Consumer Group Calls for Recall on iPad-Equipped Newborn 'Apptivity' Seat

A consumer group is campaigning for a recall on an infant bouncy chair that comes equipped with an iPad stand, reports AllThingsD. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) is calling on parents and supporters to sign a petition directed at Fisher-Price Vice President David Allmark asking parent company Mattel to stop selling the Fisher-Price Newborn-to-Toddler Apptivity Seat for iPad.

The Apptivity seat, which is priced at $80, has an adjustable three-position seat designed to fit both infants and toddlers.

If you insert and lock your iPad® into the mirror’s case, the visual display provides another way to stimulate and engage baby while protecting your device from baby’s sticky fingers and preventing unintentional navigating to other apps.

According to the CCFC, which backs the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation discouraging screen time for kids under age two, the iPad blocks the baby’s view of the world and encourages parents to leave infants alone with iPads.

There are so many awful screen products for babies these days, but the Fisher-Price Newborn-to-Toddler Apptivity™ Seat for iPad® device is the worst yet. It’s a bouncy seat for an infant – with a place for an iPad directly above the baby’s face, blocking his or her view of the rest of the world. And because screens can be mesmerizing and babies are strapped down and “safely" restrained, it encourages parents to leave infants all alone with an iPad. To make matters even worse, Fisher-Price is marketing the Apptivity Seat - and claiming it’s educational - for newborns.

"It is wrong to create a product whose very existence suggests that it’s fine to leave babies as young as newborns alone and with an iPad inches from their face," says CCFC, while urging consumers to support the petition demanding the product be removed from store shelves. Josh Golin, associate director for the group, says the toy is the "worst of the worst."

Currently, the CCFC's petition had garnered nearly 2,000 signatures. The group is hoping for a total of 3,000 signatures

Tuesday December 10, 2013 1:23 pm PST by Juli Clover - macrumors.com