Today it has been reported that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are warning consumers to stop using infant sleep positioners. Over the past 13 years, both agencies have received twelve reports of infant deaths (between the ages of one to four month and 4 four months). The infants reportedly died from suffocation while sleeping in sleep positioners, or they became trapped and suffocated between a sleep positioner and the side of a crib or bassinet.
Most of the infants suffocated after rolling from a side to stomach position. In addition to the above-reported deaths, CPSC has also received dozens of reports about infants who were placed on their backs or sides in sleep positioners, only to be found later in potentially hazardous positions within or next to the sleep positioners.
Parents and caregivers are urged to stop using the sleep positioners, due to the dangerous situations and possible death that may result from using them.
The two main types of infant sleep positioners are flat mats with side bolsters or inclined (wedge) mats with side bolsters (see photos below).
Consumers are urged to do the following:
STOP using sleep positioners, because using a positioner to hold an infant on his or her back or side for sleep is dangerous and unnecessary;
NEVER put pillows, infant sleep positioners, comforters, or quilts under a baby or in a crib; and
ALWAYS place an infant on his or her back at night and during nap time.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends reducing the risk of SIDS by placing infants on their backs (and not their sides) to sleep. Howe
The American Academy of Pediatrics does not support the use of any sleep positioner to prevent SIDS.
CPSC is interested in receiving incident or injury reports related to these products. To file a report, please visit https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx.
A. Jason Kerckhoff is a San Diego personal injury lawyer, and the President of Kerckhoff Law, APC, a San Diego personal injury law firm dedicated to representing people who have been seriously injured or killed, and the families of loved ones who have suffered death caused by the negligence of another.
A. Jason Kerckhoff has been successfully obtaining excellent results for his clients for more than twenty-five years. He has the highest rating in Martindale-Hubbell, which is the preeminent company that rates attorneys not only for their abilities, but for their ethics. These ratings are obtained by peers in the San Diego community, and a small percentage of lawyers are privileged to have achieved this rating.
