CPSC Approves New Federal Safety Standard for Nursing Pillows to Prevent Infant Deaths and Serious Injuries

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has approved a new federal mandatory standard to improve the safety of nursing pillows and to protect babies from injury and death. By a 5 to 0 vote, the Commission approved a new rule that will address suffocation, entrapment and fall risks associated with the use of nursing pillows. The new rule will go into effect 180 days following publication in the Federal Register and will require that all nursing pillows manufactured for sale after the rule takes effect meet the new requirements.

CPSC is aware of 154 infant deaths and 64 injuries between 2010 and 2022 associated with nursing pillows, with most injuries and deaths occurring among infants younger than 3 months old. The majority of these deaths involved the nursing pillow being used in or on a sleep product, including an adult bed or mattress, a crib, a portable playpen, or on a couch, sofa or loveseat.

The new rule sets performance standards for nursing pillows that are designed to ensure that these pillows remain helpful for caregivers to breast and bottle-feed infants while reducing the risk of injury and death. Specifically, the rule aims to maintain feeding uses while preventing the following:

1. suffocation from the product conforming to an infant’s face and obstructing the infant’s airways;
2. entrapment posed when the product restricts an infant’s head movements;
3. suffocation and falls resulting from the presence of infant restraints that could suggest that infants can safely be left unattended in the product; and
4. suffocation, entrapment, or falls when an infant is left unattended in the product.

The rule closely mirrors a voluntary standard that has recently been approved by the ASTM Subcommittee on Feeding Supports. 

“Nursing pillows can be very useful for parents and caregivers while feeding babies. This rule will dramatically improve the safety of these products going forward while preserving their utility,” said CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric. “I am pleased that key stakeholders – including industry and consumer groups – came together to develop a similar proposal through the voluntary standards process, and I appreciate everyone’s thoughtful engagement in this process.” 

Under the rule, nursing pillows include any product intended, marketed, or designed to position and support an infant close to a caregiver’s body while breast- or bottle feeding. These products rest upon, wrap around, or are worn by a caregiver in a seated or reclined position. Maternity pillows are excluded from this standard as they are intended for use by expecting adults.

To keep your baby safer while using nursing pillows: 

• Only use nursing pillows for nursing/feeding a baby. 
• Never use nursing pillows for infant sleep or lounging.
• Do not place nursing pillows in other infant sleep products, such as cribs or bassinets, or anywhere a baby sleeps.
• Do not leave babies unattended in nursing pillows on beds, sofas, or other elevated surfaces.
• If the baby falls asleep while nursing/feeding, or if you start to feel like you might fall asleep, transfer the baby to a safe sleep space. 

CPSC reminds consumers that the safest place for a baby to sleep is a flat, bare surface dedicated to the infant such as a crib, bassinet or play yard. Visit CPSC’s Safe Sleep Education Center for additional safety resources to keep your baby safe.

For more information on Section 104 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act), which requires the Commission to issue consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products, click here.

Individual Commissioners may have statements related to this topic. Please visit www.cpsc.gov/commissioners to search for statements related to this or other topics.

LISTED STATEMENTS

Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric

Commissioner Richard Trumka

Commissioner Mary T. Boyle