Amazon, Target and Other Retailers Stop Selling Weighted Infant Sleepwear
Public concern is growing that weighted infant sleepwear, including sleep sacks and swaddles, may be dangerous for babies, after warnings from medical experts, safe-sleep advocates and federal regulators. In response, Amazon, Target and Walmart pulled this sleepwear from their sites and shelves. A senator has called for investigation into Dreamland Baby and Nested Bean, two of the popular weighted infant sleepwear companies based on allegations that they’ve used deceptive marketing in connection with product safety. It’s terrifying to discover your baby has been injured by a product you believed was safe. If your baby was injured by weighted infant sleepwear, call trustworthy Chicago-based product liability lawyers Moll Law Group.
Consult Moll Law Group About Weighted Infant Sleepwear Claims
Experts and regulators concerned about the weighted sleepwear believe that it could prevent babies from breathing and pumping blood, and that the sleepwear could harm a baby as he or she is developing. Additionally, they think that the sleepwear is heavy enough that it could stop an infant from waking themselves up in case they aren’t able to breathe. This group thinks the product needs rigorous safety testing prior to being made available on the market.
However, the manufacturers’ CEOs have stated that their products are safe and that there’s no evidence to the contrary; investigators are concerned that there’s no evidence of safety either. The marketing for these products has focused on their comforting and soothing effects on newborns. Nested Bean has sold more than 2.5 million units of sleepwear products. The Dreamland Baby product has been out for more than 10 years, and more than 1 million weighted units have been sold.
The National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warn that parents and guardians shouldn’t use the weighted sleepwear on their infants. A commissioner with the CPSC wrote letters to retailers to notify them of infant deaths from weighted sleep products; the commission has been aware of only one such death, however, making it difficult to know what to believe. The manufacturers have asserted that the letters by the commissioner were inaccurate.
You should be aware that little research has been done on the issue of safety around these products. One safety study determined that 1 oz. of weight on an infant’s chest didn’t have a clear indication for or against potential dangers, but the same study found that 3 and 9.5 ounce weights did seem to increase the risk by lowering breathing rates and increasing pulse speed.
The retailers have confirmed that they don’t sell weighted infant sleepwear currently. If your baby died or suffered injuries due to weighted sleepwear, it’s important to seek legal counsel. It may be appropriate to bring a product liability lawsuit; these lawsuits are pursued when products such as the sleepwear are dangerously defective in terms of their design, manufacturing, or marketing. When our attorneys successfully establish that a manufacturer was liable for a product that harmed babies, we may be able to recover compensatory damages, and in some cases, punitive damages.
If your baby was injured or killed by weighted infant sleepwear, call the seasoned Chicago-based product liability lawyers of Moll Law Group for a consultation to talk about your legal options. We represent grieving families around the country. Billions have been recovered in lawsuits with which we’ve been involved. Please complete our online form or call us at 312.462.1700.