Mum's terrifying warning after daughter 'nearly hung herself' with pushchair harness

A mum whose daughter nearly hung herself with her pushchair harness has posted a warning to other parents on social media.

Nicki Elsworth, a mum from Barry, says she found her one-year-old daughter Freya with her neck tangled in the harness of her iCandy Peach buggy, after the buckle allegedly broke.

Explaining the terrifying ordeal, the mum wrote on Facebook: 'ALL ICANDY OWNERS/parents please read: I've just had the scare of my life, my daughter nearly hung herself with her pushchair harness!!!

https://www.facebook.com/nicki.elsworth/posts/10213668919537438

'The clasp/buckle of her icandy peach (all terrain) harness snapped this morning whilst in a nosey shop.'

Nicki said she didn't immediately notice what was happening to her little one, which is what scared her the most.

'She is thankfully fine now, although mummy is not. When the clasp broke I was oblivious to it, I heard nothing to signal a possible danger, she managed to wriggle down and fell through the bottom strap whilst world facing.

'Luckily I turned the pram in time to witness and stop her as she caught herself by the throat in the remaining 4 points of the harness.'

In the Facebook post, the mum also said she's been in touch with the pushchair brand, who've been 'helpful' and 'supportive' and would be running tests on the harness to see why the dangerous situation happened.

The mum is now urging all parents to check the harnesses in their children's pushchairs, in order to prevent accidents like this happening again.

'In the meantime I ask all parents to please regularly check your clasps for any signs of weakness or wear and tear. My daughter is not yet 1 and the pram is about 2 months old (bought in May).

'I still love my iCandy and I hope that this is just a bad luck fault, but I would hate for any other parent to have this or worse happen to them and their child.'

https://www.facebook.com/nicki.elsworth/posts/10213670030245205

In a later post, the mum criticised the poor design of this specific buckle, and said aesthetics were put ahead of safety in this case.

'Now looking at the clasp/buckle, I am even more concerned that this could happen to other babies. It is a very poor design, just a thin piece of plastic holds that bottom strap in place, so please parents check the plastic regularly for signs of weakening. I know I will be from now on.

'I've gone from upset and shocked to angry that pretty designs seems to have been put before safety.'

A spokesperson for the brand told The Sun that a small number of iCandy Peach buckles had broken while they were being used, but the fault has now been fixed and stockists have been warned.

'Although the buckle passed all formal safety and due diligence testing, immediate changes to the design and manufacturing process were made to the buckle as soon as an issue was identified', the brand said.

'Since this change has been implemented, no further occurrences have been reported from the new buckle.

'The faulty batch numbers were identified, stockists made aware and a notification issued on our social media channels and website to enable iCandy to implement the modified part changes as efficiently as possible.'