The Scottish Cot Death Trust have recently been receiving a number of queries about the safety of baby products. This comes at a time when we’ve been having several conversations with Health Visitors across Scotland about the use of newer, well marketed baby sleep products.
The Trust thought it would be useful to address these recent questions more widely:
1: Why are sleep pods/nests/hammocks/beanbags/cot bumpers not considered safe by Scottish Cot Death
Trust?
2: Surely these products must meet British safety standards if they are being sold in shops and online?
ANSWER: Currently British trading standards assess the safety of baby products in a number of ways:
1: Structural safety – is the product construction stable, will it break when a baby is placed on it, in it or plays with it, or will small parts easily break off it?
2: Chemical safety – is the product composed of materials that it would be dangerous to expose a child to?
3: Fire Safety – is the material that the product is made of easily set alight?
These standards are voluntary therefore companies can choose whether or not they adhere to them. If they do meet the above standards, a product will carry a “CE” or “UKCA” mark. However, this still does not guarantee that a product is safe, as it’s not possible to eliminate absolutely every risk associated with a product. Additionally, if you are buying products online from the US, Australia or other countries, there is also no responsibility for those companies to adhere to UK standards, so it’s important to be mindful of this when assessing safety for your baby.
Lastly and most importantly there are no standards that currently exist in the UK, which assess the risk of causing SUDI with baby products, but we know that accidental suffocations can be caused by products that can cover a baby’s airway, face or head such as soft bedding and soft surfaces. This is the risk posed by many of these newer soft baby sleep products and surfaces that are currently on the market.
Our call to action here is clear – to raise awareness that the safest independent sleep spaces for baby are those with a firm flat mattress such as a crib, cot or Moses basket. Please share this with friends and family who may be expecting or are new parents!