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New Warning For Parents Using Strollers Amid Serious Accidents

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A new warning is out for families when it comes to keeping children safe in strollers and carriers amid accidents that are sending kids to the hospital each year.

When Tzvia Orbach bought a stroller for her first child, there was one thing on her mind.

"Number one thing, always, is safety. This is your pride and joy. This is your baby," said Orbach.

According to a new 21-year study in the Journal of Academic Pediatrics, not every family is so careful.

Researchers found that 361-thousand children ages 5 and younger went to the emergency room for stroller or carrier-related injuries. That's about two children every hour.

Topping the list of most common injuries are children falling from the stroller or carrier, followed by the products tipping.

"These products are generally safe; however, injuries do occur and these injuries can be serious," said Kristi Roberts with Nationwide Children's Hospital.

Traumatic brain injuries and concussions accounted for one-quarter of the injuries.

"We know that traumatic brain injuries or concussions could have long-term consequences on cognitive development so we want to make sure that parents are taking the steps that they can," said Roberts.

Nationwide Children's Hospital says those steps include:

  • Always buckling up children in the stroller.
  • Locking the wheels to prevent it from rolling away.
  • Don't hang heavy bags or purses on the handles.

Tzvia makes sure she follows each one of those.

"Two hands always on the stroller, make sure you always use your lock," said Orbach who wants her six-week old baby to stay safe and not become a statistic.

Researchers say while the overall number of injuries from strollers and carriers are high, they did go down during the 21-year study as manufacturer standards improved and there were more frequent product recalls.

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