“Well, tell me if I’m wrong here, but common sense would dictate that the Rock n’ Play shouldn’t be used when a child is mobile enough to potentially roll out of it or roll within it,” wrote Emily Solberg. “Furthermore, children should be securely fastened into it using the straps, according to manufacturer guidelines. So essentially, what you’re telling me is, people aren’t using the Rock n’ Play correctly.”
“I wouldn’t say that car seats are bad because some people fail to use them correctly and sometimes they cause, rather than prevent, infant deaths,” she added.
“When the $1,300 (borrowed) Snoo didn’t cut it, the $60 Rock ’n Play did,” another mom wrote. “She safely slept for 12 hours straight in that thing.”
“If it weren’t for this rock n play sleeper I would not have survived the first 3 months with M!” One mother wrote. “Why don’t we just recall mattresses too? Because a baby could also roll in those as well.”
Back is Best
Still, we’re talking about over 100 babies who have lost their lives here. There’s no room for blame-shifting or taking safety lightly.
“[The Rock ’n Play Sleeper] does not meet the AAP’s recommendations for a safe sleep environment for any baby. Infants should always sleep on their back, on a separate, flat and firm sleep surface without any bumpers or bedding,” Dr. Rachel Moon, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task Force on SIDS, said in a 2019 statement.
“A baby’s death is tragic, heartbreaking and often preventable. If we’ve learned anything, it’s that simple is best: babies should always sleep in a crib or bassinet, on their back, without soft toys, pillows, blankets or other bedding,” said Dr. Moon said in the AAP’s 2022 revised guidelines for safe sleep.
Approximately 3,500 infants die from sleep-related infant deaths annually in the United States. Research indicates that sleep-related death can occur when an infant with an intrinsic vulnerability to SIDS is placed in an unsafe sleep environment. The annual number of deaths has remained about the same since 2000 following a substantial decline in deaths in the 1990s as the result of a national educational campaign to put babies on their backs to sleep.
