by Doug Hardy
US Sen. Richard Blumenthal introduced a bill to ban weighted sleep products for infants Thursday after years of advocacy from parents and consumer watchdogs about the risk they pose for infants, as well as an announcement last year from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) identifying the products as a hazard.
Blumenthal introduced the bill but it is expected to include Reps. Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., and Kim Schrier, D-Wash., and others as co-sponsors. The filing followed announcements from several major retailers in April that they had suspended sales of weighted sleep products for infants and children, including weighted sleep sacks, wearable blankets, and swaddles.
Blumenthal applauded the retailers – including Walmart, Target, and Amazon – for removing the products from their shelves even though manufacturers have denied any wrongdoing. He asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the marketing and advertising practices used by the two main manufacturers of the sleep sacks.
According to the latest incident data included in a July 1 letter, the Consumer Product Safety Commission identified five fatalities involving weighted sleep products out of 13 incidents from April 2020 through April 2024.
“I want the United States FTC to uncover and make public the truth about these products,” he said in May, adding that he believes the FTC will recommend that parents avoid using them.
Last year, the AAP sent a letter to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voicing concerns that the products were being sold with no safety standards in place and little to no evidence providing that they are safe.
“The AAP’s most recent recommendations for safe sleep, issued in 2022, state ‘it is recommended that weighted blankets, weighted sleepers, weighted swaddles, or other weighted objects not be placed on or near the sleeping infant,’” the AAP wrote. “The AAP’s recommendations further state that ‘weighted swaddle clothing or weighted objects within swaddles are not safe and therefore not recommended.’ The evidence available at this time does not indicate that weighted swaddle products are safe, nor does it demonstrate that they are effective in helping babies sleep longer or with fewer disruptions.”
The letter further stated that researchers have “hypothesized that impaired arousal may contribute to risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), so a product that decreases arousal may increase the risk of SIDS.”
In May, Blumenthal said called it “downright dangerous” that the sleep sacks are being marketed to parents who are “simply trying to get their children to sleep,” and that those circumstances are not an excuse for false advertising or exploitation.
The sleep sacks are supposed to make babies feel calmer and help them fall asleep faster, according to one of the main manufacturers of the product.
The legislation, Senate Bill 4939, has been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The language of the bill has not yet been released. According to the Congressional website, legislation is sent to the Library of Congress from the Government Publishing Office a day or two after being introduced on the floor of the House or Senate. In this case, the legislation was sent on Saturday, and will take a few days of analysis before it is posted.
According to the nonprofit SafeInfantSleep.org, about 3,600 infants die suddenly and unexpectedly each year in the United States. Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID) is the term used to describe the sudden and unexpected death of babies who are less than a year old, and in which the cause was not obvious before investigation. These deaths often happen during sleep or in the baby’s sleep area.
SUIDs include those that fall under the definition of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), as well as accidental suffocation in a sleeping environment, and deaths from other unknown causes.
SIDS is an umbrella term for the sudden death of an infant younger than 1 year of age that cannot be explained even after a full investigation, including an autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of clinical/medical history.