Ireland’s consumer watchdog has warned parents that pillows marketed as sleeping aids for babies can cause death through suffocation or overheating.<\/p>\n
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said that so-called ‘baby sleep pillows’ often come in animal shapes and are sold under a variety of names such as soothing pillows, baby sleep positioners, baby patters or sleep companions.<\/p>\n
They can pose a safety risk when placed beside unattended or sleeping babies and cause death through suffocation or overheating.<\/p>\n
Around 1,150 of these products have been removed from online marketplaces including Amazon, Ali Express, Fruugo and Joom after the CCPC issued takedown notices.<\/p>\n
A statement from the CCPC said: “Babies can suffocate if something covers their nose and mouth, such as pillows, cushions or other soft items. These items should never be placed in a baby’s cot or left with an unattended baby.”<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the commission added these products are primarily sold by internet retailers and not in Irish high street shops, describing it as an “online phenomenon”.<\/p>\n
“This is very much a product trend linked to online marketplaces (large platforms that often are shipping products to consumers from outside the EU).<\/p>\n
“So this safety message is aimed at people shopping online who may have had these products suggested to them as they scroll,” they said.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson added: “Ireland, and the European Union, have very robust product safety systems with high levels of compliance.<\/p>\n
“We haven’t seen these products appearing in Irish high street stores. This is an online phenomenon.<\/p>\n
“Businesses are not allowed to mislead consumers into thinking a product is safe and any consumer who has bought one of these products should get a refund.”<\/p>\n
‘Risk of a baby overheating’<\/p>\n
Consultant in Public Health Medicine Dr Fiona Cianci said pillows and cushions should not be in a cot “as they could suffocate your baby”.<\/p>\n
“There is also a risk of a baby overheating if they are sleeping on a soft surface that their head can sink into. There is a higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) if a baby overheats.<\/p>\n
“Research has shown that there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of cot death or SIDS.<\/p>\n
“This includes putting your baby on their back to sleep in a cot with a well-fitting, firm mattress and clear of all items, including soft objects or anything loose or fluffy,” she said.<\/p>\n
Dr Cianci added: “Some of these products are described to parents as helping babies with issues such as reflux or flat head syndrome.<\/p>\n
“Our advice is to never use any pillow, cushion or similar product in your baby\u2019s cot.”<\/p>\n
CCPC Director of Communications Gr\u00e1inne Griffin said parents purchase these products hoping to help their babies, but they could cause serious harm.<\/p>\n
“CCPC officers have secured the removal of a number of listings offering these unsafe products for sale and acted quickly to get them off the market.<\/p>\n
“The CCPC will continue market surveillance activities for these products and ensure that sales to Irish consumers are stopped,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Griffin urged consumers to contact the commission if they have concerns about any potentially unsafe products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland’s consumer watchdog has warned parents that pillows marketed as sleeping aids for babies can cause death through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-488597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}