Fisher-Price recalls Rock 'n Glide Soothers after four infant deaths
Fisher-Price is recalling two baby sleep products — 4-in-1 Rock 'n Glide Soothers and 2-in-1 Soothe 'n Play Gliders — following the deaths of four infants.
The fatalities linked to the Fisher-Price 4-in-1 Rock 'n Glide Soother involve a four-month old Missouri child, a two-month old in Nevada, a two-month old in Michigan and an 11-week-old in Colorado, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and toymaker Mattel, which owns Fisher-Price, said Thursday.
All four babies who died were said to have been placed on their backs unrestrained in the Fisher-Price products and later found on their stomachs, the CPSC reported. The deaths occurred between April 2019 and February 2020, according to the agency. There have been no known fatalities in the 2-in-1 Sooth 'n Play Gliders.
About 120,000 4-in-1 Rock 'n glide Soothers and 55,000 2-in-1 Sooth 'n Play Gliders were sold at juvenile product stores and mass merchandisers nationwide and online, including Walmart, Target and Amazon.com, the CPSC stated.
The 4-in-1 Rock 'n glide Soothers retailed for roughly $108 from January 2014 through December 2020, while the 2-in-1 Soothe 'n Play Gliders were sold from November 2018 through May 2021 for about $125. Nearly 60,000 of the recalled products were also sold in Canada, according to the recall notice.
The recall involves 4-in-1 Rock 'n Glide Soothers with the model numbers CHP56, CHP55 and CBT81 and GDD28, GDD39, GDD41, GGW85, GNX43, GVG43, HBD26 and HBD27 for the 2-in-1 Soothe 'n Play Gliders. HBT17 is sold in Canada only. Model numbers can be found on the underside of the base.
The products have two modes: A powered glider seat and an infant rocker that allows them to move in a head-to-toe or side-to-side motion.
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled products and contact Fisher-Price for a refund online at www.service.mattel.com or call toll-free at (855) 853-6224 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday.
"These incidents are indeed heartbreaking," Chuck Scothon, general manager of Fisher-Price, said in a statement. "We are committed to educating parents and caregivers on the safe use of all of our products, including the importance of following all warnings and instructions to ensure the health and safety of babies and children."
The Fisher-Price products are the latest among millions of inclined infant sleep products that have been recalled over the years. Advocacy groups including Consumer Reports have faulted their use in more than 100 infant deaths.
New federal rules for infant sleepers
The recall comes two days after the CPSC said it had approved a new rule that will effectively ban products linked to dozens of infant deaths, starting in mid-2022. The federal mandate will cover inclined sleep products, in-bed sleepers and baby boxes for infants up to five months old.
Another advocacy group criticized this week's actions as too little too late.
Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog with the PIRG Education Fund, noted in an emailed statement that it's been two years since the recall of more than 5 million rocking sleepers after other fatalities in 2019. Further, given that the new regulations don't take for a year, "How many babies will be at risk while these products are made safer or taken off the market?" Murray asked.
Roughly one in three families in the U.S. own one or more of the previously unregulated products, according to federal regulators.
"Inclined products, such as gliders, soothers, rockers and swings are not safe for infant sleep, due to the risk of suffocation," Robert Adler, acting chairman of the CPSC, said Thursday in a statement.
The safest place for a baby to sleep is on a firm, flat surface in a crib, bassinet or play yard, according to the product safety agency. Blankets, pillows and other items should never be added to an infant's sleeping environment, and babies should always be placed so they sleep on their backs.
