A strong reminder for parents everywhere not to allow your baby to sleep on any brand of pillow
A nursing pillow is a parenting must-have. However you choose to feed your child, it makes the whole experience more comfortable and relaxed.
I know I couldn’t have been without mine.
The problem stems from the fact that nursing pillows have long since doubled as infant loungers. But an eye-opening new report from Consumer Reports in the US linking popular nursing pillow brand, the Boppy Pillow, to seven different infant deaths and one injury might make us all think twice about that.
To be clear, the product isn’t being recalled — the report instead delivers a strong reminder for new parents everywhere not to allow your baby to sleep on this, or any brand of pillow.
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The brand issued a statement, reiterating that they have always “provided clear and unequivocal warnings and instructions” for safe use on all their products: “We strongly support the CPSC’s warning last October to never use nursing pillows or lounger-like products for infant sleep. We are devastated to hear of these tragedies and take this very seriously.”
According to the manufacturer, all of the cases it has reviewed have been tied to improper use of the pillow — not a product defect or safety hazard found in the item: “Every incident a Boppy product was associated with involved an unsafe sleep environment that are contrary to our warnings, guidelines, and CPSC’s warning.
“We have always stressed that our products are for awake time only. And, as clearly noted on all products, packaging and promotional materials, infants should not be unattended or left to sleep on or with any Boppy product.”
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The problem, the brand claims, is that parents sometimes ignore these rules: “Despite these measures, Boppy products have been used for infant sleep in adult beds, sofas, cribs, bassinets, and play yards with blankets, pillows and people.
ThisTwitter user echoed their sentiments:
“Let’s stop blaming products for people’s inability to follow instructions. This is like blaming a car seat for injuries in an accident when the parents didn’t buckle it properly.”
Still, Boppy has promised to spread awareness about the issue and how it can be avoided in the future: “To help reduce the risk of such tragedies, Boppy remains committed to communicating the safe use of our products to parents and caregivers through every means possible.
As an added safety warning, the agency also told parents not to allow infants to sleep on any nursing pillows or pillow-like products.
You can read up on more sleep safety tips here or visit HSE.ie.
