By: Dina DiMaggio, MD, FAAP & Rachel Y. Moon, MD, FAAP
If you’re expecting a baby, you may be creating a registry or receiving gifts and hand‑me‑downs from friends and family. It can be exciting to choose items that will help keep your baby comfortable and cared for.
But not all popular baby products are safe. Some items added to registries—or passed along secondhand—can increase the risk of injury or suffocation, especially during sleep. Knowing what to look out for can help you make safer choices for your baby.
Dangerous infant sleep products to cross off your baby wish list
No caring parent would knowingly choose products that could hurt their child. But with so much marketing noise out there, it’s hard for families to know what’s safe and what’s not. Let’s start with products that have hurt and even killed hundreds of infants, leading to federal laws banning their sale and distribution.
Baby sleep products that are now banned in the U.S.
In 2022, Congress passed the Safe Sleep for Babies Act, thanks in part to the testimony of grieving parents who lost little ones to dangerous infant sleep products. This federal law bans:
- Inclined sleepers that lift an infant’s head more than 10 degrees. These sleepers can cause your baby’s head to slump forward or sideways, which may cut off their air supply. Often marketed as baby pods, wedges or nests, these products are still linked with dozens of infant deaths every year and continue to pose serious risks.
- Crib bumpers that snap, button or tie onto crib rails, creating a soft, pillowy surface that can suffocate sleeping babies. Once thought to keep babies’ heads and limbs from getting caught between crib rails, they aren’t necessary anymore, since safety regulations call for narrow rail spacing.
You won’t find these banned products in big-box stores, but private sellers may post them on Facebook Marketplace and other sites. You may also find them in thrift, consignment and resale shops, garage sales and open-air markets, and baby equipment exchanges. Friends and family might offer you gently used or homemade versions of these products without knowing they could be dangerous.
Lifesaving tip: The safest place for your baby to sleep is on a firm, flat surface, on their back, with no loose bedding or soft objects.
Baby products that are safe for play, but not for sleep
Some baby gear commonly added to registries is safe when used as directed, but not for sleep. This includes:
Swings
Rockers
Bouncers
Gliders
These products hold babies at an upright or inclined position. This causes your baby’s head to fall forward or sideways if they fall asleep, making it hard (or even impossible) for them to breathe. In fact, some products have been recalled in the wake of evidence that babies died while sleeping in them.
What to do if your baby falls asleep in a car seat
if your baby
falls asleep in their car seat, always move them to a firm, flat sleep surface as soon as you can. It’s generally safe for them to doze in a moving car, but infant car seats are not made for sleep outside your vehicle.
Together with parents, the AAP is working to keep sleeping babies safe
Every year, around 3,700 infants in the United States die in their sleep. These include babies lost to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and those who strangle or suffocate in a sleep space.
Fortunately, we have evidence that shows how to reduce infant sleep risks.
The ABCDs of safe infant sleep
Here are the ABCDs of safe sleep to follow every time you put your baby down, both naptime and nighttime.
A is for alone. Always put your baby to sleep in a dedicated space where no one else sleeps. We recommend keeping your baby close by sharing a room instead of a bed. Learn more about bed sharing and its risks here.
B is for back. Place your infant on their back to sleep. Studies show this sensible step can greatly reduce risks for sleep-related death by preventing your baby’s nose and mouth from being blocked in the mattress.
C is for crib. Your baby needs a sleep surface that’s firm, flat and free of loose objects like blankets, pillows or stuffed animals. Cribs are a good choice, but you can safely use a bassinet, co-sleeper, mini-crib, convertible crib or portable play yard fitted with a flat, firm mattress.
D is for don’t smoke. Keep all forms of smoke away from your child, both day and night. This means making your home a smoke-free, vape-free space. All forms of smoke raise your baby’s risk of dying in their sleep, especially when they are sick.
Read more about the AAP’s efforts to keep sleeping babies safe in this article.
10 more items to rethink on your registry or avoid secondhand
These trendy items may seem useful, lovely or fun, but child safety experts say that most are not necessary or effective. In fact, many are downright dangerous for your baby.
1. Sleep positioners
These are bolsters, wedges or mats designed to keep your baby in a certain position while they sleep. These products have been linked with multiple deaths. Do not believe marketers if they say these products will enhance your baby’s sleep by making them comfortable. Babies often scoot or roll in their sleep, which can cause them to get trapped between the bolster and the side of their crib or bassinet. Despite what marketers say, there is no evidence that they prevent SIDS or prevent flat head syndrome.
