WASHINGTON, DC – After learning of yet another infant death, Consumer Reports (CR) today called on Mattel and Fisher-Price to launch a recall addressing serious safety concerns associated with Fisher-Price infant-to-toddler and newborn-to-toddler rockers. CR sent a letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), bringing the risk of suffocation and recent reported incidents to its attention and calling on the federal agency to push for a recall.
Mattel, the parent company of Fisher-Price, did not respond to multiple CR requests for comment for a CR story on the incidents and on whether the company would issue a recall.
Oriene Shin, policy counsel for Consumer Reports, said, “It is heartbreaking to learn that a Fisher-Price infant rocker is tied to yet another infant death. Safety warnings can help keep the public informed, but too often, they are not enough on their own. Mattel and Fisher-Price have utterly failed to protect the babies and families who rely on their products, and the consequences are devastating. Fisher-Price must recall these rockers to get as many of them as possible out of people’s homes.”
In 2022, the CPSC and Fisher-Price issued a warning notice advising parents and caregivers not to use these products for sleep after reports of at least 13 infant deaths between 2009 and 2021 linked to the products. On the same day, CPSC and Kids2 released a similar warning about a Bright Starts rocker that was associated with one infant death.
Since the warning, CR’s product safety early warning system has identified another recent infant death reported on SaferProducts.gov. The report stated that, in November 2023, a 6-month-old baby girl died in a Fisher Price infant-to-toddler rocker. CR also found an incident report from March 2023 described as a close call with no injury. Safe infant sleep is an important issue for CR, which was instrumental in investigating the safety of inclined sleepers, including another Fisher-Price product, the Rock ‘n Play Sleeper, and securing a ban on infant inclined sleep products.
While pressing for companies to take greater responsibility for the safety of their products, Consumer Reports also recommends that parents and caregivers take extra caution to ensure that a baby in a rocker stays awake and to move an infant that falls asleep in a rocker to a crib, bassinet, or play yard. Inclined products are not safe for any kind of infant sleep, including supervised sleep or napping. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) safe sleep guidelines say that babies should be placed alone on a firm, flat surface in their own space, with only a fitted sheet and no added items such as blankets, pillows, padded crib bumpers, or toys in their sleeping area.
Media Contact: Emily Akpan, emily.akpan@consumer.org