Four retailers agree to recall Gudel’s Nap Nanny
In response to a request earlier this month by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, four retailers have agreed to voluntarily recall Nap Nanny, a popular infant recliner produced by a Berwyn company that has shut down amid reports of five infant deaths.
In response to a request earlier this month by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, four retailers have agreed to voluntarily recall Nap Nanny, a popular infant recliner produced by a Berwyn company that has shut down amid reports of five infant deaths.
Amazon.com, Buy Buy Baby, Diapers.com, and Toys R Us/Babies R Us have stopped selling the Nap Nanny Generations One and Two and the most-recent model, the Chill.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission called for the voluntary recall on Dec. 5, the same day it announced it had taken the unusual step of filing an administrative complaint against the company, Baby Matters L.L.C., alleging that its recliners contain defects in design, warnings and instructions that pose a "substantial risk of injury and death to infants."
CPSC is seeking a mandatory recall that provides consumers a refund.
Baby Matters' founder, Leslie Gudel, a Phillies reporter and anchor for Comcast SportsNet, shut down the company on Nov. 12, anticipating that CPSC was going to ask parents to stop using Nap Nanny and the Chill, and citing financial difficulties arising from months of negotiations with the independent regulatory agency.
Gudel maintains that the infant seats are safe, and that all the deaths cited by CPSC involved product misuse.
In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, she expressed disappointment in the retailers' recalls and vowed to fight the CPSC's actions:
"As I've said before, the loss of an infant is an unthinkable tragedy, and I am truly heartbroken for the families who have lost a child. But when the Nap Nanny has been used properly, no infant has ever suffered an injury requiring medical attention. The Nap Nanny still benefits thousands of children and families, and we continue to stand behind the product 100 percent.
"The CPSC's decision to join with retailers to recall the product is simply an end-run around its attempt to force a recall on Baby Matters in court – an effort we are vigorously resisting. We look forward to presenting our case before a judge who will hear all of the facts."