Summary: Target, Walmart, Nordstrom, Babylist, and Amazon have discontinued sales of weighted baby products like sleep sacks and swaddles due to safety concerns highlighted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The decision follows warnings from multiple health agencies that these products can obstruct babies’ breathing and prevent them from escaping unsafe positions, posing suffocation risks. Additionally, US Senator Richard Blumenthal has urged the FTC to investigate manufacturers like Nested Bean and Dreamland Baby for potential deceptive advertising claims about the safety of their products.

Key Takeaways:

Major retailers including Target, Walmart, Nordstrom, Babylist, and Amazon have stopped selling weighted baby products like sleep sacks and swaddles due to safety concerns.
Health agencies warn that weighted baby products can obstruct breathing and increase suffocation risks by making it difficult for infants to move out of dangerous positions.
US Senator Richard Blumenthal has called for an FTC investigation into manufacturers like Nested Bean and Dreamland Baby for potentially deceptive advertising regarding the safety of their weighted infant products.

Target, Walmart, Nordstrom, and Babylist will no longer sell weighted baby products, like sleep sacks and swaddles, due to safety concerns, according to a statement from Consumer Product Safety Commission commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr. Amazon also updated its policy to prohibit the sale of such products.

In mid-April Trumka issued a letter to major US retailers to inform them of the hazards of weighted infant products and ask them to consider whether they still want to sell the products. Trumka says in his recent statement that the aforementioned retailers “quickly responded by sharing that they will cease sales” of the products. “Each of those companies deserves praise for prioritizing safety over products,” he says in the statement.

Safety Warnings and Expert Concerns

The decision to pull the products comes amid warnings from multiple agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Institutes of Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that weighted baby products are unsafe for sleep.

Medical and Consumer Reports product safety experts have raised concerns that even gentle pressure from these products can obstruct babies’ breathing and heart rates. Weighted products can also make it difficult for babies to get themselves out of unsafe sleeping positions, posing the risk of suffocation.

“It’s promising to see companies including Amazon and Target step up and make the right decision, based on the recommendations of medical and safety experts,” says Oriene Shin, policy counsel for Consumer Reports, in a release. “Too often, products that contradict clear expert guidance are for sale for years and end up putting babies and children at serious risk.”

Lawmaker Urges FTC Probe Into Safety Claims

One lawmaker has called on regulators to take a closer look into these products. US Sen Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut wrote to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan on April 25, urging the FTC to investigate Nested Bean and Dreamland Baby, two popular weighted infant sleep product manufacturers, to see whether they have engaged in deceptive advertising by depicting their products as safe for infants.

The two companies maintain that their products are of no risk to babies, according to a release from Consumers Union.

Source link

Stay Ahead, Stay Informed: justbabyshop.com Exclusive