Clothing Alerts

While it is summer and in most of the country such clothing isn’t necessary for a few months, a child was killed recently when the string from his hooded sweatshirt became caught in a piece of playground equipment. While many of us do not think about the hidden dangers in our children’s clothing, this particular incident hammers home an important issue of the safety of children’s clothing.

In 1996, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, a federal regulatory body, issued consumer guidelines on such clothing, prompted by reports across the country of deaths of children by accidental strangling. Many manufacturers have adopted the guidelines and have voluntarily stopped making them in the United States. But clothing with cords and drawstring waists still routinely turns up in children’s clothing stores, often as imports from China and other manufacturers abroad. The federal government requires manufacturers to remove any strings, or stores must recall the products.

Even with the strict government guidelines, always remember to be viligant when it comes to your child’s clothing and inspect it for anything that may pose as a potential threat to their health and safety.