Hospital Wanderer

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers to stop using infant sleep positioners. Over the past 13 years, CPSC and the FDA have received 12 reports of infants between the ages of 1 month and 4 months who died when they suffocated in sleep positioners or became trapped and suffocated between a sleep positioner and the side of a crib or bassinet.


Most of the infants suffocated after rolling from a side to stomach position. In addition to the reported deaths, CPSC has received dozens of reports of infants who were placed on their backs or sides in sleep positioners, only to be found later in potentially hazardous positions within or next to the sleep positioners.


“To date, there is no scientifically sound evidence that infant sleep positioners prevent SIDS,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner and a pediatrician. “We want to make sure parents, health care professionals, and childcare providers understand the potential risk of suffocation and stop using infant sleep positioners.”


There are two main types of infant sleep positioners. The flat mats with side bolsters or inclined (wedge) mats with side bolsters. Both typically claim to help keep infants on their backs and reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The FDA has never cleared an infant sleep positioner to prevent or reduce the risk of SIDS. In addition, CPSC and the FDA are unaware of any scientific studies demonstrating that infant positioners prevent SIDS or are proven to prevent suffocation or other life-threatening harm. And even the American Academy of Pediatrics does not support the use of any sleep positioner to prevent SIDS.





However these sleep positioners claim to have the following advantages:

• Aid in food digestion to ease colic or the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• Prevent flat head syndrome (plagiocephaly)

These benefits on the other hand didn't outweighs the risk of sleep positioners that's why CPSC and the FDA are warning parents and people in hospital scrubs or cartoon scrubs (the caregivers) to:

• STOP using sleep positioners. Using a positioner to hold an infant on his or her back or side for sleep is dangerous and unnecessary.
• NEVER put pillows, infant sleep positioners, comforters, or quilts under a baby or in a crib.
• ALWAYS place an infant on his or her back at night and during nap time. To reduce the risk of SIDS, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends placing infants to sleep on their backs and not their sides.

Read more: Deaths prompt CPSC, FDA warning on infant sleep positioners