Scan the government list of top recalled children's products and you may find they sound familiar — items that have turned up in Hawai'i for years.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently sent out the most-unwanted list as a way to remind consumers that some risky products may be handed down, sold in secondhand stores or somehow escaped notice.

If you've kept an eye on recalled products anytime over the last 15 years, you've heard some of these warnings before: play yards or playpens that collapse, high-chairs that don't meet safety standards, drawstrings on hooded sweatshirts that can choke, tiny toys that can choke.

Hawai'i's consumer product safety investigator is David Cheng and he hopes the re-release of the list will prompt parents, grandparents and secondhand stores to check their baby items and toys.

"Consumers should make sure that they are not buying something recalled," Cheng said. "People are still using them and they are still causing injuries and death, which is unfortunate."

He said some secondhand stores have stopped taking all children's items in these recalled categories, which he found disappointing, especially in this economy where many families are saving money where they can.

"There are products that are still safe and that are OK," Cheng said.

He said parents and other caregivers should be especially careful with cribs and play yards, which people usually count on to keep a child safe while the adult steps away.

A parent himself, Cheng said he used a hand-me-down from an auntie. "I just made sure that it wasn't recalled and that it was safe," he said.

"I was always tightening the screws."

He said consumers also need to be careful to not create an unsafe situation by overdoing the padding in cribs or play yards.

He's seen fatal accidents where a baby gets trapped between the foam padding, pillows and toys added to an otherwise safe crib or play yard.

So he suggests that consumers beware of modifying.

Cheng has a couple of easy-to-remember tips: