Skip to footer

Nap Nanny warning issued by US government agency

Nap Nanny, a portable baby recliner, poses "a substantial risk of injury and death to infants," says the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The maker of the Nap Nanny, Baby Matteres, rejects the CPSC

|
(AP Photo/The Consumer Product Safety Commission)
The Consumer Product Safety Commission filed an administrative complaint about the new model of the Nap Nanny, called the Chill, and two earlier versions, over risks to inants. The Nap Nany is made by Baby Matters LLC of Berwyn, Penn.
  • By Jennifer C. Kerr Associated Press

| Washington

The government is taking action against the makers of a portable baby recliner called the Nap Nanny after five infant deaths.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission filed an administrative complaint Wednesday alleging that the new model of the Nap Nanny, called the Chill, and two earlier versions "pose a substantial risk of injury and death to infants."

The commission is seeking an order that would require Nap Nanny maker Baby Matters LLC of Berwyn, Pa., to notify the public about what the agency deems a serious product defect. The agency also wants the company to offer consumers a full refund.

RECOMMENDED: Are you a helicopter parent? Take the quiz

Baby Matters went out of business a month ago, according to an email from the company. On its website is a message from owner and founder Leslie Gudel that says, "We do not believe the complaint has merit and stand behind the safety of our product when used as instructed."

She adds that "no infant using the Nap Nanny properly has ever suffered an injury requiring medical attention."

Some of the cases involved recliners that were placed in a crib, which the company has urged parents not to do. The Nap Nanny should be placed on the floor with the harness secured.

The first two versions of the foam recliner were recalled in July 2010 when the agency was aware of one death and 22 reports of infants hanging out or falling over the side of the Nap Nanny even though most of the infants had been placed in the recliner's harness. Since then, the agency has learned of 4 more deaths. Four are linked to the first versions of the recliner, and one to the newer model.

In all, the CPSC says it has received over 70 reports of children nearly falling out of the recliners.

The commission filed the complaint after discussions with the company broke down over a recall plan.

The Nap Nanny was designed to mimic the curves of a baby car seat, elevating an infant slightly to help reduce reflux, gas, stuffiness or other problems.

Five thousand Nap Nanny Generation One and 50,000 Generation Two models were sold between 2009 and early 2012. About 100,000 Chill models have been sold since January 2011.

RECOMMENDED: Are you a helicopter parent? Take the quiz

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Nap Nanny warning issued by US government agency
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Latest-News-Wires/2012/1206/Nap-Nanny-warning-issued-by-US-government-agency
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe