Mockingbird Recalls Certain Single-to-Double and Single Strollers After More Than 100 Reports of Them Breaking

In a report submitted to the CPSC in September, a parent described a stroller snapping in half with 1-year-old twins onboard as they walked around her neighborhood. “They both fell to the ground,” the parent wrote. “My daughter had rug burn on her neck and my son had scratches on his left hand and foot.” The parent had the stroller for only three months before it broke, the report said, and it was a replacement for a previous stroller that had also broken. 

Parents describe two types of breaks happening most frequently. The more significant one, where a side of the frame snaps and causes the stroller to collapse, is what the recall addresses and the frame reinforcement kit is meant to prevent. Another type of break, involving a snapped support bar above the basket of the stroller, isn’t addressed by this recall. A Mockingbird spokesperson previously told CR that this smaller part of the frame “is not critical for the stroller’s structural integrity.”

“While we welcome the recall and the CPSC’s work to keep people safe, Mockingbird should have acted sooner,” says Oriene Shin, policy counsel for CR. “Parents should be able to trust that a product—and especially a stroller—is safe when they buy it. It shouldn’t take 138 complaints and public pressure to prompt action.” 

The recall applies to any Mockingbird single-to-double stroller with the indicated lot numbers, whether they were bought new or secondhand or received as a gift. Single strollers aren’t in the recall, nor are new single-to-double strollers currently for sale. 

This recall doesn’t include refunds for the strollers.

“It’s disappointing that Mockingbird isn’t offering its customers a refund as a part of this recall,” Shin says. “A repair is fine for parents who want to keep their stroller, but if there’s a parent who is uncomfortable using the product for their child, they should be able to get their money back.” 

CJ Chellin, a mom of two in Brooklyn, N.Y. who had three frames break in a row before she finally gave up on Mockingbird strollers, says she is glad that the company is acknowledging the problem. “However, I think the reinforcement kit is ridiculous,” she says. “As a parent, I want a product that is strong enough to start, not one I have to add extra material to to make safe. It’s putting a Band-Aid on a broken bone.”

A Queens, N.Y. mom whose Facebook post about her broken stroller went viral last month, Ealeal Ginott, says that she is skeptical about the fix that Mockingbird is offering, though she hopes she will be proven wrong. “I am really hoping that we don’t continue to hear about incidents a few months down the line where these reinforcements were simply not enough,” she says.

Ashley Hopkins, a mother in Boston who says she feels lucky that no kids were in her stroller when both sides of the frame broke apart, isn’t totally happy with the recall announcement, either. “This is not an appropriate solution,” Hopkins says. “This company cannot claim to put the safety of our children first if they are not offering refunds to the families who no longer feel safe using this faulty product—especially given how long it has taken them to own up to it.”

As with Mockingbird’s first public announcement about this issue, reactions to today’s recall posts on social media are mixed. “Thanks for being proactive!” wrote one commenter below the company’s Facebook post. But another wrote: “I want my money back.” And on Instagram, one commenter wrote, “Love the transparency and quick response…still the best stroller around!”, while another commented: “At this (or any) price point, I expected safety.”