Ted had to die because his parents made a widespread IKEA mistake

Commission probes 3rd child Ikea dresser death //t.co/ZcYYcV9WfL pic.twitter.com/K6vWpQxXYe

? The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) April 17, 2016

When his parents looked in the nursery for Ted, they were horrified to find that the little one had been killed by a "Malm" chest of drawers: The furniture had killed the toddler downright. This bad case is now the third death in America within a few months.

He could only pass because the parents of Ted did not follow the assembly instructions. Because: "Malm" chest of drawers and all shelves that Ikea sells have to be additionally secured against tipping with a special wall fixture. The problem is: many customers do not do that! They set up their shelves and chests of drawers, put them on the wall - ready.

However, if a toddler opens the drawers, or - even worse - climbs on the dresser or the shelves, the furniture can quickly tip over! Incidentally, this does not only apply to Ikea furniture, but also to any kind of furniture that can have its center of gravity further up or up.

Ikea itself always warns of the danger in the relevant assembly instructions and points out that the pieces of furniture must be fastened to the wall.

So the warning is formulated in the IKEA instruction manuals

The assembly instructions read:

CAUTION If pieces of furniture tip over, serious or life-threatening pinching injuries can result. To prevent the furniture from tipping over, it must be firmly anchored to the wall. Fittings for wall mounting are not included as they depend on the respective wall conditions. Use mounting hardware suitable for domestic walls. If you have any questions, consult your local dealer.

Security campaign already 2015

After killing two children of falling Ikea furniture in the US last year, the furniture giant had already launched a major security and education campaign last year. 27 million customers were offered a free wall mounting set. The little Ted's parents did not seem to have reached the campaign - they want to sue now because they have not been warned more clearly about the deadly danger.

Update June 2016: Ikea launches mega recall

It was not done with the free admission sets. A few months later, Ikea reacted again and recalled all of the affected Malm dressers. 36 million pieces of furniture in the US and Canada are affected and are to be returned by customers.