No abstract

Parents of infants expect their baby will sleep safely in any of a number of products that are intended for overnight sleep (e.g., crib, bassinet, cradle, play yard) as well as products in which infants routinely nap (e.g., infant seat, swing). Yet each year, infants die while napping or sleeping. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent federal agency charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk of injury associated with consumer products, including infant sleep products. In this panel, technical experts from the CPSC address issues relating to infant sleep safety including physiological factors associated with infant death and findings from incident data. Case studies for two infant products (handheld infant carriers and infant bouncer seats) and focus group research findings with parents of infants shed light on consumer behavior as it relates to perceptions of infant comfort and product use.