CR contacted the manufacturers to ask them to comment on our test results and find out how they tested their own towers before selling them. We heard back from only six of the 16 companies: Cosyland, Dadada, Guidecraft, Harppa, Lalo, and Simplay3. They all said they had tested their towers for safety in various ways in the absence of standardized, required tests.
“We stand behind [our toddler tower’s] safety 100%,” wrote a representative from Dadada, whose tower failed both of CR’s tests for stability and entrapment. “That said, we’ve reviewed Consumer Reports’ findings thoroughly and are exploring every opportunity to make a great product even safer.”
Lalo, Harppa, and Cosyland’s towers also failed the same CR tests. Michael Wieder, Lalo’s co-founder and president, said that his company had developed its own “rigorous testing methods” and had provided feedback to ASTM’s test methodology, which is still in draft form and under discussion.
A representative from Harppa’s safety and compliance department said, “Should ASTM or CPSC issue mandatory standards in the future, we will promptly adjust our product designs to ensure compliance.” But they said the company was already working to improve the tower’s design to enhance stability and address other safety issues. The Cosyland team said the company was planning to add more brackets to future iterations of its tower’s design to improve stability.
The Guidecraft and Simplay3 toddler towers both passed CR’s 35-pound stability test and entrapment test. Guidecraft’s president, Gary Bilezikian, said he designed its Kitchen Helper in 2009 and worked with a third-party lab and the CPSC to test it. He added that he “used standards from playpens, pack and play cribs, cribs, tables and chairs, and step stools as the basis for our product.” John Hradisky, Simplay3’s director of product development, described how the company put its tower to the test using both dummies and children in controlled environments, having the children move back and forth and “lean in the worst position possible,” for instance.
Avenlur, Boon, Cosco, Franklin + Emily, Honey Joy, Juzbot, Piccalio, Sdadi, Toetol, and Yojoker didn’t respond.
CR also asked Amazon, Target, and Walmart, where many of these towers are available, about the types of safety testing results, if any, they required of the manufacturers before selling their products. Amazon declined to comment and deferred to the manufacturers of the towers that CR tested. Target and Walmart didn’t comment.
We also contacted the industry group for children’s products, the Baby Safety Alliance (formerly known as the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association), for comment. “While there is a draft ASTM standard in development, manufacturers should—and largely are—testing their towers for stability and functionality before sending them to market,” said Lisa Trofe, the executive director, adding that most manufacturers were using the draft standard for reference while also adding their own tests.
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