Nursery Safety Concerns: High Chair Injuries Jump Nearly 50% Over 10 Years, Outpacing All Other Equipment

The nursery should be a place to grow and explore — not to get hurt. Unfortunately, accidents happen.

The latest LendingTree study analyzes U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) data to find the number of nursery equipment injuries treated in emergency departments from 2014 through 2023.

We also break down data by year, product, category, gender and age. While nursery equipment injuries have fallen over the past decade, some products — like baby strollers, barriers and high chairs — are likelier than others to be involved.

Discover the full findings below.

Key findings

• Nursery equipment injuries are down 7.7% from 2014. 90,039 nursery equipment injuries were treated in emergency departments in 2023, versus 97,541 in 2014. The highest total in the analyzed period was 99,090 in 2016. The lowest was 73,783 in 2020, likely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Across the 30 nursery equipment items analyzed, baby strollers had the highest number of injuries from 2014 through 2023, at 126,024. Baby gates or barriers (122,178) and high chairs (117,359) were next.
• By product, high chairs saw the largest increase in injuries over the decade at 47.8%. 14,484 high chair injuries were treated in 2023, versus 9,803 in 2014. The only other products that saw increases in the same period were baby changing tables (34.5%), baby walkers or jumpers (28.0%) and playpens (14.9%).
• Females saw a higher percentage of injuries with 17 of the 25 nursery equipment items with available gender data. The product with the biggest gender difference from 2014 through 2023 was baby gates or barriers, with females experiencing 64.9% of related injuries, versus 35.1% among males. The product in which males experienced the higher proportion of injuries was infant and toddler play centers, at 59.3%.
• Car seats were the most common nursery equipment injury for infants 6 months and younger, while high chairs generally led the way among infants and babies 7 months to 2 years old. Every age group between 1 and 6 months saw car seats as the most common cause of injury. For infants and babies between 7 and 23 months, high chairs were the most injurious for 14 of 17 (82.4%) groups.

Nursery equipment injuries down 7.7% from 2014

Good news: Nursery equipment injuries fell 7.7% over the past decade. In 2014, 97,541 nursery equipment injuries were reported. The figure dropped to 90,039 by 2023. (Note: Our data includes only injuries treated by emergency departments.)

Interestingly, most years saw fewer such injuries than 2014, with the notable exceptions of 2016 (99,090) and 2017 (98,396).

By contrast, 2020 and 2021 saw precipitous drops in emergency nursery equipment injuries. Only 73,783 were reported in the year the COVID-19 pandemic began, or 24.4% fewer than in 2014. In 2021, the number rose to 82,715, still 15.2% lower than 2014’s baseline.

Nursery equipment injuries, 2014 to 2023 (nationally)

Source: LendingTree analysis of U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) data.

While no obvious trends underpin these figures, nursery equipment safety features often improve over time. High chairs of yesteryear offered little in the way of restraint, for example, while even the most affordable contemporary high chairs often include safety belts.

Meanwhile, it seems likely that 2020’s injury decrease was due at least in part to the pandemic, which caused more parents to stay home with — and closely watch — their children all day.

Baby strollers had highest number of injuries over 10 years

Analyzing nursery equipment by product, we found that baby strollers were involved in the highest number of nursery equipment injuries between 2014 and 2023, at 126,024.

Baby gates and barriers served as the runners-up with 122,178 related injuries, and high chairs took third with 117,359.

ConsumerAffairs has reported on about 20 baby stroller and walker recalls since (and including) 2014, though the majority of news releases indicated no accidents or injuries.

Baby strollers are used to bring children into the world where other forces — like pedestrians or bicycles — could cause injuries that have little to do with the quality or construction of the stroller itself.

Baby gates and barriers are sometimes used at the top of stairways, which could cause more significant fall injuries if they fail (or children discover how to climb them). Some pediatricians report that high chair injuries are also often caused by falls, including potential concussions when kids tumble to the wood or tile kitchen floor beneath them.

Nursery equipment with most injuries, 2014 through 2023 (by product)

Source: LendingTree analysis of CPSC NEISS data.

Conversely, baby bathtub seats and rings saw the lowest number of injuries over the past decade (just 1,220), followed by bottle warmers (1,359) and portable cribs (2,153).

Bathtub seats may boast such low numbers because they’re not as ubiquitous as nursery must-haves like strollers and high chairs — or because parents are extra vigilant at bathtime to allay the risk of accidental drowning.

Parents, rather than children, usually interact with bottle warmers, and portable cribs may simply be less frequently relied on than the furniture used at home.

Nursery equipment with fewest injuries, 2014 through 2023 (by product)

Source: LendingTree analysis of CPSC NEISS data.

While any parent will agree that even one emergency room visit is too many, given that there are more than 22 million children 5 and younger in the U.S., nursery equipment injuries are relatively rare — even in products higher on our list.

Rob Bhatt, LendingTree home insurance expert and a licensed insurance agent, suggests that social media may be doing families a favor in this regard.

“Consumer protection regulations have been helping improve product safety for decades,” he says, “but I suspect manufacturers today have the added incentive of needing to avoid the stigma that can result from having an unsafe product attract widespread social media attention.”

Nursery equipment injuries, 2014 through 2023 (by product)

Source: LendingTree analysis of CPSC NEISS data.

By product, high chairs saw largest 10-year increase in injuries at 47.8%

By category (four total for the 30 products), only high chairs saw an increase in injuries over the past 10 years. The other categories — cribs, playpens and baby gates; baby carriages and walkers; and all nursery equipment — saw decreases in injuries over that time.

