In April 2019, an investigation by the US magazine Consumer Reports tied a popular baby sleeper, the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play, to at least 32 infant deaths due to suffocation, and the sleeper was recalled that same month.1 Through the end of 2020, the company reported that only about 8.2 percent of the 4.84 million sleepers it made for the US had been returned or otherwise accounted for.2
According to a review of the recall progress reports, Fisher-Price learned of seven additional deaths that occurred after the recall had been announced.2 A recall tells owners about the fault and offers a fix. So a recall depends on the owner: until they hear about it and act, the product can stay in the home.
YAN's view: never read the lack of a recall as proof that a baby product is safe, and never assume a recall has reached you; check for yourself, especially before using anything second-hand.
How many owners act on a recall
The sleeper's record was not unusual: according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, response rates for consumer product recalls average less than 10 percent.2 In the UK, a government minister wrote a decade ago that only between 10 and 20% of consumers respond to a consumer product recall.3
The same government response accepted that the recall system can only work with an effective level of consumer engagement.3 This spring, the UK's product safety office reported that awareness of product recalls has decreased slightly.4 So the whole system leans on parents noticing, at the time of life when they have the least attention to spare.
Why recalled baby products stay in use
Nancy Cowles of Kids in Danger described how easily it happens: “If you're not looking for it, if you're not paying attention, if you are busy with young children — you're probably not sitting down watching the nightly news — you can easily miss it and then continue to use the product without realizing that you're using an unsafe product.”5
Recalls are rarely pushed the way products are: a report on a US regulator's workshop about recalls noted that very few firms develop a marketing strategy for recalls, and participants there judged store posters ineffective.6,7 A European Commission study of recalls found that socially disadvantaged, relatively young and less safety-conscious consumers are less likely to take part in a recall, especially when it takes time, and less likely to register their products.8 So the people a maker most needs to write to are often the ones it has no address for.
Price plays a part too: opening that US workshop, the regulator's then acting chair said owners of an inexpensive product may perhaps throw it away instead of taking advantage of the free remedy.9 Throwing it away at least takes it out of use; keeping it for the next baby or selling it on does not. And baby gear changes hands fast: NPR pointed out that baby items may get only a few months of use from their first owner, and that a big resale market keeps recalled products in circulation longer.5
What happens when the notice doesn't land
The count kept rising: since the recall was announced in April 2019, eight more infant deaths associated with the Rock ‘n Play and four with Kids2 Rocking Sleepers, a similar product also recalled, have been reported to the US regulator.1,5 The US regulator put it bluntly: “We are issuing this announcement because, despite their removal from the marketplace and a prohibition on their sale, babies continue to die in these products.”5
Consumer Reports warned that millions of inclined sleep products, the kind that hold a baby at a slant, may continue to be in people’s homes and put infants at risk.1 If a recall that drew this much attention got back so few sleepers, a quieter one is unlikely to do better.
What a recall that works looks like
The recalls that work best reach the owner personally: the same US workshop report states that direct notice recalls have proven to be the most effective recalls.6 It is also what people want: the UK product safety office found most people would like to be contacted directly by the manufacturer or the seller about a product recall.4 A maker can only write to you if it knows who you are, which is why the registration card in the box is worth filling in.
What the numbers can and can't tell you
The figures here measure slightly different things, from one product's returns to a minister's broad estimate, so read them as a rough picture of a pattern, not a precise rate. We found no current official figure for how many recalled children's products are returned or fixed in the UK or Europe. If makers and regulators began publishing how many recalled items actually came back, and those numbers were high, a recall notice would deserve more trust than we give it today.
This investigation continues below.
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What to do: free habits first
Take a photo of the label on each big baby item you own, such as the cot, car seat, pram, high chair or bouncer, showing the maker and the model name. When a recall is in the news, you can check it in seconds instead of turning the item over in the nursery.
Register anything that comes with a registration card or online form; if you threw the card away, look for the form on the maker's website. It gives the maker a way to contact you directly.
Before you use anything second-hand, search the maker, the model name and the word “recall”, and check the UK government's product safety alerts on GOV.UK. If you're buying from a stranger, ask once: “Can you send me a photo of the label with the make and model?” At YAN we would skip any second-hand item a baby sleeps or travels in if it has no label or model name.
If something you own has been recalled, stop using it now, even if it has always seemed fine, and take the remedy on offer. Treat a notice that calls itself 'voluntary' or 'precautionary' the same way; those words don't make it optional for you. The European Commission study flagged recall wording that makes the risk seem smaller, such as ‘voluntary’, ‘precautionary’ or ‘discretionary’.8
If the remedy isn't worth the hassle for a cheap item, at least take it out of use for good: don't sell it, give it away or keep it for the next baby. Before you sell or pass on baby gear, check it yourself, so a recalled item stops with you.
For sleep, lay your baby flat on their back in a cot, crib or Moses basket. Given the infant deaths in inclined sleepers and Consumer Reports' warning, at YAN we would not let a baby sleep in any product that holds them at a slant, recalled or not.
A recall can only protect a baby if the notice reaches the person holding the product. A photo of a label and a registration form make it far more likely that person is you.