March 2005
Sleep positioners for babies
Making a crib safe for a new baby is essential. In stores, you'll see cribs outfitted with plush bumpers, fluffy blankets,
and toys. You'll also see sleep positioners made out of foam, which are supposed to help babies sleep on their backs. But
pediatricians, child safety experts, and Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, all caution against putting anything cushioned in a crib because soft materials could close off the child's air passages,
causing suffocation. Consumer Reports believes that parents are being given the wrong message by store displays.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) advises parents and caregivers to remove all "pillow-like soft products" from cribs, while the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises that "soft objects, such as pillows, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, stuffed toys, and other gas-trapping objects should be kept out of an infant's sleeping environment." More specifically, the AAP advises that "Although various devices have been developed to maintain sleep position or to reduce the risk of rebreathing, such devices are not recommended, because none have been tested sufficiently to show efficacy or safety."
While the cause of infant death can be difficult to determine, our reporters found documentation of at least one death attributed by a New York City medical examiner to be caused by asphyxia by obstruction of nose and mouth by a foam positioning device. "Our advice is to keep the crib bare," says R. David Pittle, Consumers Union's former senior vice president for technical policy. "The only thing that should be in a crib is a sheet, a mattress, a child, and a blanket."
Consumer Reports Video  |
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Sleep positioners caution View video  |
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The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) advises parents and caregivers to remove all "pillow-like soft products" from cribs, while the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises that "soft objects, such as pillows, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, stuffed toys, and other gas-trapping objects should be kept out of an infant's sleeping environment." More specifically, the AAP advises that "Although various devices have been developed to maintain sleep position or to reduce the risk of rebreathing, such devices are not recommended, because none have been tested sufficiently to show efficacy or safety."
While the cause of infant death can be difficult to determine, our reporters found documentation of at least one death attributed by a New York City medical examiner to be caused by asphyxia by obstruction of nose and mouth by a foam positioning device. "Our advice is to keep the crib bare," says R. David Pittle, Consumers Union's former senior vice president for technical policy. "The only thing that should be in a crib is a sheet, a mattress, a child, and a blanket."
