Who owns Boppy? Brand recalls iconic lounger pillow after 8 babies suffocate to death
Popular baby brand 'Boppy' is facing an unprecedented crisis with more than three million of their infant lounger pillows being recalled from the market shelves. The decision was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission after reports surfaced that at least eight newborn babies have died from suffocation while sleeping on the pillow. As per the latest orders, the recall has been enacted specifically on the Boppy Original Newborn Loungers, Boppy Preferred Newborn Loungers, and Pottery Barn Kids Boppy Newborn Loungers, effective from Thursday, September 23, 2021.
The Boppy lounger pillows have been a staple baby product at retail outlets like Target, Walmart, Pottery Barn as well as e-commerce conglomerates like Amazon. More the 3.3 million pillows have already been sold across the US between January 2004 and September 2021, as well as an additional 3,500 pillows in Canada. Presently, the company has offered to refund all their customers who bought the pillows.
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In a recent statement, the CPSC informed that eight children, who were placed on their stomachs on these lounger pillows, ultimately died of suffocation. The shocking infant deaths took place between December 2015 and June 2020. Speaking about the accidents, CPSC chairman Robert Adler said, "Since we know that infants sleep so much of the time - even in products not intended for sleep - and since suffocation can happen so quickly, these Boppy lounger products are simply too risky to remain on the market. These types of incidents are heartbreaking."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Boppy issued an apology statement on the brand's behalf, saying, "We are devastated to hear of these tragedies. Boppy is committed to doing everything possible to safeguard babies, including communicating the safe use of products to parents and caregivers, and educating the public about the importance of following all warnings and instructions and the risks associated with unsafe sleep practices for infants." He, however, mentioned that the brand issues warnings on their lounger pillows against unsupervised use and the products are not meant for infant sleep.
Originally, Boppy was started as a brand for nursing pillows in January 1989 by Susan Brown. Brown was a resident of Golden, Colorado and a mother herself, who invented the yesteryear nursing pillows for babies. She originally designed the pillows herself for the babies at her daughter's daycare. The brand soon acquired popularity across USA and evolved into a top-ranking baby care company. In 1998, Boppy pillow emerged as a pop culture icon after it was featured on an episode of 'Friends' where the character Phoebe Buffay (played by Lisa Kudrow) gave birth to her brother's triplets.
Eventually, in 2013, Boppy was acquired by Italian healthcare and infant care company Artsana Group, which was founded in 1946 by Pietro Catelli as a pharmaceutical business. Headquartered in Grandate, Italy, Artsana has specialized in manufacturing infant care products under their label Chicco.
While issuing the order of recall at present, the company has asked users to contact them for queries (800) 416 - 1355 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Customers can request a refund online at www.boppy.com and click the 'Recall and Safety Alert' tab.
