(PatrioticPost.com)- Parents shouldn’t let their infants sleep in rockers from Fisher-Price following the deaths of 13 kids who died while sleeping in them from 2009 through 2021.
The company and product safety regulators in the U.S. released that information this week. The products in question are the rocker products known as Newborn-to-Toddler and Infant-to-Toddler from Fisher-Price.
The company made an announcement with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that said neither of the rockers should ever be used to have babies sleep in. In addition, infants shouldn’t ever be left unrestrained or unsupervised while they are in the rockers.
Last year, Fisher-Price was forced to recall a product that was similar to these rockers following the death of four infants. That product is called the 4-in-1 Rock ‘n Glide. All four infants who died were younger than 4 months old and were put in the product laying on their back while they were unrestrained.
All four of those deaths also occurred between the dates of April of 2019 and February of 2020.
Three years ago, the Consumer Product Safety Commission also recalled another product from Fischer-Price that was similar. With that product, called the Rock ‘n Play Sleeper, 30 infant deaths occurred despite the fact that consumer advocates, parents and even doctors warned that the product wasn’t safe to be used.
Richard Trumka Jr., the commissioner of the CPSC, said that there was a gag order that Congress implemented in 1981 that stopped the agency from being able to immediately warn consumers before they first got permission from the maker of the product.
In regard to the product from this year, Trumka said that, because of the gag order, they were delayed in releasing the warning message for a full two months.
In a separate release from the product warning that was sent out earlier this week, Trumka said:
“Congress must immediately repeal the gag rule. If CPSC cannot issue timely warnings, dangers will remain hidden in people’s homes.”
CPSC finalized a rule recently that will require all sleep products made for infants to include a surface for sleep that is at an angle of 10 degrees or less. That rule, though, won’t fully go into effect until June 23 of this year.
In the product recall notice, both the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Fisher-Price said that it’s best for all infants to sleep laying on their back. They should also be placed down on a flat surface and not have any other objects or blankets anywhere within their reach.
Since the 1990s, Fisher-Price has sold in excess of 17 million of their various rocker products across the world.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission always takes incidents reported directly from consumers on their website. It’s not clear at this time if they were made aware of these incidents via tips left on their website, or some other means.