Fisher-Price Recalls More Than 2 Million Infant Swings Following 5 Deaths

Fisher-Price announced a partial recall of 21 models of infant swings following reported deaths of five infants over the past decade.

The recall, announced on Thursday, pertains to a total of 2.1 million swings sold in the United States, an additional 99,000 sold in Canada, and about 500 in Mexico. The $160 products were available from October 2010 to January 2024 at Amazon, Toys R Us, Walmart/Sam’s Club, and Target stores.

The recalled products are a series of infant swings with very similar designs: a two-legged stand with a cupped seat suspended from it, in which the baby reclines.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said it had received notice of five infants between one and three months of age who died of suffocation in the recalled products.

“In most of those incidents, the infants were unrestrained and bedding materials were added to the product,” the recall notice said.

The recall notice attributes the danger to the swings’ headrest and body support insert.

Consumers are advised to immediately discard the headrest by cutting the tether and remove the body support insert from the seat pad “before continuing to use the swing.”

Fisher offers a $25 refund for consumers who remove the hazardous parts.

The recall notice then warns that, even with these parts removed, consumers “should never use any inclined seated products, such as swings, gliders, soothers, and rockers, for infant sleep … due to the risk of suffocation.”

In a statement, Fisher-Price said its “greatest concern and primary focus has always been the safety of the children who use our products. For that reason, we’ve taken action to recall the Dots & Spots Puppy Cradle ‘n Swing. Fisher-Price is dedicated to creating safe and helpful products for you and your family.”

CPSC Commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr. in a separate personal statement said the recall was “doomed to fail.”

“Fisher-Price fails to recall the entire product, instead recalling only a portion of it,” he said, remarking that the product remains “unsafe for infant sleep” even after the respective parts have been removed.

Trumka criticized the company for encouraging consumers to “continue to use the swing,” and for offering only a fraction of the products’ price as a refund.

“If the goal were to truly end this hazard, Fisher-Price could be offering $160 to consumers to destroy the entire product—that would be a reasonable way to end the risk to babies’ lives.”

He advised consumers to take the $25 refund and “throw this product away.”

The CPSC commissioner noted the 2022 congressional Safe Sleep for Babies Act, which banned inclined sleepers for infants as hazardous products, and referred to the scientific literature. In particular, research has shown that infants placed in inclined products have difficulty self-correcting when they are in difficult or dangerous positions.

According to the CPSC, the best place for an infant to sleep is on a firm, flat surface in a crib, bassinet, or play yard, with nothing but a fitted sheet.

List of Recalled Models:

Fisher-Price’s parent company Mattel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

From NTD News