Crib Bumper, Inclined Sleeper Ban Passes House
The House passed The Safe Sleep for Babies Act, which would ban both padded crib bumpers and inclined sleepers for infants, on June 23. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Tony Cardenas, D-Calif., has passed the House in a previous Congress, but not gotten a Senate vote. In a press release heralding the vote, Cardenas said the Consumer Product Safety Commission said there were 83 deaths related to crib bumpers.
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If the Senate does not take up this bill, there is still regulatory action pending at the CPSC on padded crib bumpers, though it would not be a total ban. The pending rule would limit the thickness of crib bumpers to two inches and also test the softness of the bumper, because small babies can suffocate against blankets or pillows or pillowy-like bumpers.
The CPSC recently announced a new safety standard for infant sleep products that banned inclined sleepers, which will have to be complied with by mid-2022 (see 2106220022). The commission has said it expects to consider a crib bumper standard later in 2021.