Four Major Retailers Issue ‘Nap Nanny’ Recalls

Thursday, December 27th, 2012

Amazon.com, Buy Buy Baby, Diapers.com, and Toys R Us/Babies R Us have issued voluntary recalls of Nap Nanny infant recliners made by Baby Matters, LLC of Berwyn, Pennsylvania.  The retailers’ move is unusual in that the manufacturer of the products refuse to participate in the recall despite repeated warnings from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), not to mention a lawsuit filed earlier this month alleging that the recliners have been the cause of at least 5 infant deaths.  From the CPSC’s release announcing the recall:

The Nap Nanny is a portable infant recliner designed for sleeping, resting and playing. The recliner includes a bucket seat shaped foam base and a fitted fabric cover with a three point harness. Five thousand Nap Nanny Generation One and 50,000 Generation Two models were sold between 2009 and early 2012 and have been discontinued. One hundred thousand Chill Models have been sold since January 2011. The recalled Nap Nanny recliners were sold at toy and children’s retail stores nationwide and online, including at www.napnanny.com. All models were priced around $130.

For information on how you can return a Nap Nanny you may have purchased to one of the participating retailers, check out Parents.com’s Product Recall finder.

CPSC Sues Infant Recliner Maker After 5 Deaths

Thursday, December 6th, 2012

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is suing Baby Matters, LLC, a company that make so-called “infant recliners” after 5 infants have died while using them. Nap Nanny and Nap Nanny Chill are the two models responsible for the deaths.

The Nap Nanny was recalled in 2010 due to entrapment and strangulation hazards, but was redesigned and allowed back on the market. The CPSC released the following statement about the lawsuit:

“CPSC is aware of four infants who died in Nap Nanny Generation Two recliners and a fifth death involved the Chill model.

To date, CPSC has received a total of over 70 additional incident reports of children nearly falling out of the product. The staff alleges that the products create a substantial risk of injury to the public.

CPSC staff filed the administrative complaint against Baby Matters, LLC after discussions with the company and its representatives failed to result in an adequate voluntary recall plan that would address the hazard posed by consumer use of the product in a crib or without the harness straps being securely fastened.

In July 2010, CPSC and Baby Matters, LLC issued a joint recall news release to announce an $80 coupon to Generation One owners toward the purchase of a newer model and improved instructions and warnings to consumers who owned the Generation Two model of Nap Nanny recliners.”

Image: Nap Nanny Generation 2, via http://www.cpsc.gov/