Parents want the best for their babies. They try to make sure they’re comfortable. And make sure they’re safe.
Critics say those two goals collide when it comes to adding extra padding — what are called “supplemental mattresses” — to play pens, port-a-cribs, play yards and similar sleep spaces.
Last year, Bamboozled profiled the fight of one mom whose four-and-a-half month old son suffocated while sleeping in a soft-sided play yard. […]
The problem, she said, is that supplemental mattresses aren’t always the right fit. Even ones that advertise they are suitable to go with suitable sleeping spaces can leave a gap between the mattress and the side of the play yard, Davis said.
That leaves enough of a space for a baby to suffocate, Davis and other advocates say.
There are warning labels now, but, Davis said, it’s not enough because the mattresses are still readily available, and they’re often marketed as a suitable addition to play yards.
Now legislators in New Jersey are considering a measure to ban the mattresses, thanks in large part to Davis’ non-profit advocacy group Keeping Babies Safe (KBS).
Davis said the bill will do what KBS has been advocating for all along: to prohibit the sale of supplemental mattresses in New Jersey. […]
Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz, who introduced the bill in the Senate, called the mattresses “a clear and present danger to infants.”
She said cited a report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which said the products have caused at least 15 deaths over the past 16 years. Still, Ruiz said, federal officials have failed to ban their sale.
CPSC is considering a ban, but the issue isn’t expected on its agenda until 2017.
“These are tragedies that can and should be prevented. The warning labels are not enough, especially when the mattress manufacturers and retailers promote their sale to unsuspecting parents,” Ruiz said. “A host of consumer safety and public health organizations have called for stronger action and I agree with them. We need to act to put an end to this risk with a complete ban on their sale in New Jersey.”
The other groups Ruiz cites as supporters include the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Kids In Danger, National Center for Health Research, Public Citizen, U.S. PIRG and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). […]
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