Product marketed as safe way to give toddlers freedom may fail safety tests

CHARLOTTE — Toddler Towers help many young children get on the same level as their parents.

The towers give a boost to the kids to help them cook, play, and learn alongside their parents.

One mom, Joie Golomb, told Channel 9’s Deneige Broom that the Toddler Tower is a must-have. Her daughters love the opportunity to make dinner with her from inside the towers.

“Tasting food with me, seeing what I’m doing, mixing things—that was such a special thing for us to share and be able to cook in the kitchen,” Golomb said.

They are marketed as a safer alternative to a chair or a step stool.

But a new Consumer Reports investigation uncovered serious safety hazards with some models.

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Toddler Towers have guard rails and other safety features designed to prevent falls. But reports have surfaced of kids falling out or tipping over, both to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and in online reviews.

“There’s a really wide range of quality in toddler towers on the market, and safety standards have not been established yet for how they’re made or tested,” Lauren Kirchner with Consumer Reports said.

Consumer Reports conducted independent tests of 16 popular models. The test simulates what happens when a child leans to one side of the tower or climbs up one side.

“13 of the 16 towers we looked at failed our stability test,” Kirchner said.

Six of the manufacturers told Consumer Reports that their products had passed internal safety tests.

Consumer Reports recommended that, when choosing a Toddler Tower, follow these guidelines:

Choose a strong, wide base and heavy frame with a low center of gravity and moveable parts that you can’t adjust without tools
Avoid large cutouts or wide rails. Kids can get stuck in them
Make sure the top guardrail is above the child’s belly button
Only us the product on level floors
Check connections regularly to ensure they’re tight

“Don’t let these give you a false sense of security that you can walk away,” Kirchner said.

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