The Rock ’n Play sleeper holds babies at a 30-degree angle like a recliner. By Todd C. Frankel Todd C. Frankel Enterprise reporter on The Washington Post's Financial desk covering people and policy Email Bio Follow May 30 at 12:13 PM Fisher-Price thought it had a hit on its hands.
“That’s shocking. It would never cross anyone’s mind that it wasn’t tested for safety,” said Nancy Cowles of the consumer advocacy group Kids in Danger. Cowles also sits on a committee that sets voluntary safety standards for infant sleep products, including the Rock ‘n Play. Fisher-Price’s owner, Mattel, declined to respond to a detailed list of questions about the Rock ‘n Play and its creation. The company said in a statement: “Safety is priority number 1 for Fisher-Price” and the company “ has a long, proud tradition of prioritizing safety as our mission. We at Fisher-Price want parents around the world to know that we have every intention of continuing that tradition.” Kids II said its “first priority is the safety of babies and parents who use our products.
“There was no reason for this thing to be out there,” said Benjamin Hoffman, a pediatrician in Portland, Ore., who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention. “It never should’ve been.”Jan Hinson, an attorney in Greenville, S.C., has a collection of Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play sleepers in her office. In 2014, she discovered her 7-week grandson blue and lifeless in an inclined sleeper, she said. He survived.
“To elevate his head when sleeping. He said you could put a pillow underneath the mattress, or he didn’t really have a good way to do it.”Many parents — and a few doctors — still contend an incline helps babies who have reflux, which often causes them to spit up. But medical studies have shown little support for this.
“What changed? The data,” said Benjamin Gold, a pediatric gastroenterologist and president-elect of the medical society that helped craft the guidelines. Inclined positioning “was no longer recommended for infants.” This was not the only time Deegear had his theories doubted. In 1998, another judge excluded Deegear’s expert testimony in the case of a man who lost four fingers in a radial arm saw accident, court records show. The judge ruled that Deegear’s work was untested and subjective.
Very sad. Made me think ... a couple months earlier than this age, a baby could be legally killed. 3,000 pre-born infants died today - in the US alone.
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