The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a recall of ring slings produced by a Texas based company Sprout Stuff. The recall was announced to the public following a death of a 10-day-old infant that died through suffocation back in 2007.
The sling recall is yet another one in the series of massive sling recalls in the US.
The rates of infant deaths prompted CPSC to issue a warning against slings and their potential danger:
In researching incident reports from the past 20 years, CPSC identified and is investigating at least 14 deaths associated with sling-style infant carriers, including three in 2009. Twelve of the deaths involved babies younger than four months of age.
Slings can pose two different types of suffocation hazards to babies. In the first few months of life, babies cannot control their heads because of weak neck muscles. The sling’s fabric can press against an infant’s nose and mouth, blocking the baby’s breathing and rapidly suffocating a baby within a minute or two. Additionally, where a sling keeps the infant in a curled position bending the chin toward the chest, the airways can be restricted, limiting the oxygen supply. The baby will not be able to cry for help and can slowly suffocate. (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10165.html)