2. Nursing pillows
These help parents hold or support their babies while they breastfeed or bottle-feed, but never use them with sleeping babies. In fact, hundreds of babies have died in them. If you want to use a nursing pillow, choose one that is firm and has straight edges—and always move your baby to a safe, dedicated sleep space after they finish feeding. Hear more from Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez in this video:
3. Infant loungers
These are round or oval pillows that surround little ones with soft padded sides, but they are not safe for sleep. Infants have suffocated while sleeping on loungers, and others have hurt themselves while rolling off the soft edges. Limit your baby’s lounger time to waking hours only (or, better yet, use a flat play mat during awake time). Visit this Consumer Product Safety Commission website for news of product safety recalls, since specific lounger brands have proven unsafe for babies.
4. Mesh crib liners
These are non-padded barriers designed to keep pacifiers, toys and little limbs inside sleep spaces. But most child health advocates – including the AAP – say these liners are not necessary. Modern cribs must meet strict safety rules, which require slats to be carefully spaced to protect little limbs from slipping through. Meanwhile, crib liners can work their way loose and suffocate or trap a sleeping child. Toddlers have used them to jump or climb out of cribs, boosting risks for dangerous falls and head trauma.
5. Extra-plush crib or play-yard mattresses
Mattresses sold separately from cribs, bassinets and play yards are usually not tight enough to keep infants from suffocating or getting trapped. Do not believe sellers who promise your baby will love the comfort or softness, because the softness can suffocate or trap your baby. Many brands violate safety standards and quite a few have been recalled for safety reasons.
6. Sitting baby walkers
Despite what the marketers say, these products will not = strengthen your baby’s muscles and help your baby learn to walk. Your baby is 100% capable of learning on their own! These products often keep babies from walking. More importantly, walkers have been linked with dangerous falls, often sending little ones tumbling down staircases or off decks. Babies in walkers have been burned, drowned and poisoned when they reached for hazards. The dangers are so severe that the AAP has called for a full ban of baby walkers.
7. Baby floats
Never use these products without proper adult supervision. Floating seats are not stable. They easily flip over, trapping babies under the surface where they can drown in seconds. Neck floats and seats can deflate quickly, too. Worse yet, these devices might give parents a false sense of safety. Young children should not be considered water-safe until they are experienced swimmers. Even then, adults must keep eyes (and often hands) on them at all times. Here’s our evidence-based advice for child water safety.
8. Mini-bassinets or baskets
Many of these products do not meet infant sleep safety standards, even though they may seem convenient or safe. Their soft sides can cause babies to tip and fall out. This can be especially dangerous when lightweight bassinets are placed on kitchen counters, coffee tables, appliances or other high surfaces.
9. Vintage cribs
Older cribs and cradles can be charming, but they do not meet U.S. safety standards adopted in 2021 and updated in 2026. These include a full ban on drop-side cribs that can malfunction, causing life-threatening falls.
10. Bedding gift sets & blankets
Hundreds of strangulation and suffocation deaths have been linked to loose items like blankets, pillows and stuffed animals in sleep spaces.
Feel free to decorate your child’s room with stuffies and cuddly blankets, but do not put these items in the crib or bassinet. And if you’re worried that your baby is cold, use a wearable blanket/sleep sack rather than a blanket.
What about weighted sleep blankets?
Weighted blankets can make it harder for your baby to breathe. Your baby can also get trapped underneath a heavy blanket and suffocate. Do not believe influencers who claim these blankets made their little ones sleep better.Remember
Keeping your baby safe means knowing about dangerous products, including items that have been banned but can still be found in resale shops, outdoor markets, garage sales, Facebook Marketplace or baby-gear exchanges.
Be wary when influencers say a certain product is a "must-have" or a "lifesaver" for every family. What’s hot or trendy isn’t necessarily safe (or even effective).
The most dangerous products promise to help infants sleep better. But other unsafe products include those for comforting or entertaining babies, strengthening walking muscles or keeping them afloat in the water. Child safety experts are working to ban or regulate many of these items.
For safety’s sake, scan your baby registry or wish list and make thoughtful edits. And if people buy, loan or give you products that could be dangerous, it’s best to respond with a gentle and respectful "no." When it comes to your little one’s health, it’s never worth the risk.
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