On Wednesday, June 2, 2021, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is scheduled to vote on a final rule that would ensure currently unregulated products marketed or intended to be sleep products for infants up to five months of age comply with CPSC mandatory standards for infant sleep.
Inclined sleepers, which are not currently required to meet one of the CPSC’s safety standards, have led to at least 94 infant deaths. And this is just one of the types of products currently on the market unregulated. As it currently stands, there are only five categories of infant sleep products that are required to meet the CPSC’s required standards: full-sized cribs, non-full-sized cribs, bassinets/cradles, play yards, and bedside sleepers. Under this new rule, products that are not currently covered by one of those standards would fall under the Infant Sleep Product rule and have to meet the requirements in the bassinet standard. The proposed rule would ensure that all sleep products align closely with standards recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which recommend infants sleep alone, on their back, on a firm flat surface, and with no extra bedding.
The CPSC estimates that one in three families owns one or more of the items affected by this ruling, valued at $125 million dollars. These families likely assume that these products are already covered by safety standard, but instead are putting their families at risk.
The CPSC needs to hear from you before the June 2nd vote. Please email the four CPSC commissioners today asking them to vote in favor of the proposed Infant Sleep Product rule to save children’s lives.
Here are their emails:
- Acting Chairman Robert Alder: radler (at) cpsc.gov
- Commissioner Dana Baiocco: dbaiocco (at) cpsc.gov
- Commissioner Peter Feldman: pfeldman (at) cpsc.gov
- Commissioner Elliot Kaye: ekaye (at) cpsc.gov
Emailing the commissioners directly is the most effective way to make your voice heard, but if you only have a minute, you can sign this petition here. After you email them, please forward to your contacts or share on social media tagging us @kidsindanger to spread the word.