Parents Report Their Babies Are Falling Out of Cosco Jump, Spin & Play Activity Centers

“Broke twice with my baby in it! The hook came unhooked holding one of the sides,” wrote Ryley on Walmart.com. “This is ridiculous and not safe at all!”

On the item’s product page on the Cosco website, 32 of the 39 reviews give it one star out of five. Some of the reviewers, sharing their experiences, commented on how many similar stories there were, and demanded the company issue a recall. Each negative review on the Cosco site was acknowledged by the company’s customer service team, who asked the posters to contact the company directly by phone.

“I wish I saw the reviews before purchasing this,” wrote Madi from Beaumont, Texas. “We didn’t even have the product for one hour before the reviews became true. My son was jumping in the bouncer...all of a sudden the strap came out and he dropped to the floor.”

In addition to customer complaints posted on company websites, at least four reports were made to the Consumer Product Safety Commission since July 2022. “Baby was using bouncer…one of the straps snapped causing the bouncer to drop suddenly on one side,” says the poster’s summary of one incident in March 2023 involving a 10-month-old boy. “This caused baby to fall and strike his head. He was also dangling upside down stuck in the seat due to its extreme angle.”

Dorel Juvenile, Cosco’s parent company, declined to comment.

Because of the risk to babies’ safety posed by this activity center, Consumer Reports’ safety experts are recommending that parents stop using it and that the product be recalled. CR has alerted the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal agency with oversight over thousands of consumer products, so it can investigate. A CSPC representative responded that the agency was “looking into this.”

“Complaints have been coming in for two years, and yet nothing’s been done about it,” says Ashita Kapoor, associate director of product safety at CR, who flagged the issue for CR. “The severity of the incidents, along with the fact that we seem to be seeing the same issue occur repeatedly, make it critical that this unsafe product be taken off the market immediately.”

The activity centers are available for sale new through Walmart, and from private sellers via eBay. When asked for comment, Walmart responded that the company reviews all customer feedback and takes it seriously. “We don’t manufacture this product, but we require all suppliers to provide quality products that comply with all applicable laws,” said Tricia Moriarty, a Walmart representative.

In addition to the two different issues involving the support straps—either tearing apart or coming unhooked—another customer reported a separate, alarming danger. When the customer’s child was in the play center and leaned far forward, the entire seat came out of the frame.

“My daughter has been using hers for a few months but today she leaned forward as far as she could and the whole seat popped out and she almost hit the floor,” the commenter wrote on the Cosco product page. “Luckily I was standing there and caught her…. Seriously bad design.”

A different type of baby bouncer, one that hangs free from a door frame, also manufactured by Cosco, was voluntarily recalled in 2001 after the company received 82 reports of a bungee cord detaching and the bouncer falling to the floor. At least 15 babies were injured.

“It’s unacceptable for any product—especially a baby product—to have this many alarming safety complaints yet remain on the market,” William Wallace, associate director of product safety at CR, says of the Jump, Spin & Play Activity Center. “Cosco and Walmart should immediately carry out a recall with a full refund, and tell their customers what policies and practices they’ll change to better protect their safety going forward.”