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Behaviour/development

Dummy Scare.....

52 replies

Woobie · 03/03/2010 17:37

Not sure if this is the right section to place this post but.....
We had the most frightning experience recently with our ds & his dummy. (& please , before all the posts about the downfalls etc of dummies, this is really to make people aware so they can avoid a similar situation.)

We had tommy tippee "Air" dummies for our 5 month old ds which he has to go down for naps etc. He generally spits them out as he falls asleep. He was having a nap on the bed Sat afternoon & dh & I were in the next room. (live in a flat.)
All of a sudden we heard a straining/choking sound coming from ds.
We dashed in to check on him & dh saw him thrashing around, bright red head/face & clearly extremely distressed. His dummy was in his mouth with the teat pointing outwards.
He had obviously woken & tried to put his dummy back in his mouth but got it the wrong way in. Dh went to remove it, only to find it wedged in. The raised circular part of the dummy (with no handle bit on that style) had wedged in with his gums preventing it coming out. (he couldn't open his mouth wide enough to clear the gums.)
Hubby had to yank the dummy out (both he, me & baby in a panick) & ds's gums ended up cut in the process.
Obviously we were all shocked & V frightened. All dummies of that brand /style have gone in the bin & we haven't slept since! - I e-mailed tommy tippe to make them aware & avoid any other parent / baby having this experience. With the response I got, they clearly were not particualrly bothered & stated:

"It is impossible to design
a soother that will not enter a child?s mouth that will
a) be safe and
b) be a user friendly, cosmetically acceptable product."

  • (I'd rather an ugly, safe dummy thanks!)


Sorry for such a long post, but i wanted to let people know just in case.

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TheButterflyEffect · 03/03/2010 18:00

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Woobie · 03/03/2010 18:03

Yeah I know.
They did of course say how unfortunate it was.....blah blah.
I've done some searching since & found a couple of comments on different sites saying people had similar things happen, but I'm not sure if it's exactly the same style dummy / type of "incident", so won't comment too much about those. But does make you wonder.

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Flightattendant · 03/03/2010 18:05

What a crap response...I'm appalled. Cosmetically acceptable? Christ.

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Flightattendant · 03/03/2010 18:07

yy have heard of similar in the past...you'd think they would know, by now.

I think MN need to boycott TT products till they have sorted this out and recalled the product - where did you purchase it? Contact the retailer also and get heavy, ask for manager etc.

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PureAsTheColdDrivenSnow · 03/03/2010 18:10

are these the round dummies with the clear silicon teat? yikes... we used to use those.. how scary!!

thank god you heard him!

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ImSoNotTelling · 03/03/2010 18:30

this sort of thing?

we have those.

better hit boots tomorrow...

what would people recommend?

woobie thanks for this post I am so glad your DS was OK.

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chipmonkey · 03/03/2010 18:55

What a dreadful response! Cosmetically acceptable indeed! This must breach some health and safety rule, surely!

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DiddleAndGruff · 03/03/2010 18:58

How utterly appalling. I am glad all is well now but the company's response is disgraceful. I think that is something for watchdog to investigate. I bet the press would find that interesting too. No parent would choose design over safety ever.

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DiddleAndGruff · 03/03/2010 19:00

I agree with flight attendant, lets boycott and we could all email complaints as well. I would like to see TT named and shamed.

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thisisyesterday · 03/03/2010 19:02

that's despicable! and their response is atrocious.

i would be contacting the store you bought them from, and complaining vehemently. i would be contacting trading standards (must be something they can advise about- dangerous goods?) AND I would contact watchdog.

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Flightattendant · 03/03/2010 19:20

bump for those who haven't seen and might still be using these.

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thisisyesterday · 03/03/2010 19:23

in fact, the more i think about it the more i think i would actually be talking to a solicitor about this. and let TT know you are doing so.
your son could have died! and all they can say is that it's impossible to make a dummy that's safe??? and looks nice??? ffs

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Flightattendant · 03/03/2010 19:25

I agree, and what's more we need to stop people using these dummies. The company have pretty much admitted they're not safe.

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thisisyesterday · 03/03/2010 19:27

if you do decide to take further action it may be worth re-posting that on the other sites you've discovered where people have mentioned similar problems.

the more of you there are to face TT over this the better

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thisisyesterday · 03/03/2010 19:29

is it this one?

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MobileNumberPortability · 03/03/2010 19:29

I am guessing they were (in theory) age appropriate?

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Woobie · 03/03/2010 19:40

Thanks all for your responses & support. (sorry for the delay....bedtime routine!!)

I bought the dummies from Tesco I think. (I have kept the actual dummie incase i needed evidence!!)
It is the clear silicone orthodontic teat. it has a round/oval shaped raised part on the back bit of the dummy. (That raised part either has a blue or pink colour.)
I noticed in Boots on Monday that they do similar types in bigger dummies for older babies too - with different colours / patterns on that bit.
below is a link to the website showing the actual dummy for you.
Im notso - it's not quite like the one you posted. It is for 0-3 months, but bigger sizes are available in same type of style.

www.tommeetippee.co.uk/product/closer_to_nature_cair_soother_0-3m_/

I was thinking of getting on to the legal people from our household insurance, but I don't want comp or anything like that, just want people to be aware to avoid it happening again & I know MN was the best way of doing that!!!!!

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Tee2072 · 03/03/2010 19:52

I've always thought those looked a little scary. So easy to mix up the two sides.

What a horrible response from TT.

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Woobie · 03/03/2010 19:56

Hi mobnumber,
The dummies are sized, but we found it was only the teat which is different in size. The round back bit is the same size on the older ones. Our DS doesn't like the bigger teats yet.

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Woobie · 03/03/2010 19:58

Hi This is yesterday,
Yes that's the one.

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TurtleAnn · 03/03/2010 20:30

I'm all for a Mumsnet boycott. Dreadful experience, thank goodness you are safe. Appaulling response from TT, they deserve a boycott just for not caring!
Well done you for publising.
I shall be providing my support to TT by taking my cash elsewhere for all my baby products.

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thisisyesterday · 03/03/2010 20:33

have started another thread here with tommee tippee in the title, hopefully anyone using them will see it

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DiddleAndGruff · 03/03/2010 20:36

Would you consider contacting watchdog as this is the type of case I think they would be very interested in and it would ensure maximum exposure?

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Woobie · 03/03/2010 21:18

I hadn't thought about it really, but I would e-mail them & let them know all about it, if only as a fingers up to TT for being carefree in their response!

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DorotheaPlenticlew · 03/03/2010 21:28

So glad your wee one is OK, poor little love. Poor you and DH!

"cosmetically acceptable"

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