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The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced new rules for potentially hazardous and previously unregulated infant sleepers Wednesday.
The move comes after more than 100 infant deaths and increasing pressure from consumer advocacy groups, including Consumer Reports, to regulate the baby sleeper product industry. Advocates say that parents across the country still use infant sleeper products, not knowing that they have been linked to the deaths of babies due to the lack of regulation in the industry.
“The new mandatory standard will effectively eliminate potentially hazardous sleep products in the marketplace that do not currently meet a CPSC mandatory standard for infant sleep, such as inclined sleepers, travel and compact bassinets, and in-bed sleepers, which have been linked to dozens of infant deaths,” said the CPSC in a statement announcing the new regulations.
The regulations will apply to inclined infant sleepers and in-bed products starting in 2022. Standards already existed for bassinets and cribs which required products to be tested to ensure they did not have more than a 10-degree incline and created a firm sleeping environment for infants.
The 10-degree incline standard was based on federal guidelines that recommend babies sleep on flat surfaces, reports The Washington Post; however, a vast market of unregulated infant sleeper products was created through a loophole in the rules.
Infant sleepers with a 30-degree incline require little to no testing for safety before they are put on the market. Consumer Reports says that sleeping at a substantial incline presents a risk of suffocation to infants.
In-bed infant sleepers appeal to parents to want to keep their babies close while they sleep; however, these in-bed products can include padding soft materials that are also unsafe for baby sleep, according to Consumer Reports.
Experts say that companies that manufacture sleeping products for infants mislead exhausted parents into thinking these untested sleepers are safe.
“What we’ve done today fulfills the most sacred of our obligations as Commissioners—to take steps to protect vulnerable consumers, including babies,” said CPSC Acting Chairman Robert Adler after the agency’s 3 to 1 vote to adopt the new infant sleeper rules. “Today’s vote ensures that when a product is intended or marketed for sleep, it will indeed be safe for an infant to sleep.”
Millions of inclined infant sleepers were recalled in 2019 after dozens of babies died while sleeping in the products.
Fisher Price was forced to recall nearly 5 million Rock ‘n Play inclined infant sleepers. The company also faced a Rock ‘n Play class action lawsuit lodged by worried parents who claimed they relied on false marketing statements about the safety of the infant sleeper.
Other manufacturers have also recalled their infant sleeper products, including Eddie Bauer, Disney, and Kolcraft.
Have you used infant sleepers? What do you think of the new rules? Tell us in the comment section below!
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