• Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, August 26, 2009 10:06 AM

In an effort to help rid homes of unsafe items, all Babies R Us and Toys R Us stores will accept used cribs, car seats, bassinets, strollers, travel systems, play yards and high chairs regardless of how old they are or where they were purchased, Andrea Chang reports. In exchange, from Friday through Sept. 20, consumers will receive a 20% discount on any new item in those categories.

Millions of items have been recalled in the last two years for safety risks, including strangulation, suffocation and entrapment but consumers evidently are not getting the message. Less than 30% of affected products are returned.

Safety experts are worried that cash-strapped parents could be buying more secondhand baby products to save money and warn that many of those items could be dangerous. "We're all looking for ways to stretch our dollars in this economy," says Toys R Us chairman and CEO Jerry Storch about the Great Trade-In event, "but in doing so, children's safety shouldn't be compromised."

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