U.S. Issues Warning about Infant Sleep Positioners

The FDA and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the U.S. is issuing a warning about a device that was originally designed to help eliminate Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS.  The government says infant sleep positioners that have barriers on either side of the baby can actually cause suffocation and death.

The advisory was prompted by reports of 12 deaths among infants from 1 to 4 months of age received by the CPSC over the past 13 years, in addition to dozens of additional nonfatal cases in which babies awoke in unsafe positions after being placed in a sleep positioner.

The warning against infant sleep positioners is one component of the CPSC’s Safe Sleep Initiative. Others include new standards for cribs and bassinets that are under development and efforts to educate parents about keeping soft bedding out of the infant sleep environment and placing babies on their back to sleep at night and during nap time.

Source: Medpage Today