Bill would ban weighted baby blankets, sleep sacks
- Lawmakers introduced a bill to ban weighted infant products
- Other U.S. agencies have warned products could impair breathing
- The American Academy of Pediatrics supports the bill
FILE – The toes of a baby peek out of a blanket at a hospital in McAllen, Texas. On Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the increase of U.S. infant mortality rate to 3% in 2022 — a rare increase in a death statistic that has been generally been falling for decades. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
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(NewsNation) — A group of lawmakers is seeking to ban weighted blankets, swaddles and sleep sacks for babies, citing multiple infant deaths.
Congressman Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., Congresswoman Kim Schrier, D-Wash. and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-N.Y., introduced the Safeguarding Infants from Dangerous Sleep Act on Friday. Weighted swaddles, sleep sacks and blankets can obstruct babies’ movement and make it difficult for them to breathe during unsupervised overnight sleep, the lawmakers said in a news release.
The bill’s introduction comes after similar warnings from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, which endorses the bill, has also warned that such products present the risk of brain damage.
“Exhausted parents shouldn’t have to become part-time product safety regulators, but our current system forces them to by allowing infant products onto the market without evidence they are safe,” AAP President Benjamin D. Hoffman said in the release. “We need a proactive approach that keeps infants safe and gives parents the peace of mind they deserve.”
Earlier this year, Target, Walmart, Nordstrom and Babylist announced they would stop selling weighted infant products for safety reasons.
