Fisher-Price recalls 2 million 'Snuga swings' after five children die

After at least five children died while sleeping in a product made by Fisher-Price, the company recalled more than two million products, the Snuga Swing, because it posed a suffocation risk, according to the recall.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Fisher-Price announced the recall on Thursday.

The report states that five infants aged one to three months died between 2012 and 2022 while using the product for sleep.

“In most of these incidents, children were unrestrained and bedding was added to the product,” it said.

The recall states that the product should never be used for sleeping and that consumers should immediately remove the headrest and body support insert before “continuing to use the swing for waking hours activities.”

However, a commissioner of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Richard L. Trumka Jr., said in a statement that the latest recall is “devastating to fail and will put too many children in harm's way.”

“Simply warning parents to stop using these products for sleep now will not be as effective as removing them from homes and daycares,” she said. “Fisher-Price can't ring bells. Dangerous goods will remain in the house after this recall.”

He said Fisher-Price was offering consumers $25 in withdrawals, even though swings sold for about $160.

“I fear that this dangerous approach will put children at risk of death just to save Fisher-Price money – a horrific example of people being profited off,” Mr Trumka said.

Mr. Trumka said consumers should throw out the swings. He also noted that past recall or warning about other types of infant rocking did not prevent deaths.

Mr. Trumka's views do not necessarily reflect those of the commission, according to the statement. Mattel, Fisher-Price's parent company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its statement.

Since 2010, more than 2.1 million Snuga Swings have been sold in the U.S. and about 99,000 in Canada and another 500 in Mexico, the recall said.

Mattel has an online guide for consumers who want to know if their swing is included in the recall. The Commission's website also has a list of affected products.

Fisher-Price and other companies have issued recalls or warnings about prone baby swings in recent years after the products were linked to deaths.

At least eight children died after Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play sleepers were recalled in 2019, the commission said in January 2023. About 100 child deaths were linked to that product over a 13-year period.

Also in January 2023, the commission issued a new warning about another product that was recalled in 2019, the rocking sleeper, made by Kids II, which was linked to 15 child deaths.

In June 2022, the commission and Fisher-Price warned that at least 13 infant deaths were linked to the company's infant-to-toddler rocker or newborn-to-toddler rocker and that they should never be used for sleep.

Cradles and any other reclining seating products, such as rockers, should never be used for babies to sleep, and blankets and other bedding should never be attached to them, the commission said.

The commission says the best way for a baby to sleep is on their back on a firm, flat surface, such as a crib or bassinet. The page should contain nothing but a fitted sheet, the commission said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics echoes this guideline and says reclining sleepers are dangerous because a baby can fall asleep in a chin-to-chest position, which can restrict their airway and cause them to get stuck out of the seat.

With the Safe Sleep for Babies Act, Congress made it illegal in 2022 to make and sell sleepers that are prone to babies.