Amby Baby Hammock Lawsuit Filed Over Death of Five Month Old

The father of a 5-month-old child who died in a recalled Amby baby hammock has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the manufacturer of the infant bed, alleging that the baby hammock was defectively designed.

The Amby baby hammock lawsuit was filed on December 29 by Jonathan Kuzma of in Multnomah County Circuit Court of Oregon over the death of his infant son in August.

The death of Kuzman’s son and another death involving a 4-month-old girl from Georgia in June were catalysts for an Amby Baby Motion Bed/Hammock recall that was announced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in early December. The recall involved approximately 24,000 of the Baby Motion Beds because the side-to-side motion of the hammock bed allowed a child to roll and become trapped between the fabric of the hammock and/or the mattress pad, potentially leading to suffocation.

The recalled baby hammocks were sold online at Ambybaby.com and other internet retailers from January 2003 through October 2009 for about $250. The infant beds included a steel frame and a fabric hammock connected by a large spring and metal crossbar. There is a label sewn into the hammocks that reads: “Amby – Babies Love It, Naturally.” There was only one model of the hammock sold, and all were recalled.

The baby hammock design was one of several products that have been recalled in the last several weeks due to the risk that children could potentially suffocate. In late November, the CPSC announced a Stork Craft drop-side crib recall that affected about 2.1 million cribs. The deaths of at least four infants were connected to the crib design, which the CPSC says included hardware on the drop-side that could fail, causing a dangerous gap in which a child could get trapped and suffocate. About 110 incidents with the Stork Craft cribs were reported in the U.S. and Canada.

At least one wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Stork Craft over the drop-side cribs. The drop side crib lawsuit was filed in November by the family of a 7-month-old boy from Louisiana in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

On December 30, about 213,000 Safety 1st Disney Care Center and Eddie Bauer Complete play yards made by Dorel Juvenile Group, Inc. were recalled due to the risk of suffocation as well. However, no incidents or injuries have been reported in connection to the recalled play yards, which the CPSC says has a bar that can come loose on the bassinet attachment, leading to an uneven surface that could trap and suffocate a child.