Mom finds sharp plastic protruding from diaper

HOUSTON

She says she's lucky her baby didn't get hurt and she wants to make sure no baby does.

Thousands of parents use these diapers every day, and the company that makes the diaper says it's taking this mother's claim very seriously. The mom hopes it encourages other parents to inspect their diapers before putting one on their child.

For Rhonda Crawford, it's only the best for her six-month-old son Jayden.

"I get him organic baby food," she said. "I don't care, I'll spend extra money."

So when her diaper choices included Huggies Pure & Natural, it became her only choice, especially since Jayden has sensitive skin. They're advertised as dye free, ink free, hypoallergenic and made out of organic cotton. But Crawford says she got even more.

"I couldn't believe what I saw. I saw this sharp piece of plastic, or whatever this material is, was sticking out and I said oh my goodness that's why he was crying," she said.

It was Monday afternoon, and Jayden was irritated on his way home from day care. As she was getting his bath ready, she finally realized why. A sharp piece of the plastic part of the diaper was digging into him. She's glad she caught it when she did.

"It's sharp enough had he fallen on it he could have punctured his skin," Crawford said.

Rhonda contacted Target, the store where she bought the diapers and Kimberly-Clark, the company that makes them. So did Eyewitness News.

They sent a statement saying in part, "Our consumers and their babies are absolutely our top priority, and we will take all steps necessary to ensure that consumers can have complete confidence in our products."

The company plans to launch an investigation. Crawford still has questions.

"Do they inspect the diapers before they package them?" she asks.

But mostly wants other parents to take precautions.

"Now every time I change him, I actually take the diaper and I bend it to make sure I don't feel any object in it and that's what I'll do from now on because of this situation," she said.

Kimberly-Clark says they've received no other complaints of this nature. They say once they receive the diaper and packaging in question from Crawford, they will trace it back to the exact machine and date it was made to figure out what happened.

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Full statement from Kay Jackson with the Kimberly-Clark Corporation:

At Kimberly-Clark, the safety and performance of our products is vital. We have been in contact with this consumer, and requested she send either photos of or the actual diaper and packaging to check lot codes and the foreign object in question. These items are needed to begin our investigation. The lot codes on the diaper indicate the exact place, machine, time and date the diaper was made. We will remain in contact with the consumer to keep her informed of our investigation.
It is extremely rare for a foreign object to be in a diaper. Without seeing the diaper or foreign object, it is hard to speculate what happened. Nonetheless, we take an issue of this nature very seriously. Our consumers and their babies are absolutely our top priority, and we will take all steps necessary to ensure that consumers can have complete confidence in our products.
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