Fisher-Price has recalled nearly five million infant sleeping chairs, following a U.S. consumer watchdog group鈥檚 investigation that found the product was linked to at least 32 baby deaths over 10 years.
On Friday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said consumers who bought a Rock 鈥榥 Play Sleeper should immediately stop using it, and contact Fisher-Price for a refund or voucher.
CPSC said the deaths occurred after infants rolled onto their stomachs or their sides while they were unrestrained. But they did not specify how they died.
The recall follows the watchdog organization Consumer Reports publishing an , on Monday, that found the infants died from suffocation.
The group linked the chair to at least three times as many infant deaths as Fisher-Price had initially claimed, including babies younger than three months.
鈥淏ased on the deaths and injuries associated with the Fisher-Price Rock 鈥榥 Play, the product clearly puts infants鈥� safety at risk and should be recalled immediately,鈥� said William Wallace, senior policy analyst for Consumer Reports.
鈥淎ll other inclined sleepers should be investigated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. These products conflict with American Academy of Pediatrics' safe sleep recommendations, and manufacturers should pull them off the market. CR also recommends that people not use them for infant sleep or leave infants unattended in them.鈥�
, Fisher-Price said it was standing by the safety of its products and said it issued the voluntary recall "due to reported incidents in which the product was used contrary to the safety warnings and instructions."
The recall will cover approximately 4.7 million sleepers which have been sold since 2009.
Prior to Friday鈥檚 voluntary recall, Fisher-Price had with the USCPSC on April 5, warning that babies should not be put in sleeper once they are able to roll off their backs. That typically happens around three months of age.
鈥淭he CPSC is aware of 10 infant deaths in the Rock 鈥榥 Play that have occurred since 2015, after the infants rolled from their back to their stomach or side, while unrestrained. All 10 infants were three months or older,鈥� reads an alert from the commission.
But watchdog organization Consumer Reports says , links the chair to at least three times as many infant deaths, including babies younger than three months. The organization says the CPSC alert was issued a few days after Consumer Reports asked for comment on its findings.
鈥淏ased on the deaths and injuries associated with the Fisher-Price Rock 鈥榥 Play, the product clearly puts infants鈥� safety at risk and should be recalled immediately,鈥� said William Wallace, senior policy analyst for Consumer Reports.
鈥淎ll other inclined sleepers should be investigated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. These products conflict with American Academy of Pediatrics' safe sleep recommendations, and manufacturers should pull them off the market. CR also recommends that people not use them for infant sleep or leave infants unattended in them.鈥�
Canada requires that the Rock 鈥榥 Play be marketed as a 鈥渟oothing seat鈥� rather than a sleeper after Health Canada wrote to Mattel Canada in 2011 indicating concerns about the product 鈥渋n light of the Safe Sleep recommendations of Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the Canadian Pediatric Society.鈥�
ROCK N' PLAY SLEEPERS FOUND ON CANADIAN WEBSITES
The Rock 鈥榥 Play can be found on Walmart鈥檚 Canadian website, but it鈥檚 listed as unavailable. It does not appear on the Toys R Us website in Canada, but does appear to be available through Amazon. It鈥檚 also widely available on resell websites.
Consumer Reports says Fisher-Price has marketed the product as being suitable for overnight sleep, but that pediatricians say babies should not be unsupervised when in an inclined position or while restrained because the straps can impede breathing.
The product warning is 鈥渓ong overdue and falls far short of what is needed, especially given how long ago the CPSC first received reports of fatal incidents,鈥� said Wallace. He says the CPSC should strongly regulate infant sleep products and mandate that companies tell parents that babies should sleep on a firm, flat surface free of pillows, blankets or other soft materials.
鈥淎nd if products don鈥檛 meet the rules, the agency should quickly get them off the market and out of people鈥檚 homes, even if they conform to voluntary industry standards. It鈥檚 totally inappropriate for companies or the CPSC to put the bulk of the responsibility for safety on parents and caregivers 鈥� especially when a product indicates it鈥檚 safe for routine sleep but really isn鈥檛 鈥� or to imply that they鈥檙e to blame for tragedies.鈥�
Consumer Reports said it based its investigation on previously undisclosed CPSC data, reviews of lawsuits and 鈥渋nterviews with numerous medical experts, product engineers, government and industry officials, and parents.鈥� It said the earliest death it uncovered was in 2011 and that it found some of the fatalities were among babies younger than three months.
鈥淭here is, for example, the mother in Hidalgo County, Texas, who placed her 2-month old daughter on her back for a night鈥檚 sleep on Oct. 19, 2013, according to a lawsuit filed by the family against Fisher-Price,鈥� reads an article by Consumer Reports. 鈥淎t 4 a.m., when the mother checked, all was well, but by 7 a.m., the baby had stopped breathing. Her head was tilted to the side with her chin on her shoulder, compressing her airway. She was pronounced dead at the scene from positional asphyxia, or an inability to breathe caused by her position.鈥�
The watchdog said the most recent deaths occurred a year ago, one involving a one-month-old girl in Tennessee and the other was a nine-day-old boy in Texas.
Fisher-Price general manager Chuck Scothon said in a statement Friday: 鈥淎 child fatality is an unimaginable tragedy. Fisher-Price has a long, proud tradition of prioritizing safety as the cornerstone of our mission.鈥�
The company reminded parents and caregivers to follow all product safety warnings: always use the provided restraints; always place infants on their backs to sleep; and make sure no pillows, blankets or extra padding are placed in the Rock 鈥榥 Play with the baby.
It says the product meets all applicable safety standards, including those of the international standards organization, known as ASTM International, and is certified by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA).
According to, in the first year of a baby鈥檚 life: 鈥淯se a firm, flat surface for sleep. Waterbeds, air mattresses, pillows, couches/sofas or soft materials are not safe sleep surfaces for babies. Babies can turn onto their side or stomach and bury their face in these soft materials, not getting enough air to breathe.鈥�
Fisher-Price is a division of Mattel, which reported about US$4.5 billion in sales in 2018.
