SEATTLE – Amazon and Target are among retailers ending its sales of weighted baby blankets, sleep sacks and swaddles as calls mount for more research and oversight of the products’ safety, according to Consumer Reports.
The two massive retailers, along with Babylist, have decided to stop selling weighted infant sleep products altogether. Amazon made the change April 9 as Target and Babylist told Consumer Reports of their decision on Thursday.
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The policy changes come as Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., wrote a letter Thursday to the Federal Trade Commission requesting that it investigate Dreamland Baby and Nested Bean, manufacturers of popular weighted infant sleep products, over allegations of deceptive advertising.
Weighted infant sleep products are often manufactured with small plastic beads sewn into the fabric, according to Consumer Reports, reporting last year on how medical experts were saying even gentle pressure can obstruct babies’ breathing and blood flow.
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Consumer Reports noted how the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote to federal regulators in 2023 to sound the alarm over a lack of research proving the products were safe or even effective. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has since updated its guidance on safe sleep to recommend that parents outright avoid using weighted sleep products with babies.
According to Amazon’s updated policy, the weighted infant sleep products were prohibited “in the interest of safety” as the retailer also pledged to remove any future listings that do any of the following:
- Refer to an infant, or use terms such as “baby,” “newborn,” “very young child,” or “young child” in product detail page titles, descriptions, bullet points, or images; or
- Include images of an infant with the product; or
- Describes the use of weight in their use to aid in better infant sleep or use terms such as “self-soothing,” “fall asleep fast,” “deeper sleep” or “sleep longer” in product detail page titles, descriptions, bullet points, or images.
Read further on Consumer Reports.
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