Infant Deaths on Air Mattresses
Deadly Danger: CPSC Urges Parents To Not Place Infants on Air Mattresses
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This is the season when homes fill up with gifts and
guests. When traveling, parents may choose alternative sleeping environments for babies. The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning families nationwide that air mattresses are too soft for use with sleeping infants. Never place infants to sleep on air mattresses or other soft surfaces (such as water beds and adult beds), which are not specifically designed or safe for infant use. Since 2002, CPSC has received reports of 16 tragic deaths, mostly
infants younger than 8 months of age who were placed to sleep on air
mattresses: 11 suffocated in a face down position on an air mattress and
5 died due to suffocation after falling into gaps between the mattress
and bed frame and mattress and adjacent furniture or wall. Generic twin-, full-, or queen-sized inflatable mattresses are usually intended for adults and older children. Even properly inflated air mattresses are usually too soft for infants to maintain a clear airway. Air leaks and under-inflation also contribute to incidents.
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