As someone who researches safe sleep for infants, I get numerous emails about the safety of new products— “Is this product safe for my baby to sleep in?” I have also worked with safety advocates, including those at the AAP, to attempt to create safety standards, restrictions, or bans on products that are unsafe. It is hard work, and it takes an incredible amount of persistence.

That is why I am in awe of Dr. Kyran Quinlan and his colleagues, who have published a manuscript (being released by Pediatrics this week) about their journey to make child-resistant microwave oven doors an industry standard (10.1542/peds.2020-021519).

This journey started in 2005, when several of the authors noted that a common mechanism for scald injuries in young children was when the child opened the microwave door, pulled out a hot liquid (interestingly, the most common culprit here was instant ramen noodle soup!) and spilled it over their face and body.

Over the next 15 years, the authors methodically and patiently:

• Analyzed (and published) 3 years of burn unit data in young children to determine what proportion involved this mechanism
• Enrolled toddlers in a study (which they published) in which they evaluated at what age a child could turn on a microwave, open a microwave door (with either a “push” or “pull” mechanism), and remove a container from the microwave
• Learned the processes involved in product regulation/certification and voluntary standard development
• Partnered with undergraduate engineering students to develop a microwave door that required 2 simultaneous but different actions to open
• Wrote, submitted, and presented a proposed change in the voluntary safety standard that would require 2 simultaneous but different actions to open the microwave door
• Worked to make their argument more persuasive by soliciting a parent testimonial that could be presented by video
• Became voting members of the Standards Technical Panel and called other voting members to advocate for the change

Spoiler alert: This team was successful in changing the voluntary safety standard for microwave doors, and this is a great testament to their perseverance and persistence.

Even though you now know that there is a happy ending, I highly encourage you to read this article and view the video abstract, because the lessons learned by this team will be helpful to all of us who advocate for child safety.