Fisher-Price, Feds issue Baby Rocker warning after 13 deaths

Fisher-Price Infant-to-Toddler Rocker (left and center), Fisher-Price Newborn-to-Toddler Rocker (right). U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Fisher-Price.

Leigha Tierney, Medscape June 15, 2022

Heads up, parents: Fisher-Price and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said this week that between 2009 and 2022, at least 13 infants died after falling asleep in the company’s rockers.

The deaths were linked to the Fisher-Price Infant-to-Toddler Rockers and the Newborn-to-Toddler Rockers, according to a Tuesday statement from the CPSC and Fisher-Price.

The CPSC and Fisher-Price reminded parents and caregivers that products, namely “rockers, gliders, soothers, and swings,” should not be used for infant sleep and that parents and caregivers “should not leave infants in these products unsupervised, unrestrained, or with bedding material, due to the risk of suffocation.”

In 2019, the CPSC issued a recall for the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper after more than 30 infant fatalities occurred after its 2009 introduction. And last year, a similar recall occurred after four infants, all of whom were under 4 months old, died between April 2019 and February 2020, according to The Associated Press.

The CPSC’s warning on the rockers was delayed because of a 1981 Gag Rule that prevented the agency from issuing a warning when they first became aware of the infant deaths associated with the rockers; the rule blocks the agency from doing so “without first seeking permission from the product’s maker,” CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka said in the statement.

“When CPSC needs to warn the public about a pattern of death and injury tied to a product, it should be able to quickly issue that warning to prevent further loss of life. …Here, the Gag Rule delayed our message to the public by two months.”

A new safety regulation enacted by the CPSC will take effect this month to prevent further harm from infant sleep products. Beginning June 23, 2022, all infant sleep products must have a sleep surface angle of 10 degrees or less, according to the agency. The Safe Sleep for Babies Act signed into law in 2021 follows the CPSC’s industry recommendations, according to NPR.

Sources

Consumer Product Safety Commission: CPSC and Fisher-Price Warn Consumers About 13 Deaths in Fisher-Price Infant-to-Toddler and Newborn-to-Toddler Rockers: Advise Rockers Should Never Be Used for Sleep, June 14, 2022

Fisher-Price Recalls Rock ‘n Play Sleepers due to Reports of Deaths. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, April 12, 2019.

13 Infant Deaths tied to Fisher-Price Infant Rockers. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission June 14, 2022

CPSC Approves Major New Federal Safety Standard for Infant Sleep Products. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission June 2, 2021

Fisher-Price, US regulators warn of infant deaths in rockers. AP News June 14, 2022

A new federal law bans baby sleep products linked to nearly 200 infant deaths, NPR May 18, 2022

Also see
Fisher-Price Reannounces Recall of 4.7 Million Rock ‘n Play Sleepers; At Least Eight Deaths Occurred After Recall U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, January 9, 2023
CPSC’s New Federal Infant Sleep Products Safety Standard U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, June 23, 2022
Fisher-Price reminds customers of sleeper recall after more reported infant deaths NPR, January 10, 2023
5.4 Million Baby Sleepers Recalled After More Than 115 Infant Deaths Health Day, January 19, 2023
100 Infant Deaths Linked to Recalled Fisher-Price Sleep The New York Times, January 1, 2023