Albany, NY – Today, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D, WF-Fresh Meadows), Chair of the Assembly’s Consumer Protection Committee announced a legislative package intended to increase product safety for infants. Bill A325, sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-Westchester), would prohibit the sale of infant walkers. Bill A1287, also sponsored by Paulin, would ban the sale of infant loungers.

A study conducted by the American Council of Pediatrics found risk of serious injury or death from the use of infant walkers.¹ Similarly, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported at least eight deaths linked with the use of infant loungers.²

“Accidents can happen to anyone at any time, destroying families and tragically ruining lives,” said Assemblywoman Rozic, Chair of the Assembly Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee. “In an effort to prevent avoidable deaths, New York needs to increase infant product safety and take dangerous items off the market.”

“Infant walkers and loungers have caused horrific tragedies,” said Assemblywoman Amy Paulin. “Parents and caregivers who use them logically assume that they are safe for infant use. The reality is that they are not. There have been instances where a baby has rolled into the pillowed material, couldn’t right themselves, and suffocated to death. A ban of these products is needed not only to take them off the market going forward, but to alert current owners of these products of their dangers. I urge the legislature to pass my bills A325 for infant walkers and A8346 for infant loungers into law, and thank Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection, for her steadfast support and advocacy.”

"These commonsense bills will help us achieve one of our most important responsibilities in government: protecting the health and safety of the youngest New Yorkers,” said Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, Chair of the Assembly Subcommittee on Child Product Safety. “I thank Chair Nily Rozic, sponsor Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and my colleagues in the Assembly Majority for following the data and advancing this life-saving legislation."

This package passed the Consumer Protection Committee today in the Committee's first meeting of the 2023 legislative session.

[1] American Academy of Pediatrics. Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention. Injuries associated with infant walkers. Pediatrics. 2001 Sep;108(3):790-2. doi: 10.1542/peds.108.3.790. PMID: 11533353.

[2] “CPSC Warns Consumers: Stop Using the LEACHCO Podster, Podster Plush, Bummzie and Podster Playtime Infant Loungers Due to Suffocation Hazard; Two Infant Deaths Investigated.” U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 20 Jan. 2022, https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2022/CPSC-Warns-Consumers-Stop-Using-the-Leachco-Podster-Podster-Plush-Bummzie-and-Podster-Playtime-Infant-Loungers-Due-to-Suffocation-Hazard-Two-Infant-Deaths-Investigated.