The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents strongly supports the recent recall of all baby self-feeding products by Office for Product Safety and Standards.
As such, members of the public are asked to return these items if possible or dispose of them in a safe manner.Â
Baby self-feeding products are designed to enable babies to bottle feed with little to no assistance from a caregiver.
This creates a risk of serious harm or death from choking on the feed. Â
As babies are already vulnerable to choking it is vital that they are supervised at all times during feeding.
Any product which might encourage caregivers to feed a baby without supervision is increasing that risk.
RoSPA welcomes the product safety alert, but are aware that many of these products may still be in families homes.
They urge families not to use them and to ensure that feeding is always supervised.Â
Ashley Martin, Public Health Advisor, said:Â
“In the case of the self-feeding products, our advice is simple: do NOT use them under any circumstances.
“No young baby should ever be left unsupervised in most circumstances, let alone when it is feeding, so the introduction of self-feeding devices into the market is a massive cause for concern and they should be disposed of safely.”
Risks posed If a baby is left unsupervised:
- Aspiration pneumonia(liquid in the lungs like drowning)
- Choking and gagging
- Risk of suffocation (if a padded, loose product moves or the baby moves obstructing the airway).
