Parents say they calm babies, but experts warn they can be dangerous.
Here’s what you oughta know about weighted sleep sacks and blankets for infants.
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Every new parent looks for ways to help their baby sleep.
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Naturally, you may be tempted to load up on products touted to help your baby sleep.
Enter: weighted sleep sacks.
They sure look comfy, but are weighted sleep sacks safe for babies?
Many experts, including those at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), say no.
What Is a Weighted Sleep Sack?
Some baby gear manufacturers also make weighted swaddle blankets that wrap, rather than zip, around your baby.
Are Weighted Sleep Sacks Safe?
Doctors warn against using weighted sleep sacks for babies.
Weighted swaddle clothing or weighted objects within swaddles are not safe and therefore not recommended, the recommendation reads.
The CPSC has updated its safe sleep guidelines to address weighted sleep sacks.
Whether the weighted sleep sack or swaddle was a factor in either case is unclear.
What Do Makers of Weighted Sleep Sacks Say?
Sleep products like weighted sleep sacks are still widely available online, including direct from the manufacturers.
We continue to understand the AAP’s position on the research we have performed so far.
We highly regard their feedback and hope to sufficiently answer their concerns through published work.
It was a small study that was not peer-reviewed and included only five infants.
Researchers used oval weights and placed them on infants chests to mimic the design of Nested Beans products.
Nested Bean felt it showed no safety concerns.
I personally believe less is more, she says.
With items like these in a crib, babies can suffocate, strangle, and get trapped.
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SUID and Safe Sleep Overview.American Academy of Pediatrics.
A randomized controlled study of weighted chain blankets for insomnia in psychiatric disorders.Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
Sleep-related infant deaths: updated 2022 recommendations for reducing infant deaths in the sleep environment.Pediatrics.
Letter to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.American Academy of Pediatrics.
Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Safe Sleep - Cribs and Infant Products.Consumer Product Safety Commission.
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Letter: ASTM F15.19 Weighted Infant Products.American Academy of Pediatrics.
AAP leaders call decision to pull harmful weighted sleep products a ‘strong first step’.American Academy of Pediatrics.
2024
Weighted Sleep Sacks Are Unsafe for Infants, National Pediatricians' Group Says.NBC News.
Safe Sleep for Your Baby.National Institute for Child Health and Human Development.
