The death of common sense?

Summer Infant recalled millions of baby monitors today after two infant deaths were linked to their products. When I first read the headline, I thought perhaps the deaths were due to the electromagnetic field around the monitor or something innocuous and terrifying like that. But no, these two children died because their parents were such geniuses that they put the cameras and cord in reach of their kids and the babies strangled on the cord.

Now, I don't mean to be flip or callous, but honestly, is this the manufacturer's fault or the parent's? Do we need warnings on EVERYTHING to protect us from our own stupidity? If this is the world we live in now, shouldn't everything have a warning label on it because frankly most things we own can be treacherous if misused.

I am so so sad for these parents and their infants who died needlessly. But truly, our job as moms and dads is to be on the lookout for hidden dangers (though I'd argue that this one was not so hidden). If you choose to mount a camera and cord to your child's crib and your baby suffers as a result of it, who is to blame?  And not that their lives are not precious, but these are two kids out of millions who's parents presumably know how to properly place a baby monitor. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, only seven kids have died since 2004 as a result of baby monitors placed too closely to their cribs.

If a parent leaves a loaded gun on a table and their toddler accidentally shoots himself, is it a horrible accident that the gun manufacturer should be held responsible for? If you leave coins out and a baby swallows one, should we sue the bank the money came from? Or the federal government who issued the coins?

Wake up and take some accountability people!

I know those examples seem like a stretch compared to the baby monitor recall, but you get my point. As parents, we do all sorts of things on a daily basis to protect our kids -- we hold their hands crossing busy streets, place them in car seats, keep them away from sharp objects or hot stoves, stay with them while they bathe so they don't drown etc., etc. We do all these things precisely because small children can't be trusted to look out for themselves. As parents our brains should always be attuned to things that might pose a risk to our kids. So just as we teach our children to take responsibility --  unless an accident involves some tragic unforeseen event -- I believe parents need to look within and not be so quick to seek blame elsewhere.