Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that it filed an administrative complaint against Leachco, Inc. regarding its Podster, Podster Plush, Bummzie and Podster Playtime infant loungers.
The agency is aware of at least two infant deaths where babies were placed on Podsters and suffocated. On January 20, 2022, the CPSC issued a public warning to consumers to stop using these products. Leachco refused to undertake a voluntary recall, and the CPSC’s complaint seeks to force Leacho to notify every person to whom the product was sold about the defect and offer consumers a full refund.
“KID applauds the CPSC’s decision to take action against Leachco, and calls on the company to immediately recall the defective products,” said KID Executive Director Nancy Cowles. “We urge families and childcare facilities who have these loungers to immediately stop using the products.”
“Infants are the most vulnerable members of our society. The Commission will not turn a blind eye on products that put them at unnecessary risk, and can lead to parents’ worst nightmare,” said CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric in a CPSC statement. “Filing complaints like this one is a last resort when a manufacturer fails to respond to the type of safety concerns raised in this case, yet in the interest of protecting consumers we were left with no other options.”
“The CPSC’s legal action against Leachco is incredibly important,” stated Rachel Weintraub, legislative director and general counsel with Consumer Federation of America. “The CPSC should use all of the tools it has to remove products that pose suffocation risks to infants from the marketplace and from people’s homes.”
Infants sleep safest on flat surfaces, in products tested and sold specifically for sleep such as cribs, bassinets and play yards. Whenever a baby falls asleep in a non-sleep product, caregivers should move them as soon as possible and place them in a safe sleep product. While the infant lounger company may have warned about sleep, the intuitive use for a newborn lying on a lounger is to let them continue to sleep on it.
For more information on safe sleep, go to KID’s page or the CPSC’s safe sleep information page.
Contact: Rachel Weintraub, CFA, 202-904-4953