IKEA is revising its safety warnings after a 14-month-old baby was found hanging from a hook attached to the inside of her cot.
Graham and Jennifer Anderson, the devastated parents of baby Violet, who died in April, had purchased the plastic Krokig hooks and the flat-pack Somnat cot separately online.
The court heard that Jennifer Anderson, from south London, put her little girl down for a nap on the afternoon of April 17, checking her on the hour until approximately 3pm when she made the heartbreaking discovery.
While neighbours and paramedics did their best to resuscitate the infant, she passed away in hospital later that day.
Ruling the death “a tragic accident”, Coroner Sarah Ormond-Walshe said:
‘It’s obviously one of the most upsetting sets of circumstances that we sadly have to deal with as coroners, which is a 14-month-old baby – very well cared for – at the family home that has been put in its cot and found a short time later, having been checked over approximately every hour, where a bit of its clothing became caught in a plastic hook which had been attached to the cot at one point.
‘Possibly the baby tried to move over out of the cot.
‘By the time the mother has found Violet she was not in a state where she could survive.’
IKEA’s risk assessment manager Gary Robertson said the Swedish company is updating the wording on their packaging to read:”Do not attach, stick or add any item to the inside or outside of your cot. It may become a catch hazard for your baby.”
He said: “We are making changes to our safety instructions. We are adding additional wording which goes over and above British standards.”
