7.5 Million Baby Shark Bath Toys Recalled For Impalement Risk To Children

Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo. Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo. May impale you, doo-doo, doo-doo. May impale you, doo-doo, doo-doo. So being recalled, doo-doo, doo-doo. So being recalled, doo-doo, doo-doo.

Yep, there’s now a Baby Shark recall. It’s not a recall of that Baby Shark song that you probably heard, oh about 723,125 times in 2017. Instead, it’s a recall of two types of Baby Shark bath toys manufactured by Zuru: the full-sized Robo Alive Junior Baby Shark Sing & Swim and the mini-sized Mini Baby Shark Swimming. And the reason is beyond the impale so to speak. These baby shark toys have hard plastic top fins that can end up impaling, puncturing, or lacerating you or your child of the shark. And “the bath was good especially after being impaled, punctured, or lacerated” is something that no one ever said. Zuru is voluntarily recalling around 7.5 million of these toys, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Here’s a tweet about recall from the CPSC, yeah you know me:

These products were available from a range of different retailers such as Walmart, CVS Pharmacy, Dollar General Corp., Family Dollar Services, HEB Grocery Company, Meijer, Target, TJX Companies, Ross, and Walgreens.

That’s certainly some-fin to be concerned about, especially since Zuru has already received at least 12 reports of children getting injured after falling or sitting on the full-sized toy. This has included impalement, lacerations and punctures of children’s genital, anorectal and facial areas, requiring stitches or other types of medical attention. Talk about moving into the shark side.

The full-size toys that being recalled are about seven inches long, come in three different colors (yellow, pink and blue), were priced between $13 and $15 and sold from May 2019 through March 2023. They are also a sing and swim situation. When you put these toys in water, they can swim and sing at the same time. So, in theory, the hard plastic top fin that has three grooves on one side could impale you while the baby shark is singing to you, which can be a bit Jaws-fully creepy. You can identify these toys via the tracking label information on their bottoms that indicate a model number “#25282” and a date code that begins with the letters “DG” that’s followed by the date in the following format “YYYY/MM/DD” with the date code ranging from DG20190501 to DG20220619.

So far, the Mini Baby Shark bath toys have not caused any reported injuries. The smaller toys measure about four inches from nose to tail, and have been sold individually and in multi-unit packs from July 2020 through June 2023 for between $6 and $20. They’ve also come in the same three colors and can swim when in water but won’t sing. So, when they impale you with their hard plastic top fins, they will do so silently. The model numbers for these mini-sized toys are “#7163,” “#7175,” “#7166,” or “#25291” and the date code ranging from DG2020615 through DG2023525.

So if you do have one of the products encompassed by the recall, Baby Shark, don’t-don’t, don’t-don’t. Baby Shark, don’t-don’t, don’t-don’t use it. Instead, plan to return the product for a refund.

But don’t just simply return it, doo-doo, doo-doo. When dealing with anything sharp—with the possible exception of cheddar cheese—it’s important to take precautions. After all, people don’t say, “Could you throw me those steak knives?” Instead, visit the product recall website, register and follow the directions. Zuru is requesting that you first disable the tail fin by either cutting it off the full-sized products or bending it on the mini-sized product and write the word “recalled” on the body of the shark toy as well as the unique code that you get when you register for the recall. You’ll also be asked to upload a photo of the product to demonstrate that it’s been disabled and marked before Zuru can issue a refund.

All of this is a reminder to be very careful about what toys are used in a bathtub. Soapy water can easily obscure sharp edges or pointed parts of an object. Plus, soap and water can make everything very slippery and more difficult to handle. Moreover, assuming that most people don’t take a baths in a suit of knight’s armor, you or your children will be quite exposed and vulnerable to injury while in the tub. That’s why any toy or other object that is designed to go into the bathtub should follow additional higher safety standards than something that’s intended to just stay on land.

Keep in mind that your child may not be fully aware of what may or may not be safe to use in a bathtub. So be extra aware about what your child may be bringing into the tub with him or her. Otherwise, you or your child may end up in some deep doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo. After all, you don’t want to be known as “Dad or Mom the Impaler,” doo-doo, doo-doo you?