Federal safety regulators are pushing to redevelop baby loungers following multiple recalls and reports of infant deaths relating to the products.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there have been at least 79 reported fatalities involving support cushions from Jan. 1, 2010 through Dec. 31, 2022, as well as 125 nonfatal incidents or reports involving these products within the same time period.
“More than 80% of the fatalities associated with these products involved infants three months old and younger,” said the CPSC in a briefing. “In more than 60 percent of the fatalities, the official cause of death was either asphyxia or probable asphyxia, and these incidents typically involved use of an infant support cushion placed in or on a sleep-related consumer product such as an adult bed, futon, crib, bassinet, play yard, or a on a couch.”
The proposed new rule for infant support cushions would require that all surfaces be sufficiently firm that they are unlikely to conform to an infant’s face and occlude the airways, and by setting a “Maximum incline angle that would prevent hazardous positioning of an infant’s head and neck along the surfaces of the product.”
Millions of newborn and baby loungers have been recalled over the past several years with officials urging parents to stop using them.
For more on the proposed new rule, click here
