Beyond major retail platforms, independent direct-to-consumer sites have cropped up to sell loungers that don’t appear to meet the new lounger standards or other infant product standards that might apply, including sites like Little Manta, Mumzworld, and SunLoveKids, all of which sell lounger-style products. In some cases, those products are marketed with soft sleep-adjacent language or imagery that can confuse exhausted parents looking for solutions. Consumer Reports contacted these companies to ask if the baby loungers on their websites were compliant with the mandatory safety regulations for infant support cushions. Only one company, SunLoveKids, responded in time for publication. In a statement to Consumer Reports, the company wrote, “We closely monitor evolving regulatory requirements in the markets where our products are sold, including updates related to infant support cushions in the United States. Regarding your questions: Our company is currently conducting an ongoing review of applicable products and relevant regulatory requirements, including the updated U.S. standards referenced in 16 CFR Part 1243. We are working with our manufacturing and compliance partners to evaluate product classifications, testing requirements, labeling, and applicable safety standards to ensure appropriate alignment with U.S. regulations. As part of this process, we are also reviewing our existing product assortment and implementing internal compliance assessments where necessary. We remain committed to responsible product management and to making any operational or product updates required to support consumer safety and regulatory expectations.”
When shopping online for a baby lounger, certain phrases should immediately raise red flags for parents. Terms like “snuggly,” “sleep support,” or “comfort nest” may sound reassuring, but safety experts say those phrases can create a dangerous impression that baby loungers are intended for infant sleep. “The industry constantly manipulates words to try and skirt regulation, and to try and sell products,” Hoffman says.
In addition, terms like “sleep lounger,” “sleep nest,” “co-sleeper,” “soothes baby to sleep,” and “overnight comfort” can imply a product is safe for infant sleep when it may not meet federal infant sleep product safety standards, says Ashita Kapoor, director of product safety at Consumer Reports. Casares says terms like “sleep support” and “womb-like” are especially concerning because they can suggest to exhausted parents that it’s okay to use loungers for unsupervised sleep.
Even the word “flat” has been stretched in misleading ways, Hoffman says, with some companies describing inclined products as flat simply because the baby’s back rests on one plane, even though the entire product sits at an angle.
Critics argue that online marketplaces could do far more to stop recalled or lookalike products from resurfacing. Major platforms, including Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and TikTok, already use AI-powered monitoring tools and image-matching technology to detect counterfeit goods and prohibited listings, raising questions about why visually identical recalled baby products can still slip through the cracks. In a statement, the CPSC says e-commerce platforms and third-party sellers “have a responsibility to do more,” including improving product screening, seller verification, recall compliance measures, and faster removal of unsafe infant products.
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