After More Infant Deaths, Fisher-Price Recalls Rock ‘n Play Sleepers, Again
Edited by: TJVNews.com
For those who have children or for those of us who were once children, the name Fisher-Price is an iconic one. Toys and baby products manufactured by the company have always been a staple in most homes, but now it has been reported that one of its products known as the Rock ‘n Play Sleeper has once again been recalled.
In the last 13 years, approximately 100 infant deaths have been linked to the Fisher-Price Rock ’n Play Sleeper. The product was first recalled in April 2019 when 32 deaths were reported but since that that 70 additional deaths were reported, bringing the total to 102, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said. They have issued repeated warning to parents to stop using the product. The recall covers about 4.7 million products.
The Commission advised parents to contact Fisher-Price for refunds or vouchers. The sleepers had sold for between $40 and $149, the commission said, as was reported by the New York Times.
The NYT also reported that in most cases, children suffocated in the sleeper after rolling over from their backs onto their stomachs or sides while unrestrained.
A spokeswoman for Mattel, the parent company of Fisher-Price, said on Tuesday that the company stopped selling the Rock ’n Play Sleeper when the recall was announced in April 2019, according to the NYT report. “Since then, the company has worked diligently to remove all recalled product from the market,” the spokeswoman, Catherine Frymark, said. “Today’s reannouncement serves as a critical reminder to both consumers and resellers that they should not use, sell, or donate the recalled Rock ’n Play.”
Fisher-Price said it was unable to confirm the circumstances of some of the deaths or that the product involved was a Rock ’n Play Sleeper, according to the commission.
The commission on Monday also issued a renewed warning about a similar product, the Kids2 Rocking Sleeper. The NYT reported that it said that 15 deaths had been linked to the product, including four that were reported after nearly 700,000 of the rocking sleepers were initially recalled in 2019.
In June, the commission said that infants should never sleep in inclined products, like rockers, soothers or swings, because of the risk of suffocation, the NYT reported. It issued a rule last year requiring infant sleep products to have a surface angle of no more than 10 degrees. The NYT report indicated that the best way for an infant to sleep, the commission said, is on his or her back, on a firm, flat surface, such as one in a crib or an infant bassinet, which, unlike inclined sleepers, have strict safety standards. Infants should sleep with just a fitted sheet and with no pillows or blankets, the commission said.
Other Fisher-Price products have been recalled in recent years, the NYT reported. In 2021, the company recalled its 4-in-1 Rock ’n Glide Soother, after it was linked to four infant deaths between April 2019 and February 2020, and its 2-in-1 Soothe ’n Play Glider, though no deaths were reported in connection with that product. The report also indicated that in 2022, the company recalled its Infant-to-Toddler Rocker and Newborn-to-Toddler Rocker after 13 deaths were reported to have happened in the products between 2009 and 2021.
