Deadly Danger: CPSC Urges Parents To Not Place Infants on Air Mattresses
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Deadly Danger: CPSC Urges Parents To Not Place Infants on Air Mattresses
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This is the season when homes fill up with gifts and guests. When traveling, parents may choose alternative sleeping environments for babies. The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission CPSC is warning families nationwide that air mattresses are too soft for use with sleeping infants. Never place infants to sleep on air mattresses or other soft surfaces such as water beds and adult beds, which are not specifically designed or safe for infant use.
Since 2002, CPSC has received reports of 16 tragic deaths, mostly infants younger than 8 months of age who were placed to sleep on air mattresses: 11 suffocated in a face down position on an air mattress and 5 died due to suffocation after falling into gaps between the mattress and bed frame and mattress and adjacent furniture or wall.
Generic twin-, full-, or queen-sized inflatable mattresses are usually intended for adults and older children. Even properly inflated air mattresses are usually too soft for infants to maintain a clear airway. Air leaks and under-inflation also contribute to incidents.
Wherever your baby sleeps should be as safe as possible. CPSC recommends these safe sleeping tips:
Always place your baby to sleep on his or her back to reduce the risk of SIDS.
Never place baby to sleep on an adult bed. Infants can suffocate on bedding or can become entrapped between the mattress and bed frame or mattress and wall.
When using a crib, make sure it meets current safety standards, has a firm, tight-fitting mattress and tight-fitting bottom sheet.
When using a portable crib or play yard, be sure to use only the mattress or pad provided by the manufacturer.
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Send the link for this page to a friend The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agencys jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $800 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSCs work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSCs hotline at 800 638-2772 or CPSCs teletypewriter at 800 638-8270, or visit CPSCs web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSCs Web site at www.cpsc.gov.
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