Nine-week-old Ella Rose Dadello asleep in her Babyco Dreamtime bassinet, which her mum says has a faulty base causing her to slide in her sleep. Picture / Supplied
Nine-week-old Ella Rose Dadello asleep in her Babyco Dreamtime bassinet, which her mum says has a faulty base causing her to slide in her sleep. Picture / Supplied
The Baby Factory has pulled the Babyco Dreamtime bassinet from its shelves while it investigates a new mum's concerns that her baby was sliding in it due to a faulty base.
The Baby Factory said it was launching a full investigation into what caused the base to buckle and was also working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment who had been alerted to the issue by Plunket.
Newborn Ella Rose Dadello had been sleeping in her bassinet for eight weeks when her mother Danielle realised her daughter had moved in her slumber. On further inspection, she found the base of the bassinet was buckled.
The base of the board, which was made from a chipboard-like material, had split open around the edges and expanded.
"It wasn't until she was eight weeks old that I noticed that she wasn't lying down properly in it and was almost falling to one side. I thought maybe the sheet wasn't tucked in properly and maybe that's why she is sliding a bit and I looked at it and the base board of the bassinet has actually gone - it's really really curved."
Dadello contacted Baby Factory who replaced the base for her. The next day she checked the second base and it had buckled again.
Dadello returned to the Baby Factory in Albany to complain and spoke to a different shop assistant who said this was not the first complaint the shop had received and the pair inspected the floor model which she said also had a splintered and buckled base.
Dadello was offered a refund or replacement while the Baby Factory looked into the matter, so she took the third base home and reinforced the bassinet by making her own wooden base to stop it curving in the middle.
However, despite her complaining at the store and to the company via its Facebook page last Tuesday, Dadello was frustrated the Baby Factory had still been selling the bassinets after she had alerted them to what she claimed was a serious problem.
The base of the Dreamco Dreamtime bassinet from The Baby Factory has split on open and bowed. Photo / Supplied
"Because the babies aren't sleeping flat in them and babies between 0 and six months are at risk of cot death - she [Ella Rose] wasn't lying in there correctly and she was falling to one side.
"The fact that they knew about the bassinets having that fault in them and they were still selling them just got me really annoyed that they didn't even look at taking them off the market. "
Dadello sent the Baby Factory a private message last Wednesday when they still had not called her and also notified Plunket. On Friday, she finally received an email from the Baby Factory telling her the bassinets had been removed from sale while they investigated.
Baby Factory director Warren Lowe told the Herald the product was pulled from the shelves as soon as he was made aware of the problem late last week and would not be sold in stores or online while the company investigated.
"We are undertaking a full investigation. As soon as I got hold of it - I was alerted to it last week."
The investigation would look at the cause of the problem and how serious it was, he said.
The Baby Factory has pulled the Babyco Dreamtime bassinet from its stores. Photo / Supplied
The Baby Factory had also been contacted by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on Monday and was working with them.
Neither Lowe or MBIE would comment on whether the product would be recalled at this stage.
MBIE Trading Standards team leader Martin Rushton said it was against the team's policy to discuss consumer complaints on products before a thorough investigation process. The company and product would be widely publicised if it was deemed by Trading Standards to be harmful.
Plunket national safety adviser Sue Campbell confirmed that Plunket was contacted by Dadello last week and had passed her concerns to the MBIE's product safety team.
Campbell said Plunket supported parents to ensure their babies slept safely and welcomed inquiries from parents interested in safe sleep recommendations for their baby.
Tips for making sure babies sleep safely:
• Babies sleep in their parents' room for the first six months • Babies sleep in their own sleep space with a firm, snug-fitting mattress • Babies sleep on their back with their face up and face clear • Parents seeking advice can contact the 24-hour Plunket line
