Parents have been warned once again not to use Fisher-Price’s recalled Rock ‘n Play Sleeper which has now been linked to over 100 infant deaths.
The safety announcement from the Consumer Product Safety Commission comes almost four years after the product was initially recalled in April 2019.
At the time, some 4.7 million sleeper products were recalled – many of which were sold between 2009 and 2019 in-store and online at retail giants like Target, Walmart and Amazon – after it was reported that at least 30 infants died having rolled from their back onto their stomach or side while unrestrained in the sleeper, or under other circumstances.
Since then, there have been reports of at least 70 more infants who have died in connection to the sleeper.
Most of these deaths occurred before the product was recalled, although at least eight deaths happened after the product was pulled from the shelves.
Following the recall, Fisher-Price voluntarily stopped sales of the sleeper and worked to remove the product from the market.
Still, the CPSC is warning anyone with a Rock ‘n Play should stop using it immediately and contact Fisher-Price for a refund.
“We are issuing this announcement because, despite their removal from the marketplace and a prohibition on their sale, babies continue to die in these products,” the regulatory body’s Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric said in a statement.
He added: “I urge all parents, grandparents, and caregivers to follow the guidance of this announcement and stop using these products immediately.”
Fisher-Price ignored multiple warnings
In the aftermath of the recall, a two-year congressional investigation was launched by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
It uncovered that Fisher-Price ignored multiple warnings that the Rock ‘n Play product was not safe to use, yet continued to sell the product anyway bagging around $200million in sales.
Unlike, cradles and bassinets the products were not regulated. Moreover, the report alleges that Fisher-Price only talked to one doctor – a physician, not a pediatrician – before putting the product on store shelves.
In its defense, Fisher-Price stated that in some of the reports, it had been unable to confirm the circumstances of the incidents or that the product involved was a Rock ‘n Play Sleeper.
But it is widely believed the babies died from asphyxiation caused by the 30-degree incline of the product.
What is a safe way for a baby to sleep?
As a result, a number of rules and regulations have been introduced to make infant sleeping products safer.
The Infant Sleep Products Rule prohibits the sale of any infant sleep products with an incline of more than 10 degrees. Meanwhile, the Safe Sleep for Babies Act, enacted by Congress in 2022, bans all inclined infant sleep products entirely.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the CPSC recommend that babies sleep on a firm, flat surface.
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