Federal officials are urging parents to stop using “Nap Nanny” infant recliners in the wake of the suffocation death of an 8-month-old New Jersey girl. The baby’s death was the sixth fatality linked to the recliner, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning parents to throw away Nap Nanny recliners they may already own, and to avoid buying used recliners at yard sales or online auctions. More from ABC News:
CPSC Communications Director Scott Wolfson said parents should avoid the recliners at yard sales, as hand-me-downs or in online auctions.
“Our message to parents is clear: Stop using it. It’s dangerous,” Wolfson said. “There’s been six deaths already, and we don’t want another child to die unnecessarily.”
About 165,000 Nap Nanny and Nap Nanny Chill recliners were sold between 2009 and 2012. Nap Nannies — which are no longer sold in stores — were recalled last year, but for months the company that made the portable recliner refused to pull it from shelves or offer refunds, instead insisting on the product’s safety when used properly.
In a statement, an official with the company, now out of business for two years, told ABC News it was heartbroken for the families who have lost a child, but said the Nap Nanny was never intended for use in a crib.
The CPSC sued Baby Matters, LLC, the company that manufactured Nap Nanny, in 2012, and later that year, before the company went out of business, a number of major retailers, including Amazon.com and Toys R Us, stopped selling the products.