The U.S. agency that oversees consumer products decided Wednesday to advance the first federal safety regulations for infant rockers, which are linked to the deaths of nearly a dozen babies.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted unanimously to move forward with the proposal developed by its staff, which was unveiled last month. The recommendations come after the agency tallied 11 deaths that were associated with the reclined seats from 2011 to 2022, most of which happened after infants fell asleep in them.
CPSC staff found that the popular products were also associated with 88 injuries in that 12-year period. In many of the cases, infants hurt their heads after rockers tipped over.
The newly proposed rules aim to reduce the risk of suffocation, strangulation and tip-overs in rockers. They would require rockers to be firmer and flatter to prevent infants from suffocating, and to pass stability and other safety tests. Rockers would also need prominent warning labels urging caregivers not to allow babies to sleep in them, and not to put soft bedding around babies in the products.
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“I believe that this rule can have a real impact on the safety of these products,” CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric said at Wednesday morning’s vote.
The regulations must go through public comment and review before they are finalized.
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