When it comes to the safety of your children, what's inside your home can make a world of difference. Recent regulations now aim to prevent a hidden danger that has caused grief to many: furniture tip-overs.
Among them is Kimberly Amato.
Her 3-year-old daughter, Meghan, died after a heavy dresser toppled over her in the middle of the night, just days before Christmas 2004.
“When we went in to get her up, we found her underneath her dresser. We didn't hear it fall. She was unable to cry. She was only 28 pounds. The dresser was really heavy,” Kimberly said while describing that tragic day.
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“She was a very sensitive soul. She loved animals, especially kitties. She was wise beyond her years…We miss her terribly,” Kimberly added.
Driven by her loss, Kimberly created MeghansHope.org to raise awareness about the dangers of furniture tip-overs.
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“Several other children had already died from furniture tip-overs, primarily dressers. And I had no idea," she said.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported at least 234 deaths linked to clothing storage unit tip-overs over the last two decades. Most of them involve children.
Consumer Reports recommends not placing TVs on top of dressers because many of the tip-over deaths happened when both toppled over.
In September, the Commission implemented new mandatory standards, following years of advocacy by Kimberly and others.
These units should now come with a warning label about the risk of tip-overs and must include an anchor kit. These new standards only apply to dressers and other clothing storage units at least 27 inches tall, and those manufactured after September 1.
Alexander Hoehn-Saric is the Chair of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
“They're going to be more stable, less likely to tip over,” he said, referring to the new rules.
These units will be subjected to real-world tests that evaluate their stability, especially in scenarios where children may interact with them.
“We're going to be going into stores, taking a look at furniture, finding out how it's manufactured, and seeing if it complies with the standards, targeting companies that don't comply,” Hoehn-Saric added.
For those units that do not come with an anchor kit, consumers can easily purchase one. These kits, designed to secure the furniture to a wall, are reasonably priced, often costing less than $20. It’s something that could have potentially saved Meghan's life.
“The hole in our hearts is never going to be fixed. A hole in your wall or in the back of your furniture can be fixed. You never want to have to live with the pain that we do,” Kimberly said.
