Parents should not use bath seats and bath rings to bathe their infants, according to a Canadian child health organization. Their survey findings show that the risk of injury and drowning associated with these products is too great for parents to continue using them safely.

“Health Canada recommends that Canadians not make use of these products as we have concerns regarding their safety,” Jonathan Williams, a manager in the Consumer Product Safety Bureau of Health Canada, which commissioned the survey, told AMN Health.

“Our primary concern is that incidents and tragedies are continuing,” Williams said. “We consider each one to be preventable.”

In the summer of 2004, more than 1,000 Canadian pediatricians responded to a survey on injury, near-miss drownings and drowning deaths linked to the use of infant bath seats and bath rings, which occurred within the previous two years.

Altogether, there were 20 reported cases of injury stemming from the use of these products, 12 reports of near-miss drownings and two cases in which the doctor reported an infant’s drowning death, survey findings indicate. Twenty-five doctors said they had cared for at least one infant who had been injured, nearly drowned or drowned.

Since 1983, nine injuries and 19 near drownings related to the use of infant bath seats and bath rings have been reported to the Consumer Product Safety Bureau of Health Canada. Eleven drowning deaths linked to the use of these products have been reported since 1991, three of which occurred in 2004.

Children who experience near drownings are known to be at risk for long-term brain damage and mental retardation, Williams said.

Injury and death related to the use of bath seats and rings is not confined to Canada; such incidents have also been reported in the United States. From January 1983 to October 2003, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was notified of 163 injuries or near drownings and 106 deaths related to the use of bath seats and bath rings.

Injuries and deaths usually occur when the bath seat tips over, when an infant climbs out of the seat or when an infant slips through the leg opening and becomes submerged under water and unable to move freely.

Such tragedies typically result when parents neglect warning labels to “never leave child unattended” or to “always keep baby within arm’s reach.” Reports show that in most cases of injury, near drowning, or death, parents either left their infant unattended or left their infant in the care of his or her young sibling.

“It would seem that despite warnings… there is a false sense of security,” Williams said. Parents and caregivers “get the false impression that they can leave the child unattended.”

Accidents “can happen in a very short period of time,” Williams said, citing an example of an infant who drowned when the caregiver was distracted for a brief moment, even though the adult remained within arm’s reach.

To avoid such tragedy, “stay with the child,” Williams advised, “and give the child (your) full attention.”

He added that “Health Canada is not aware of any other alternatives to bath seats.” The organization is in the process of testing the older and newer models of bath seats and rings. Based on their findings, the products will either be made safer or banned altogether, Williams said.

In the meantime, parents should avoid using bath seats and rings and simply bathe their child “in the appropriate amount of water at the right temperature,” he said.

The survey was conducted by the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program, which tracks the incidence of rare diseases and conditions affecting children. The surveillance program is the result of a collaboration between the Canadian Paediatric Society and Health Canada’s Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control.