If you have a baby or are expecting one, you may have already read or seen news reports about the potential suffocation danger of inclined sleepers. Earlier this year, Fisher-Price and two other companies pulled their inclined sleepers off the market.
The danger arises from the fact that babies who are sleeping at an angle that’s more than 10 degrees can roll over so that they’re facedown on the sleeper. Most of the inclined sleepers that have been on the market since Fisher-Price invented the product (with its Rock ‘n Play) put babies at approximately a 30-degree angle.
Currently, 73 infant deaths have been linked to inclined sleepers.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has been warning about the dangers of inclined sleepers for several years now. The AAP says that babies shouldn’t be allowed to sleep for any amount of time in anything other than a bassinet or crib.
Now the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), based on the growing amount of research and the mounting death toll, has issued a warning that parents and other caregivers should not put babies in an inclined sleeper or any product with greater than a 10-degree angle.
These sleepers have not been recalled by any government regulatory agency. However, the CPSC is advocating for regulations that would limit the incline of sleepers to 10 degrees or less.
A number of parents have filed lawsuits against Fisher-Price and Mattel, which is its parent company.
Of course, no amount of money can begin to make up for the loss of a child. However, it may be the only way that parents can seek any type of justice from the manufacturer of an inherently dangerous product.