Mandatory Safety Standard for Nursing Pillows Is Now in Effect

A new federal safety standard that aims to reduce the risks of suffocation, entrapment and falls associated with nursing pillows is now in effect.

Nursing pillows are horseshoe-shaped pillows that are designed to fit around an adult’s torso and lift a baby to a more “ergonomic” position for breast or bottle feeding. They are not an infant sleep product, but their pillow-like design has led parents and caregivers to think that they can be used to support babies for sleeping and lounging. This is a dangerous misconception because babies who are put to sleep in a nursing pillow or left unattended can assume positions where their face presses against the soft padding and their airflow becomes blocked. Babies also can get into a chin-to-chest position, which can cause asphyxiation.

Between 2010 and 2022, there were at least 154 infant deaths associated with nursing pillows, 142 of which involved using the pillow for infant sleep, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Most of the deaths involved babies younger than 3 months old and occurred when the pillow was used in or on a sleep product, including an adult bed or mattress, a crib, a portable playpen, or on a couch, sofa or loveseat. In addition, the CPSC is aware of 64 nonfatal injuries in the same timeframe, including fall/rollout injuries from elevated surfaces, near suffocations and near strangulations.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants be put to sleep on their backs, on a separate, flat and firm sleep surface without any bumpers, loose bedding or stuffed toys.

What Does the New Safety Standard for Nursing Pillows Require?

Under the new standard, all nursing pillows manufactured after April 23, 2025, must be designed and tested to ensure:

• Firmness. Nursing pillows must be sufficiently firm to prevent suffocation from the product conforming to an infant’s face and obstructing the infant’s airways.
• Wider Caregiver Opening. To reduce the hazard that nursing pillows will be used for sleeping or lounging, they must now be made with a wider opening that is more appropriate for fitting against an adult’s torso. If an infant is placed in the opening, this requirement reduces the potential for the baby’s head to become entrapped in the opening or for the pillow to restrict the baby’s head movements.
• No Infant Restraints. Restraints suggest to parents and caregivers that babies can be left safely unattended in the nursing pillow, which they cannot. They also pose a potential entanglement hazard.
• Stronger Warning Labels. The standard requires an on-product, conspicuous warning label that explicitly states that the pillow should be used for feeding only, that babies have died while using nursing pillows for sleeping and lounging, and that warns about the risks of suffocation and falls.

How Can I Keep My Baby Safe While Using a Nursing Pillow?

The CPSC offers the following recommendations for keeping babies safe while using a nursing pillow:

• Only use nursing pillows for nursing/feeding a baby.
• Never use nursing pillows for infant sleep or lounging.
• Do not place nursing pillows in other infant sleep products, such as cribs or bassinets, or anywhere a baby sleeps.
• Do not leave babies unattended in nursing pillows on beds, sofas, or other elevated surfaces.
• If the baby falls asleep while nursing/feeding, or if you start to feel like you might fall asleep, transfer the baby to a safe sleep space.

What Should I Do If My Baby Has Been Injured or Killed While Using a Nursing Pillow?

Edward S. Goldis, a partner and product liability attorney at Feldman Shepherd, recommends contacting a product liability attorney as soon as possible if your child has been seriously injured or killed while using a nursing pillow or any other pillow-like product made for babies.

Goldis said that even before this new mandatory safety standard took effect, product liability law always required that products be safe for their intended as well as expected use. “There is simply no excuse for a product with a design that can mislead parents into thinking that it is safe for infant sleep, when it is not,” he said.

The product liability team at Feldman Shepherd, which includes co-founding shareholder Alan M. Feldman and shareholder Daniel J. Mann, has secured substantial recoveries on behalf of infants and young children who have been seriously injured or killed by children’s products, including baby slings, unstable furniture and magnetic toys. They presently represent many families whose babies died in separate incidents in infant loungers, rockers and sleepers, which do not comply with the safe sleep recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics.