Madigan says suffocation and strangulation risks from Bumper Pads too great to ignore 

Chicago, IL — Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has called on the national industry trade group overseeing manufacturers of crib bumpers to push for a halt to the production and sale of bumper pads across the country that pose serious risks of injury and death.

Madigan sent a letter to the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association as it has failed to fully acknowledge the risk crib bumpers pose. Madigan said babies may suffocate or be strangled if they roll against a crib bumper, press their face against it, wedge their head between the pad and the mattress or crib side or if their neck gets wrapped by the tie that secures the bumper to the crib.

“The JPMA and its manufacturers cannot sit by and wait for regulators to decide how, and if, crib bumpers should be used,” Attorney General Madigan said. “Their disregard for the danger posed by these products creates a very real danger.”

Madigan last month alerted parents and caregivers to the hazards bumpers pose and urged them to remove these products from their homes to prevent tragedy.

Last month, Madigan sent a letter to JPMA urging the group to take immediate action to address bumper hazards with its manufacturer members. Madigan demanded then that JPMA additionally release to the public results of a study it commissioned to investigate these dangers. The study has yet to be published as the association internally reviews the report.

As a result of JPMA’s failure to act, Madigan is calling on the group to halt production and sale of bumpers while the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal regulatory agency, analyzes the products’ appropriate use, if any at all.

“JPMA has failed to appropriately respond in light of these deaths,” Madigan said. “One infant death due to bumper pad use is too many. We must act now to remove bumpers from store shelves, stop production and work to educate caregivers to this threat.

Since 2008, the National Center for Child Death Review has received reports of 14 infants who have died from suffocation caused by crib bumpers. Madigan last month partnered with the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Kids in Danger, the American SIDS Institute, SIDS of Illinois and the Canadian Health Department to alert caregivers to this danger.

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association is a national trade organization that represents companies across the country that manufacture, import and distribute infant products such as cribs, car seats and strollers.

Attorney General Madigan urged parents and caregivers to take the time to review her Rest Assured Guide to determine whether they have other dangerous children’s items that have been recalled in their homes. The Rest Assured guide provides information to consumers about cribs or other sleep-related items for children from 2007 to date. To obtain a copy of the guide, call the Attorney General’s Product Recall Hotline at 1-888-414-7678 (TTY: 1-800-964-3013), or visit www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov.