The Boppy Company, which sells loungers for babies, issued a recall of several of their products due to eight reports of infant deaths.
The infants reportedly suffocated after being placed on their back, side or stomach on the lounger and were found on their side or on their stomach. The infant deaths occurred between December 2015 and June 2020, according to a press release from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
“These types of incidents are heartbreaking,” acting chairman Robert S. Adler, said in a statement. “Loungers and pillow-like products are not safe for infant sleep, due to the risk of suffocation. Since we know that infants sleep so much of the time – even in products not intended for sleep – and since suffocation can happen so quickly, these Boppy lounger products are simply too risky to remain on the market.”
“We are devastated to hear of these tragedies,” a spokesperson for Boppy commented. “Boppy is committed to doing everything possible to safeguard babies, including communicating the safe use of our products to parents and caregivers, and educating the public about the importance of following all warnings and instructions and the risks associated with unsafe sleep practices for infants. The lounger was not marketed as an infant sleep product and includes warnings against unsupervised use.”
This recall involves all Boppy Newborn Loungers, including the Boppy Original Newborn Lounger, Boppy Preferred Newborn Lounger and Pottery Barn Kids Boppy Newborn Lounger. The loungers were sold in a variety of colors and fashions and measure about 23 inches long by 22 inches wide and 7 inches high.
Boppy sold about 3.3 million of the recalled loungers at juvenile product stores and mass merchandisers nationwide and online, including Pottery Barn Kids, Target, and Walmart and online on Amazon. The loungers were sold from January 2004 through September 2021 for between $30 and $44.
Boppy also distributed about 35,000 in Canada.
