Baby sling carriers raise safety concerns

Baby slings may be fashionable among Hollywood stars and other new parents but at a recent meeting I learned about some safety concerns that made me shudder. Over the past 10 years, there have been at least 22 reports of serious injury associated with the use of sling-type carriers. The injuries include skull fractures, head injuries, contusions and abrasions. Most occurred when the child fell out of the sling.

In addition to the injury reports, which were gathered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a number of recalls of sling carriers in recent years (including the Infantino pictured) has prompted ASTM-International, a voluntary standards-setting organization, to hold its first organizational meeting to start a standards-development process for sling carriers to address safety problems. Concerns raised by manufacturers, who requested the review, included not only the fractures and bruises but the risk of smothering.  The CPSC information documented a risk of death caused from “positional asphyxia” caused by placing the infant in the sling in a head-forward position that can cause the airway to close.

Some of the incidents with sling carriers were likely due to improper assembly, improper wearing, or failure of rings or other hardware. Most of the sling carriers demonstrated at the ASTM meeting seemed complicated to put on and prone to user error. Clear instructions and perhaps video demonstrations might help prevent mistakes. But, as we all know, consumers may not read the instructions, and misinterpretation or misunderstanding can lead to errors that can endanger precious cargo.

It’s uncertain how an ASTM standard can help make these products safer or error proof. We caution parents who do favor the sling carriers to frequently check the hardware and adjustments—and to do so without the baby on board. For now, we think there are better ways of transporting infants including strollers, hand-held infant carrier/car seats and even other types of soft infant carriers. For additional information on our Ratings for these and other products visit the Babies & Kids section of the Web site or read the Babies & Kids blog. -- Don Mays

Sling carriers recalled by the CPSC

• Ellaroo Ring Sling Baby Carriers (2008)
• Infantino SlingRider Infant Carriers (2007, pictured above)
• ZoloWear Infant Carriers/Slings (2005)

Comments

[Carrie]

Can someone explain the "positional asphyxia" and what the heck a "head forward" position would be in a sling?

I have carried both of my sons in slings, pretty much constantly since 2002, when I threw out the baby bjorn for being an over complicated, uncomfortable waste of money. I fully expect my new baby, due this summer, will also be worn in this manner, but this asphyxiation threat is new to me. Is it serious or just one more idiotic prnouncement that our babies are better off isolated from human contact?

[Linda]

There are MANY different sorts of sling carriers, and even many more types of soft or fabric baby carriers that are not slings. While I agree that there are clearly serious safety concerns with the Infantino Slingrider (the sling pictured) and other similar bag-style slings, these same concerns do NOT apply to most other types of slings, such as Ring Slings (brands often cited for quality and ease of use include Maya Wrap, Sleeping Baby Productions, Eesti, Sakura Bloom, etc) and pouches (Hotslings is a brand available at Target, there are many others). Yes, wearers need to use the sling correctly. But I see far more serious errors in use of careseat carriers and strollers than I do with baby carriers (which makes sense logically, if one thinks of the many thousands of injuries reported annually related to those two devices).

I appreciate that Consumer Reports is taking an interest in baby carriers - yea! But I fear an unintended consequence of scaring people away from the use of a whole category of hugely beneficial and safe parenting items in an effort to avoid one or two specific problem products. I'd request a more thorough and clearer statement of the issues - one that doesn't "throw out the baby with the bathwater" by confusing one particular type of problematic product (bag-style slings) with all baby slings. I would also request a quick retraction (or at least rephrasing) of the suggestion to use strollers or carseat carriers rather than "any sort of sling," as the former are clearly more dangerous to infant safety than most types of slings. I would, agree with the suggestion of a stroller or carseat carrier over the Slingrider or other bag slings.

Thank you.

[Melissa Pruitt]

This editorial is obvious opinion that is being masqueraded as fact. The facts are skewed and provide a negative light on babywearing, which according to many parenting experts and doctors, is a very beneficial practice for parents and babies. Please sir, before you post your blogs, it may benefit you to do adequate research before condemning practices that you obviously have very little knowledge of or expertise on.

