Safety alert: new baby bath seat presents a hazard.(Up front: news / trends / advice)

Baby bath seats, almost all of which stick to a bathtub with suction cups, have been blamed for about 120 drownings and at least 160 injuries since 1983.

In July 2000, Consumers Union, publisher of CONSUMER REPORTS, and other consumer organizations petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban the seats. So far, the only reform in store is a revision of a voluntary industry safety standard that's due to take effect on Feb. 1. Seats using suction cups are unlikely to adhere to the nonskid surface in new tubs and thus may tip with less force than the revised standard allows.

The new Safety 1st Tubside Bath Seat, which doesn't rely on suction cups, claims to conform with the new standard. It relies on a spring clamp that fits over the edge of the tub (see photo at right). However, our tests show that it's a problematic design. We found that when the tub wall is wet, the seat tipped forward or backward and dislodged with less force than the revised safety standard specifies for suction-cup seats.

Between 700,000 and 1 million infant bath seats, many made by Safety 1st, are sold each year for $10 to $20 each. Manufacturers generally recommend the seats for infants between 5 and 10 months old.

Nearly all the deaths ...