CR's 8 most dangerous toys, children's equipment

Consumer Reports recently released a list of the eight most dangerous toys and children's equipment on the market:

• Trampolines. Trampolines can be risky when used near trees or other large or hard-edged objects. There were 98,000 serious injuries associated with trampolines in 2003, the latest year for which data is available.

• All-terrain vehicles (ATV's) — more than 450 ATV deaths in 2004.

• Inflatable pools — although appealing because they're low-priced, they're too big to dump water out of daily, and few consumers install a fence around them because of the added expense.

• Yo-yo balls — dangerous since they can wrap around a child's neck.

• Baby-bath seats — they've been associated with roughly 120 drownings and 160 injuries since 1983.

• Soft bedding for a crib — a long-recognized suffocation risk for babies.

• Sleep "positioners" — they're a suffocation hazard.

• Diaper-changing tables with only three usable side rails — associated with 2,000 to 3,000 injuries per year, many involving changing tables with just three rather than four rails.

Consumer Reports