Guidelines For Drawstrings On Children's Outerwear

CPSC Document #1006
November 1995

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Introduction

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is issuing these guidelines to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings of upper outerwear garments, such as jackets and sweatshirts. Drawstrings on children's clothing are a hidden hazard that can lead to deaths and injuries when they catch on such items as playground equipment, bus doors, or cribs. From January 1985 through September 1995, CPSC received reports of 17 deaths and 42 non- fatal incidents involving the entanglement of children's clothing drawstrings.

These guidelines are intended to provide consumers with information to help them prevent hazards with garments now in their possession and make informed purchasing choices in the future. Manufacturers and retailers should also be aware of these hazards, and are encouraged to consider this information in the production and sale of children's garments.

CPSC's drawstring guidelines do not represent a standard or mandatory requirement set by the agency. And, while CPSC does not sanction them as the only method of minimizing drawstring injuries, CPSC believes that these guidelines will help prevent children from strangling by their clothing drawstrings.

Deaths And Injuries

Hood/Neck Drawstrings

Over two-thirds of the deaths and non-fatal incidents involved hood/neck drawstrings. The majority of these cases involved playground slides. Typically, as the child descended the slide, the toggle or knot on the drawstring got caught in a small space or gap at the top of the slide. Examples of catch points include a protruding bolt or a tiny space between the guardrail and the slide platform. As the child hung by the drawstring, suspended part way down the slide, the drawstring pulled the garment up taut to the neck, strangling the child. Victims of these cases ranged in age from 2 through 8 years old.

In one case, a five-year-old girl strangled after the drawstring on her jacket hood caught on the slide at her daycare center.

One incident involved a fence. A four-year-old girl strangled after the hood string on her coat became entangled on a fence as she attempted to climb over it.

Two strangulations occurred in cribs. In one case, an eighteen-month-old child was found hanging from a corner post of his crib by the tied cord of the hooded sweatshirt he was wearing. Another little girl was hanged by the drawstring of her sweatshirt in her crib the first time she wore the sweatshirt.

Waist/Bottom Drawstrings

Almost one-third of the deaths and non-fatal incidents involved drawstrings at the waist/bottom of children's garments. Most of these involved children whose waist or bottom strings of their jackets got caught on school bus handrails or in school bus doors. In most cases, the drawstring at the bottom of the jacket snagged in a small space in the hand rail as the child was getting off the bus. Without the child or bus driver realizing that the drawstring was caught on the handrail, the bus doors closed and the bus drove away, dragging the child. Deaths have occurred when children were run over by the bus. Victims of these school bus cases ranged in age from 7 through 14 years old.

A 14-year-old boy was killed when the long, trailing drawstring on his jacket got caught in the closed door of a moving school bus and he was eventually pulled beneath the bus and run over.

Guidelines For Hood/Neck Drawstrings

Recommendation

CPSC recommends that parents or caregivers completely remove the hood and neck strings from all children's outerwear, including jackets and sweatshirts, sized 2T to 12. CPSC technical staff has concluded that strings at the neck that are shortened still may present a strangulation hazard. Therefore, CPSC recommends that consumers purchase children's outerwear that has alternative closures, such as snaps, buttons, velcro, and elastic. CPSC also recommends that manufacturers and retailers provide outerwear with these alternative closures, rather than drawstrings at the head/neck area.

Guidelines For Waist/Bottom Drawstrings

Recommendation

For outerwear sized 2T to 16, CPSC recommends to consumers, manufacturers, and retailers that the ends of waist/bottom drawstrings measure no more than 3 inches from where the strings extend out of the garment when it is expanded to its fullest width. Also, the drawstring should be sewn to the garment at its midpoint so the string can not be pulled out through one side, making it long enough to catch on something. CPSC also recommends eliminating toggles or knots at the ends of all drawstrings. Shortening the length of drawstrings at the waist and bottom of children's outerwear reduces the risk that the strings will become entangled in objects such as school bus doors or other moving objects.