Photo: Fisher Price Rocker Seat Fisher-Infant-to-Toddler Pacific Pebble Fisher-Price and U.S. Product Safety regulators are telling parents not to let their babies sleep on the company’s shutters, as 13 babies died on the devices between 2009 and 2021. The deaths occurred when the babies fell asleep in Fisher Price’s Rockers Infant-to-Toddler and Newborn-to-Toddler. The company, along with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said rockers should never be used for sleeping and infants should never be left unattended or unrestrained. Fisher-Price, a division of Mattel Inc. based in El Segundo, California, recalled a similar product last year after four babies died after being restrained on their backs in the Rock ‘n Glide Soother 4 in 1. These victims, all children under 4 months, occurred between April 2019 and February 2020. In 2019, the CPSC recalled another similar Fisher-Price product, the Rock ‘n Play Sleeper, after 30 infant deaths were reported. Doctors, parents and consumer advocates had warned the company for years that the product was unsafe and should be withdrawn. CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. said a gag mandate implemented by Congress in 1981 prevented the service from issuing an immediate warning to consumers without first seeking permission from the product manufacturer. In the most recent case, Trumka said the silencing order delayed the warning message by two months. “Congress must immediately repeal the silencing rule,” Trump said in a statement separate from Tuesday’s product warning. “If the CPSC can not issue early warnings, the dangers will remain hidden in people’s homes.” A new rule finalized by the CPSC requires that baby sleeping products have a sleeping surface angle of 10 degrees or less. The rule enters into force on June 23, 2022. Fisher-Price and the CPSC said the best place for babies to sleep was on their backs on a firm, flat surface with no blankets or other objects near them. Fisher-Price has sold more than 17 million Rockers worldwide since the 1990s. Consumers are encouraged to report these or other infant products to the CPSC at Saferproducts (dot) gov.
