Infant deaths linked to recalled Boppy cushioned loungers following CPSC vote against ban
In September 2021, officials at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted against sweeping new rules that would have forced manufacturers to redesign or stop selling cushioned infant loungers, a type of pillow designed for babies to lay on while they are awake. Infant loungers were linked to at least 21 deaths between 2015 and 2021. At least five more babies have died while sleeping or resting on infant loungers in the two years since the CPSC voted against implementing new rules for these products.
Concerns about cushioned infant loungers were first raised at the CPSC in regard to the Boppy Newborn Lounger, a popular model that is widely used by parents and infant caregivers. After the Boppy lounger was linked to several deaths among infants who fell asleep on these pillows while resting, the CPSC voted to recall more than 3 million Boppy Newborn Loungers in September 2021.
At least seven wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against Boppy over allegations that the company’s Newborn Loungers caused a child’s death.
Although infant sleep products are tightly regulated by the CPSC and other federal agencies, cushioned infant loungers have escaped more stringent regulations because they are designed to only be used while babies are awake. As a result, new federal rules banning hazards such as inclined surfaces for infant sleep products do not apply to cushioned loungers.
Manufacturers have advised parents and caregivers to move babies from cushioned loungers to their crib or bassinet if they fall asleep on these pillows. They say that cushioned infant loungers and other infant pillows are safe when used as intended.
CPSC Votes on Proposed Regulations for Cushioned Infant Loungers
After the Boppy lounger was recalled by the CPSC in September 2021, staff members at the agency voiced concerns that the risks which prompted the recall were not unique to this one product.
The CPSC voted in 1992 to ban form pellets or beads in infant cushions after at least 36 infants died after being found facedown on the soft materials in these products, similar to infant deaths that were reported in relation to cushioned infant loungers. The CPSC proposed expanding the 1992 ban to apply to cushioned infant loungers, and submitted new rules for a vote by the agency’s commissioners that would have added the rules to the CPSC’s 2022 operating plan.
In September 2021, just one day after the Boppy lounger recall, the CPSC’s commissioners voted against the proposed rules to regulate cushioned infant loungers and other infant pillows. In a statement following the vote, one of the commissioners who voted against the new rules said that because the agency “had not yet laid the required groundwork” for the regulation of infant pillows, approving the proposed rules would have made them vulnerable to being stayed or overturned in court.
Subsequent investigations have found that at least five infants died while using cushioned infant loungers in the two years since the CPSC voted against tighter regulations for these products. Product safety experts say that the numbers of deaths that have been officially linked to infant loungers is almost undoubtedly too low because many autopsy reports do not specifically mention the product that was involved in the infant’s death.
Instead of banning or more closely regulating cushioned infant loungers, the CPSC began working with manufacturers to develop voluntary, non-binding safety standards, and took action against individual manufacturers of infant loungers. The agency also commissioned a study about the safety risks associated with infant pillows, which include both loungers and nursing pillows, which had also been linked to several infant deaths.
CPSC May Vote to Ban Cushioned Infant Loungers Following Study
The study that was approved by the CPSC in its 2021 vote and released by the agency in October 2022 found that deaths associated with cushioned infant loungers or other infant pillows usually occurred either when infants rolled over or turned their faces against the soft material on the cushions, or from positional asphyxia, which occurs when babies place their bodies in a position that inhibits their breathing. In some cases, babies also suffocated when they rolled off of the pillows while asleep.
Following the release of this study, the CPSC is planning to reconsider tighter regulations for infant pillows as soon as this year.
Some state legislators have already taken action to ban or regulate cushioned infant loungers: lawmakers in New York have introduced a bill that would ban the sale of infant loungers in that state. Lawmakers who drafted the proposed law say that they hope the New York regulations will pave the way for a nationwide ban on cushioned infant loungers.