TUESDAY, March 3, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs) continued to occur in inclined sleepers even after manufacturer recalls in 2019, according to a study published online Feb. 23 in Pediatrics.
Sasha Mintz and Abigael Collier, Dr.P.H., from the Michigan Public Health Institute in Okemos, used the Pediatric National Fatality Review-Case Reporting System to identify SUIDs occurring in inclined sleepers from 2009 to 2023.
The researchers identified 158 SUIDs in inclined sleepers. More than two-thirds of the deaths (68 percent) occurred from 2009 to 2019, while 32 percent occurred after 2019, the year the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled inclined sleepers due to reports of infant deaths. Two-thirds of infants were younger than 4 months of age. More than eight in 10 of these incidents occurred at the infant’s home (86 percent) under the supervision of a parent (83 percent). Nearly three in 10 infants were reportedly placed supine to sleep and were subsequently found unresponsive nonsupine. In just under one-third of cases (32 percent), the child death review team indicated the infant’s airway was obstructed when found: 55 percent by the inclined sleeper material and 35 percent by other soft bedding in the sleep environment (not mutually exclusive).
"Health care providers, home visitors, health insurers, and family-serving organizations should continue advising caregivers on the importance of a safe infant sleep environment, including use of a firm, noninclined surface, and avoidance of soft bedding," the authors write.