Whether At Home or Traveling for the Holidays CPSC Reminds Parents to Keep Babies’ Sleep Space Safe

CPSC Joins Members of Congress, Safety Advocates at Chicago Lurie Children’s Hospital

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the holiday season fast approaching and families preparing to gather, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is teaming up with members of Congress and safety advocates to remind adults to keep the little ones safe – whether at home or at grandma’s house – by always creating a safe sleep space.

Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric joined pediatric experts from Lurie Children’s Hospital and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), child safety advocates from Kids in Danger (KID), Safe Kids Worldwide, and Consumer Federation of America, and Members of Congress to raise awareness of the best safe sleep practices for babies and highlight new laws and regulations aimed at creating a safer marketplace to keep all babies safe.

“I’m excited to be working alongside these trusted collaborators to expand our reach and provide parents, grandparents, and caregivers with the best safe sleep practices for their babies during the holidays and all year,” said CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric. “Together we can reduce these tragic deaths and injuries and create a safer marketplace.”

This event was held following a year of aggressive Congressional and CPSC action to protect babies from product hazards.  These steps include:

• Infant Sleep Products Rule. CPSC’s Infant Sleep Products Rule went into effect in June 2022, and requires all new infant sleep products to have a sleep surface angle of 10 degrees or lower and to meet at least one of the existing standards for sleep products: bassinets and cradles, play yards, or cribs.

Since the rule went into effect, CPSC has sent more than 125 letters to businesses to alert them of their obligation to comply with the new requirements; and, in more than 70 instances, specific infant sleep products were identified that could be subject to the rule. Subsequently, 26 products were removed from sale, helping to protect consumers. Additionally, CPSC has recently issued a notice to one firm, Dock-a-tot, for manufacturing a non-compliant infant sleep product after June 23, 2022, an apparent violation of the ISP rule.

• Safe Sleep for Babies Act. CPSC has written to retailers, including e-commerce platforms, urging them to comply with the requirements of the Safe Sleep for Babies Act, which was enacted into law this summer, and goes into effect on November 12^th.  The Act bans padded crib bumpers and inclined sleep products, regardless of date of manufacture. Last week, CPSC wrote to 45 retailers urging them to comply with these requirements with respect to crib bumpers, and CPSC will be monitoring the market for inclined products.  
• Additional safety measures. In addition to these steps forward on infant sleep products, major steps were taken to improve the marketplace for baby safety.  Congress recently enacted Reese’s Law, aimed at protecting children from hazardous button cell batteries.  CPSC also issued final rules establishing safety standards for crib mattresses, magnets, window coverings, and clothing storage units.

“Being a new parent can be hard enough and keeping our newborns safe is a goal we all share. Thanks to the dedication of my colleagues, the dynamic leadership of U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric, and the urgency to protect our children, President Biden was able to sign into law multiple pieces of legislation that will protect babies and promote safe sleep practices,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. “Nearly 200 deaths have been linked to crib bumpers and infant inclined sleep products. Thanks to the Safe Sleep for Babies Act, which I introduced with Rep. Tony Cárdenas, these dangerous products will be banned, providing families with the peace of mind they deserve when purchasing new products for their newborns.”

“I’m glad CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric will be traveling to Chicago to raise awareness around the dangers families may not be aware of during the holiday season,” said Congresswoman Robin Kelly. “Recent CPSC actions against infant sleeping products have been key to ensuring businesses are removing harmful products and babies are kept safe. Additionally, while the recent passage of my bill, Reese’s Law, will help ensure future products with button batteries are safer; many homes have remotes, holiday decorations, and toys that contain button batteries and can be easily opened, and pose life threatening injuries if the batteries are ingested.”

CPSC’s latest nursery product injury and death report shows most nursery-product infant deaths occurred in a cluttered sleep space, when soft bedding was added to the cribs, playpens/play yards or bassinets/cradles. On average there are almost 100 infant deaths annually in unsafe sleep environments involving nursery products.  CPSC is reminding caregivers to follow these practices to keep babies’ sleep space safe:

1. Back to Sleep: Always place the baby to sleep on their back to reduce the risk of sudden unexpected infant death syndrome (SUID/SIDS) and suffocation.
2. Bare is Best: Always keep the baby’s sleep space bare (fitted sheet only) to prevent suffocation. Do not use pillows, padded crib bumpers, quilts or comforters.
3. Transfer the baby to a firm, flat crib, bassinet, play yard or bedside sleeper if they fall asleep in a swing, bouncer, lounger, or similar product.
4. Inclined products, such as rockers, gliders, soothers, and swings should never be used for infant sleep, and infants should not be left in these products unsupervised, unrestrained, or with soft bedding material, due to the risk of suffocation.

RECALLS: Always check to see if any purchased baby nursery products have been recalled, which includes any secondhand products.  Remember, babies rely on adults to keep them safe. Sign up today at CPSC.gov.