Sleepers ‘a tragedy waiting to happen’
SARA Thompson only left her three-month-old baby sleeping in his rocker for a few minutes, but when she came back into the room, his head was positioned at a strange angle and he was unresponsive.
“I yanked him out of the sleeper and tried to remember CPR,” she told American group, Consumer Reports.
Neither Sara nor the paramedics could revive the infant. After less than 15 minutes lying in an inclined rocker, the baby was gone. Eight years later, Fisher-price issued a recall of inclined rockers after 73 infants died. Sara’s baby was among the victims.
Two inclined sleepers have been recalled in Australia and
CHOICE experts are calling on the government to tighten product safety laws, saying inclined sleepers are so dangerous for young babies, they should be completely avoided.
“The public is being treated as a testing lab for dangerous products,” product safety campaigner Amy Pereira told
CHOICE. “Safety tests should be conducted in factories, not in people’s homes.
“Inclined sleepers are particularly hazardous because of their soft, sloped surface. This kind of surface may increase the risk of sudden and unexpected death, as babies can roll over or have their head fall forward … and suffocate.”
Pereira said the onus to check safety should be on the manufacturer not the consumer.
Last year Consumer Reports connected the FisherPrice Rock ‘n Play Sleeper with dozens of infant deaths. The company responded by recalling all 4.7 million sleepers.
Based on the infant deaths and US studies, CHOICE said in a statement, “inclined sleepers are a tragedy waiting to happen in our homes”, calling for a change to the law where all products are subject to “basic and sensible safety checks before going on sale”.
Pilar Mitchell, kidspot.com.au