Change in nursery equipment injuries, 2014 to 2023 (by category)

Source: LendingTree analysis of CPSC NEISS data. Note: Products in the “all nursery equipment” category don’t overlap with those in other categories, though the sum of the category totals differs from our by-year look.

The increase in high chair-related injuries is concerning. As a category, high chair equipment saw a 36.9% increase in injuries between 2014 and 2023. At the product level, there were 47.8% more high chair injuries (14,484) in 2023 than in 2014 (9,803).

Along with high chairs, only three other products saw injury increases: baby changing tables (up 34.5%), baby walkers (28.0%) and playpens (14.9%). For all other studied products — including baby gates or barriers (down 10.6%), attached high chairs (down 19.9%) and portable baby swings (down 20.5%) — the number of injuries decreased.

Notably, the two products with the highest increases — high chairs and changing tables — elevate children relatively far from the floor, which means gravity and parental oversight might be more to blame for injuries than the equipment itself.

Change in nursery equipment injuries, 2014 to 2023 (by product)

Source: LendingTree analysis of CPSC NEISS data. Note: Only products with at least 1,200 injuries in 2014 and 2023 were included.

Car seats saw the most precipitous decrease in injuries. In 2023, there were 8,385 injuries involving car seats, compared with 2014’s 14,739, a decrease of a whopping 43.1%. This may be due in part to updated car seat recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which in 2018 recommended parents base the use and positioning of car seats on height and weight rather than relying primarily on age to make their decisions.

Other nursery equipment items that enjoyed substantial decreases in injuries include diapers (down 27.2%) and baby strollers (down 23.5%). New federal safety standards for carriages and strollers were issued in 2014, requiring improved safety standards that seem to have kept children safer.

Females saw higher percentage of injuries with 17 of 25 nursery equipment items

Our study also breaks down nursery equipment injuries by gender. Interestingly, during the studied period, baby gates or barriers were far more likely to injure females (whether infants, children or adults) than males, at 64.9% versus 35.1%.

Baby carriages and carriers/slings were also substantially more likely to injure females than males, at 62.4% and 60.0%, respectively.

Products more likely to injure females, 2014 to 2023 (by product)

Source: LendingTree analysis of CPSC NEISS data. Note: Based on sample sizes over our studied period, the gender-based analysis encompasses all ages and doesn’t differentiate injuries that occurred to infants, children or adults.

As far as males are concerned, injuries from infant and toddler play centers or baby walkers/jumpers are more likely to cause them injury, at 59.3% and 56.8%, respectively.

Products more likely to injure males, 2014 to 2023 (by product)

Source: LendingTree analysis of CPSC NEISS data. Note: Based on sample sizes over our studied period, the gender-based analysis encompasses all ages and doesn’t differentiate injuries that occurred to infants, children or adults.

Car seats most common nursery equipment injury for infants 6 months or younger

Finally, our data looks at nursery equipment injuries by child age — finding that 7-month-olds received the highest percentage (7.1%) of nursery equipment-related injuries among children who’ve yet to celebrate their second birthday. Eight-month-olds come next with 6.7% of such injuries, followed by 1-month-olds at 6.4%.

Nursery equipment injuries by age (younger than 2), 2014 to 2023

Source: LendingTree analysis of CPSC NEISS data.

By product, injuries in infants 1 to 6 months old are most likely to involve car seats. From 7 to 16 months, the product switches to high chairs — with baby strollers taking the lead in months 17, 19 and 20.

While money might be the last thing on your mind when your child sustains an injury, it’s important to understand what your insurance coverage provides. (After all, medical debt is an unfortunate American reality.)

When it comes to high chair injuries, be aware that “home insurance generally doesn’t cover accidental injuries to your own family,” Bhatt explains — only your liability for accidental injuries to others, including babies, on your property.

“If your own child is injured in an accident involving a high chair or other nursery equipment item,” he explains, “you have to turn to your family’s health care plan.”

Most common product in injuries by age (younger than 2), 2014 through 2023

Source: LendingTree analysis of CPSC NEISS data.

4 ways to avoid nursery equipment injuries

Most parents would agree that raising kids is a tough job — but also the most important and fulfilling one possible. Avoiding nursery equipment injuries is just one part of the role, but here are four ways to help make it easier.

• Double-check the assembly. Whether it’s a family hand-me-down or a brand-new piece of designer baby furniture, make sure you’re checking your screws twice when putting together nursery equipment. “A loose fastener can cause a gate or high chair to collapse in an instant,” Bhatt warns. “An improperly attached child seat can expose your child to significant injury in the blink of an eye, even if you’re just going down the street for a quick errand.”
• Read reviews. While internet virality has its downsides, user reviews can be a boon for watchful parents. Customer reviews on that affordable portable crib or playpen you’re about to buy might point out shoddy craftsmanship and potential safety risks.
• Keep an ear out for recalls. Even well-crafted items sometimes encounter unforeseen issues — some of which can be safety hazards for your child. Keep your ears and eyes tuned to the news and companies like ConsumerAffairs, which keep Americans abreast of recalls for nursery equipment (and other products).
• Pay attention. Chances are, you don’t want to miss a single second when you’re hanging out with your kid. But we’re all human and prone to distraction (or the simple need to sneeze) from time to time. Still, it’s imperative to ensure your kids are under proper adult supervision, no matter what nursery equipment they use.

Methodology

LendingTree researchers analyzed U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) data to find the number of nursery equipment item injuries treated in emergency departments.

Researchers examined various periods between 2014 and 2023, breaking down the data by year, product, category, gender and age.

Note that NEISS doesn’t include data for a selected period if the injury estimate is less than 1,200.