Therapy swings pose a serious risk to children: Dutch safety board

The Dutch product safety board NVWA says that so-called therapy swings should banned after a Dutch child was killed by becoming entangled in the material.

The agency launched an investigation following the death and says the swings pose a serious strangulation risk. ‘Children risk getting their heads caught in the material while at play, and falling unconscious,’ the NVWA said in a press statement.

Therapy, or yoga, swings are increasingly being used to help children process outside stimuli, particularly children with autism.

The NVWA investigated the swing involved in the fatal accident and three other similar models currently on sale in the Netherlands. It determined that none of them are safe enough to be sold.

The NVWA has now called on sellers to launch a product recall and has banned webshops from selling them from now on.

Two other incidents are known worldwide. In Australia, a 12 year old boy lost consciousness while using a swing outdoors and in 2021, an American boy also died.