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The company also includes one infant study as evidence of its products’ safety. Dreamland Baby Co., which makes weighted blankets and sleep sacks, points to multiple studies about toddlers and adults using weighted blankets on a web page about the product’s safety for infants. Pediatricians say some manufacturers of infant products may claim their products are safe for sleep but that evidence doesn’t always hold up under scrutiny. Credit: Daniela Jovanovska-Hristovska/Getty Images
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It was later recalled in 2019 after a Consumer Reports investigation found dozens of infants died in the sleeper, which featured a 30 degree incline.īabies should be put to sleep on their backs on flat, non-inclined surfaces, without loose blankets, and should be separate from their caregivers, according to updated safe sleep recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Fisher-Price Rock ‘N Play, for example, was sold without undergoing medical safety tests. “And a lot of times we don’t find out there’s a problem until after the fact.” In contrast, manufacturers of other products, like medication, must prove safety before the item can be sold, he added. “When you create a unique product, it’s like, there’s just no oversight to it until standards are developed,” he said. Michael Goodstein, the division chief of newborn medicine at WellSpan Health and adjunct professor of pediatrics at Pennsylvania State University. “There are some loopholes in the system,” said Dr. (Other regulations, related to additional safety aspects of a product, such as a material’s flammability, lead content and product labeling, may apply.) Products that don’t fall into categories that have long been regulated, like cribs or bassinets, have been allowed to go to market without such safety rules. Parents may believe that infant sleep products are heavily regulated by federal agencies and must pass stringent safety tests before they can be sold. Each year, around 3,500 infants die in their sleep from causes that include sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), accidental suffocation and strangulation. Pediatricians and parents who advocate for safe sleep hope these efforts will give parents more guidance and make sure that products are as safe as possible for babies, especially in a market where some infant items are unregulated or have slipped through regulatory cracks. The updated recommendations closely follow a new federal law that bans the sale of crib bumpers and infant sleepers with an incline greater than 10 degrees, new federal standards for infant sleep products set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which went into effect last week, and a new safety commission standard for crib mattresses and play yards, which goes into effect this fall. The guidelines also repeat previous advice that infants should sleep in the same room - but not the same bed - as their caregivers. The organization also encourages parents to put babies to sleep on a flat, non-inclined sleep surface, a nod to the popularity of the inclined sleepers that have led to at least 94 deaths over the past 10 years. These products have grown in popularity since the AAP last published recommendations in 2016.
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Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released updated safe sleep recommendations, which, for the first time, discourage using products like weighted swaddles and weighted sleep sacks, as well as home cardiorespiratory monitors.
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Now, a flurry of national efforts aims to raise awareness of the risks posed by some of these items, and to crack down on potentially dangerous products. Subscribe today!įor years, sleep-deprived parents have been inundated with ads for infant sleep products that promised improved sleep for babies, less fussiness and success in “easing the transition from the womb to the world.” Many of these products are available in stores and online despite concerns from pediatricians that they are unsafe for infants.
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Editor’s note: This story led off this week’s Early Childhood newsletter, which is delivered free to subscribers’ inboxes every other Wednesday with trends and top stories about early learning.
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