Hi guys,
Considering the purchase of one of these and wondering if anyone has any reviews/insights to share? Not sure it meets the SIDS safe sleeping guidelines since I haven’t had a chance to view these in-store… but any feedback would be useful since Choice haven’t look into this!
Hi @mrsbla, welcome to the community. These must be relatively new products as they weren’t available a few years ago when we joined parenthood.
Looking online, it appears that loungers are not to be used for a baby to sleep in as they would be very similar to sleep positioners where the babies face could push against the edge of the lounger, resulting in suffocation. The US FDA warns not to use positioners or nests (which could be loungers by another name - images online there appears to be no difference between nests and loungers)…
I would suspect that loungers would have a similar recommendation as the design is somewhat similar (exactly the same looking online and may have been rebranded with a new name ‘lounger’ to potentially to circumvent the warnings from government agencies on ‘nest’ use).
One could possibly use a lounger if there was 100% uninterrupted supervision of the baby when in a lounger. Is this possible, no, and one only needs to be distracted for a short time for something to go terribly wrong. I personally wouldn’t take the risk as I couldn’t live with the consequences if something did happen.
Maybe Choice should look into these products as there are a number of websites which are actively selling them to new parents. They seem to be a new emergjng product possibly to replace sleep positioners or nests by a new name, which are unsafe for baby use.
It’s good that you have asked about the lounges before committing.
An observation and some reassurance offered?
We raised our infants successfully without lounges or the need for a long list of wonderful modern products.
The same can be said for our parents grandparents etc all being successful parents without any of these heavily promoted but supposedly essential products.
As parents we all want the best for our babies. Especially the first time around there are so many demands on us, while we doubt every step and look for solutions. It makes new mums and dads a marketers ideal target. From physical products to books offering alternate ways based on some long lost tribal tradition.
We just asked our mums, the extended family and closer friends who had been through this all before for advice. Some of the best came from the wrinkled nurses at the local GP’s clinic who seemed to know about nearly everything that a baby needed.
Here are some more concerning reports about these and similar products (noting that loungers, nests and sleeping positioners names are interchangeable as they are effectively the same product)…
https://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2017/64318a-eng.php
and the list goes on.
There are also reports that some countures have banned their sale due to the significant risks posed when using nests, loungers and sleeping positioners. In the US some retailers have voluntarily taken the products off their shelves, I suspect, to protect themselves from potential liability for knowingly selling a product linked to infant deaths. There has also been calls by mother groups to have nests, loungers and sleep positioners formally banned in some countries due to their dirct link with baby/infant deaths.
It appears that these products are now mainly sold online (alarm bells ring) and the sellers of these dangerous devices on their websites are spreading disinformation dismissing safety concerns, and using this disinformation to try and con expecting or new parents (friends of family) to buy their very dangerous products.
Some of this disinformation includes being able to use it safely for sleeping if some precautions are taken. This is contrary to advice and safety advices from government agencies.
It is a product which must be avoided at all costs (DO NOT BUY ONE) if one wishes to ensure the safety of one’s baby. If one has one, take it back and ask for a refund. If one gets it as a gift, ask the gift giver to take it back and buy something else which is safe.
It is also one very much for Choice’s Shonky Awards.
