Senator Richard Blumenthal, a longstanding and tireless advocate for consumers, is stepping up again for society’s most vulnerable – infants and babies.  This week, Senator Blumenthal sent letters to Dreamland Baby and Nested Bean, two companies that make and sell weighted infant sleep products. In his letters, Senator Blumental outlined a number of startling concerns about the weighted infant sleep products.

There are about 3,400 sleep-related deaths among babies in the U.S. each year, and many deaths can be linked to unsafe sleep environments. Senator Blumenthal’s letters come after the largest professional association of pediatricians in the U.S. consistently warned about the use of weighted sleep products for infants.  In its 2022 evidenced-based safe sleep recommendations, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), recommended against the use of weighted blankets, weighted sleepers, weighted swaddles, or other weighted objects on or near sleeping infants.  Earlier this year, AAP urged the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to conduct vigorous oversight on all weighted sleep products marketed for infants and children, and it expressed its serious concerns about weighted infant sleep products.

In this week’s letters to Dreamland Baby and Nested Bean, Senator Blumenthal took issue with the companies’ claims that the products were developed in partnership with doctors, despite the AAP’s clear opposition to such products. Concerningly, Senator Blumenthal’s letters identified that an infant’s impaired arousal from sleep may contribute to the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). As such, a product designed to decrease arousal from sleep, like a weighed sleep product, may inhibit an infant’s natural ability to rouse themselves and put the infant at a greater risk for SIDS.

Senator Blumenthal also raised the concern that infants’ ribcages are not ossified and pressure on their chests may affect breathing and heart rate. He also discussed the biological need for infants to feed frequently due to their small stomach size. Senator Blumenthal’s letters requested, among other things, answers from Dreamland Baby and Nested Bean about reports of any incidents/injuries linked to the products, information about medical experts consulted, research or studies conducted, and consumer education materials about the need to wake up young infants every few hours to feed.

Senator Blumenthal is not the only one raising concerns about weighted infant sleep products. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention warns that weighted products – like weighted sleepers, weighted swaddles, and weighted sleep sacks, and weighed blankets – are not safe for infants. The CPSC also recommends against the use of weighted infant products.

According to Michelle Barry of Safe Infant Sleep, a nonprofit organization that distributes evidence-based information about sleep safety to caregivers and provides peer-to-peer support, there are other potential concerns with weighted infant sleep products, including the weighted items working against a baby’s ability to reposition themselves when rolling.  Further, the beads or poly pellets used to add weights can also present a hazard to children.  “Many consumer reviews have relayed that beads spilled out without much use, creating a potential aspiration risk,” Ms. Barry said.  “The CPSC banned pillows filled with these beads years ago due to the similar risk and is also why stuffed animals that are filled with similar materials aren’t intended for children under 3. Allowing products intended for sleep, when there will be no supervision to prevent such a hazard, is extremely dangerous.”

“Caregivers of infants and babies have so much to think about and are already stretched so thin,” said Courtney Griffin, Director of Consumer Product Safety at Consumer Federation of America. “Caregivers should be able to trust that the products marketed and sold for infant sleep are safe.  Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Consumer Federation of America celebrates Senator Blumenthal’s continued attention to product safety.  We welcome his inquiry into weighted infant sleep products.  The lives of children are more important than a company’s bottom line.”

Ms. Barry stated, “Allowing products intended for sleep, when there will be no supervision to prevent such a hazard, is extremely dangerous.”

Want more information?

• Remember the ABCs of safe sleep! Babies should always sleep Alone, on their Back, in a safe Crib (or sleep space).
• Visit Safe Infant Sleep for more evidenced-based information on safe sleep basics, Sudden Infant Death, and other resources.
• Read AAP’s evidence-based infant sleep recommendations, as well as AAP’s research on the issue.
• Learn about creating a safe sleep environment with the Safe to Sleep Interactive Safe Sleep Environment Tool.
• Check CPSC’s website for recalls at gov and sign up to receive recall notifications.
• Learn about the various facets of CPSC’s work or contact the CPSC’s Consumer Ombudsman, who is dedicated to helping the public understand how the CPSC works.
• Urge elected officials to support consumers and the caregivers of young children with safer products.
• Urge elected officials to support the CPSC in its critical mission to make the marketplace more focused on consumer safety. Encourage elected officials to protect the CPSC from efforts to undermine its authority to keep consumers safe.  Let their elected officials know that consumers deserve timely information about the potential hazards in their homes.