Do you own one of the recalled bassinets?

The recent recall of 900,000 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 convertible "close sleeper" bassinets has resulted in some confusion over which models and brands were affected. At first consumers were told that the recall involved Simplicity bassinets but it was later learned that at least 200,000 also carried the Graco logo or a Disney Winnie-the-Pooh motif.

But the confusion didn't end there. Newer models of the bassinet no longer have the design flaw that resulted in the deaths of two infants. The danger presented by the bassinet is that when used in its bedside co-sleeper mode, it's possible that an infant can slip through an opening between a cross-bar and the mattress, become entrapped and strangle or suffocate.

To help parents identify the flawed bassinet, Consumer Reports found both a recalled model and one with the new design to demonstrate in this video how to tell the difference.

The recall continues to be controversial. Senators  Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), who both chair subcommittees that oversee the Consumer Product Safety Commission, have criticized the lag in time between when the Simplicity bassinet was recalled and when the agency announced that some also carried the Graco label. In a letter posted on their Web sites they wrote, "We have not been able to make sense of your agency’s action to advise consumers and retailers of dangers posed by the Simplicity bassinet on one hand, and its inaction and silence with regard to the very same bassinet under the Graco brand on the other."

Acting Director Nancy Nord replied that her agency did not know about the other brands until later in the process. "We can neither recall products nor alert the public about products if we do not know whether or not those products actually exist. As soon as we had that information we acted immediately to alert the public," she wrote in response.

Because Simplicity has gone out of business, the recall has not followed the usual pattern. Instead of the manufacturer making the recall, the CPSC is working with a number of retailers to get the product off the shelves.