Fisher-Price Recall Comes With a Jarring Statistic

Parents using the Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play Sleeper for infants should stop immediately. The company is recalling all 4.7 million models on the market because of reports of fatalities, reports USA Today. A notice on the Consumer Product Safety Commission website lays it out with a telling stat: "Since the 2009 product introduction, over 30 infant fatalities have occurred in Rock ‘n Play Sleepers, after the infants rolled over while unrestrained, or under other circumstances." Last week, the company and the CPSC issued a warning that parents should stop using the sleeper when their child reaches 3 months or is capable of rolling over, but that was criticized as too lax.

On Monday, Consumer Reports published an investigation in which it concluded that the sleeper needed to be recalled. "At least 32 babies have died while in the sleeper. Why is it still on the market?" asked its headline. After the CR report, the American Academy of Pediatrics echoed the demand for a recall. A big issue, according to the CR investigation, is that babies should sleep on their back on firm, flat surfaces to reduce the risk of suffocation. The sleeper has soft bedding and is on an incline. What's more, the AAP doesn't recommend sleepers that rock while requiring the infant to be fastened. (More Fisher-Price stories.)