the risk.
"Although the incident can only occur if the bath is fitted incorrectly, effective from 7th February 2022, Shnuggle has agreed with CCPC to take the voluntary corrective action to offer a FREE safety strap to all customers of the Folding Bath Stand.
"Customers have been notified by email, social media and through our website and through our retail partners to alert them of the potential risk and provide details of how to order and fit the new safety strap.
"All Bath Stands sold from February 2022 include the safety strap as standard. Shnuggle is committed to ensuring all products are tested to the highest level of safety standards as the safety and wellbeing of parents and babies is of paramount importance.
"Simon Archer was fully advised of all steps we have taken and has been refunded the cost of the Folding Bath Stand (February 9) and has ordered a free safety strap."
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