Melissa Pruitt
owner of Kindercarry and Magic Sling
www.magicsling.com

[Holly Brewster]

Wow - I am a subscriber to consumer reports and use it heavily in my consumer product decision-making. I can't really express how disappointed I am with the comments of Don Mays. To summarily dismiss using slings - without even distinguishing among the numerous different types and brands is reckless and unhelpful. I am accustomed to a more researched and reasoned approach to product review. Especially when it comes to a product that has so many more developmental and psychological benefits over strollers and car seats. Shame on you CR!

[Beth Leistensnider]

I commented earlier and learned that my thought that 10 of the 22 injuries were from Baby Bjorns is incorrect. However, I did verify that most of the 22 injuries reported were due to tripping--which has nothing to do with the product, its design or manufacture, or even user error as it pertains to the product. I would retiterate too that the style of sling pictured is very different from those made by Ellaroo, Zolowear, and others. And I would encourage you to look into how many injuries have occurred in the same 10-year period from faulty handheld car seats whose handles break and also remind you that positional asphyxia can occur in such seats, especially when they are used to deposit infants into for hours on end without adequate supervision.

[Britt Pegan]

I was saddened to read your thoughts on the recent sling recalls. As you're no doubt aware, the EllaRoo and Zolowear sling recalls were initiated by the manufacturers after reports of potential problems, not as a result of any injuries. If we compared the # of recalls and injuries reported from slings to the # of recalls and injuries reported from strollers and car seats (which you mentioned you thought are better ways to carry an infant), the statistics would prove that slings and baby carriers are safer ways to transport infants.

Undoubtably, slings and baby carriers are not familiar to you and the amount of information you've recently received on them is likely overwhelming. Babies are carried safely in slings all around the world every day and have been for hundreds of years. There are many brands that do include DVD instructions as well as excellent written instructions and there are many experts on babywearing eager to help new parents in their community.

The proactive approach to safety from the baby sling manufacturers - from initiating voluntary recalls to asking for the review you mention above - is to be commended and dismissing slings as too error prone to benefit from ASTM standards is shortsighted and not helpful to those of us who work everyday to ensure that parents are using carriers correctly. While slings are not as simple as "insert baby A into slot B", their versatility, ergonomic designs and long term comfort for both wearer and baby make them more valuable to parents than the mainstream front pack carriers that the ASTM is more comfortable with and deserving of more effort from the ASTM.

Britt Pegan
Milkface Nursingwear Inc

[Sallyanne Slater]

Only 22 injurues in 10 years? Wow! These carriers sound amazingly safe when one compares that statisic to the tens of thousands of injuries caused every year by accidents associated with highchairs, buggies and prams, car seat carriers, infant baths and equipment like bouncey seats and baby walkers.

[A M R]

You recommend the infant car seat carrier as an alternative to slings, but positional asphyxia is a concern there too. In addition, with the car seat/stroller, the child is not as close to the parent, thus the parent might not be as aware of the infant's distress.

Many baby products have problems with improper usage which leads to injuries. Estimates say 80% of car seats are installed incorrectly, but I don't see you suggesting parents shouldn't use them. I agree better education would be nice, however as with car seats, high chairs, and even bath tubs, it is impossible to force people to use them correctly.

[Rachel]

I find it interesting that you recommend the use of strollers and car seat carriers over slings when I know that there have been far more than 22 reported injuries linked to them in the past 10 years. Any device can be dangerous when used improperly or carelessly- but when used correctly and according to the instructions (which most responsible manufacturers provide in written format with the carrier and in video format on either a DVD or on their website) they are very safe and beneficial to the child's development, as they encourage more interaction with their caregiver and the world around them.

[Conuly]

Only 22 injuries in 10 years? That's not even three a year, out of the thousands (or more) of babies worn that way, in the way that babies have been worn for the whole of human civilisation.

And when you realize that many of those babies who were injured were being worn improperly (because our society doesn't tend to wear babies, so it has to be a learned skill)... well, it's even safer.