On April 15, 2009, I received a phone call from my son's elementary school telling me that he was seriously injured on the playground during recess and I needed to pick him up immediately. As he was coming down off the playground equipment, he fell. Because the bars on that section were so narrow, he was unable to bring his arms forward to catch himself, but, instead fell flat on his face on the lower Little Tikes Stone Climber. His teeth and mouth were severely damaged. All four front teeth were pushed back behind his lower teeth so that he could not close his mouth. It has been a long healing process.

I believe the design my son injured himself on poses an entrapment hazard and a protrusion hazard for children. Furthermore, these Stone Climbers do not provide enough surface area for a child to break their fall as traditional stairs would. And they are very, very hard surfaces to fall on.

I have created a blog with more information on my son's injury. If anyone knows of someone who has been similarly injured, please let me know and also report it to the Consumer Product Safety Commission immediately. I reported my son's accident to them and they followed up with a full investigation. They are now monitoring it for any trends involving this design.

Please be cautious when children are playing around these Little Tikes Stone Climbers!