Fisher-Price’s Rock ‘n Play sleepers linked to 100 deaths: feds

A US agency said Fisher-Price’s Rock ‘n Play sleepers may be linked to the deaths of 100 infants — among them 30 who had died after it was first recalled more than three years ago.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Fisher-Price said they had initiated another recall of the sleepers — nearly 5 million of which were sold before they were first pulled off the shelves in April 2019.

Since the first recall, some 70 more infants are said to have died while lying down in the sleeper. It is believed the babies died from asphyxiation caused by 30-degree incline of the product.

“Infant fatalities have occurred in the Rock ‘n Play Sleepers, after the infants rolled from their back to their stomach or side while unrestrained, or under other circumstances,” according to CPSC.

“We are issuing this announcement because, despite their removal from the marketplace and a prohibition on their sale, babies continue to die in these products,” CPSC Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric said in a statement. 

“I urge all parents, grandparents, and caregivers to follow the guidance of this announcement and stop using these products immediately.”

The government also mandated the recall of Kids2 Rocking Sleepers, which has been blamed for 15 deaths.

The Post has sought comment from Fisher-Price’s parent company, Mattel, and Kids2.

After the 2019 recall, two class action lawsuits were filed against Fisher-Price and Mattel.

One was filed by a Delaware couple — Samantha Drover-Mundy and Zachary Mundy — who lost their 12-week-old daughter. They claim the infant died just minutes after she was placed in a Rock ‘n Play Sleeper. Another lawsuit was filed by Long Island native Cassandra Mulvey.

The Mundys allege in their lawsuit that “the Rock ‘n Play’s defective design also causes injuries…which require costly medical treatment and can cause life-long damage, including permanent deformities and developmental delays.”

Mulvey alleged in her filing that Mattel’s marketing of the product was “dangerously false and misleading, as the product is not safe for all-night or prolonged sleep for infants.”

The court filing alleges that the Rock ‘n Play “significantly increased the risk that an infant’s head would slip into a dangerous position, tilt to constrict the windpipe and/or cause the infant’s face to become pressed against the padded fabric in the sleeper and block airflow, thereby increasing the risk of death by asphyxiation.”  

Fisher-Price has been accused of failing to act even though it was warned its product was causing infant deaths as far back as more than a decade ago. In September 2011, the 15-week-old son of Sara Thompson of Nazareth, Pa., died in the Rock ‘n Play Sleeper. In December 2012, Thompson wrote a letter to the CPSC informing it of her son’s death.

“My 15 week old son died in the last Rock N Sleeper we had . . . and ruled SIDS [sudden infant death syndrome],” she wrote.

The agency then passed on the note to Fisher-Price’s risk-management team, according to Consumer Reports. In response, the company categorized the incident as an “injury flag,” per internal company files.

In February 2013, an Atlanta-based pediatrician, Dr. Roy Benaroch, warned Fisher-Price in letters and phone calls that its product was unsafe for infants. In August 2018, an Oregon woman, Erika Richter, lost her two-week-old infant daughter after she, too, was placed in a Rock ‘n Play sleeper.

Richter has taken on a public role, urging lawmakers and regulators to tighten federal oversight of companies that market harmful products for infants.

According to pediatricians, the sleeper’s 30-degree incline angle poses a danger for babies since their airways can be obstructed by their heavy heads falling forward into a chin-to-chest posture.

Babies are also helpless to move to a safer position since they cannot lift their own heads, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.