Infant loungers—and all types of baby holders in general—are super convenient because babies like to be held 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and every parent has to be able to put the baby down sometimes. New infant Lounger regulations hope to make those devices safer for our babies.
Baby holders that are comfy and better at mimicking the sensation of being held, like some loungers, bouncy seats, and bouncers, might be more soothing and satisfactory to an infant than cribs, bassinets, and playpens, which makes them appealing to parents.
However, they also pose certain dangers, and new safety standards hope to help mitigate those risks.
Where Did The New Infant Lounger Regulations Come From & What Are They?
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) agreed upon new regulations in October, and the deadline for implementing them was this month (May 2025).
That means if you buy new products in the future, they should meet these safety guidelines (with some exceptions we’ll get to), but secondhand products or items you already have may or may not.
These regulations are for manufacturers, requiring them to update their products’ safety standards. They include the following:
- Firmness testing on surfaces and other areas that infants may come in contact with.
- Sidewall angle tests to reduce or eliminate the risk of the baby being trapped between a mattress or cushion and the wall or side of the baby lounger
- There are limits on the incline so that the seat can’t easily be positioned at an angle extreme enough to harm the baby’s developing neck.
How Do the Infant Lounger Regulations Affect What Parents Can Do?
Because these are product safety regulations, they target the manufacturer, not the end user.
That means that the new regulations don’t address how parents can use these seats and other devices, even though manufacturers have argued that infant deaths are the fault of parents who misuse their products.
Instead, the new regulations target parental use of the devices more roundaboutly, by requiring manufacturers to make them in ways that don’t encourage such misuse. To be clear, this is about encouraging parents to follow existing safety measures.
For one thing, the rule about incline also includes limits on the side height of a lounger, which is intended to encourage parents to place it on the floor, rather than on an elevated location.
Also, no restraints, belts, or buckles are allowed. The CPSC hopes this will tell parents that these loungers are not places to leave babies unsupervised.
Most directly, the manufacturers are ordered to add “conspicuous and permanent” warning labels to ensure that parents know how dangerous these products can be if used without supervision.
So, How Can You Tell If An Infant Lounger Product Is Safe?
Products currently on the shelves and labeled as complying with federal safety regulations should meet these requirements.
Items purchased from outside the U.S., particularly from unknown brands or popular discount merchandise websites, may not meet the safety standards, and items that are handmade may not meet the standards.
Secondhand items may meet the standards from when they were new, but may not comply with current standards. Sometimes, it may also be hard to tell whether a secondhand item meets those standards since you may be unable to tell where it was purchased.
Secondhand items may also have visible or invisible damage from prior use and may no longer meet the original safety standards.
This means secondhand items, if used, should always be used with extra caution.
If you have products that were bought new in the past few months, it’s possible, but by no means guaranteed, that they are already in compliance with some or all of the regulations, since manufacturers had this grace period to meet those standards. Older products likely do not meet the standards.
What Else Should I Check?
If you already have a baby container, whether it’s one of the loungers addressed by these regulations, a crib, a bassinet, a car seat, a bouncer, or any other device, and are considering whether it’s safe to use again or continue using, start by doing your research.
The CPSC has a searchable database for recalls. You can also enter the product you are considering into your preferred search engine along with the word “recall” and do a separate search for the product combined with the word “safety.”
Secondhand products always carry a certain degree of risk. Knowing the background of the product is a good thing; for instance, the baby seat your sister used may be a better gamble than one from a thrift shop, but it is not a guarantee.
There are some minimal regulations on reselling certain baby products (like cribs and car seats) that are outdated or don’t meet current regulations. However, that doesn’t mean that there’s a federal inspector at your local thrift shop. There’s virtually no enforcement of this in more casual markets, such as between individuals.
If you must use secondhand products, inspect them thoroughly for signs of wear or damage and be exceptionally vigilant when supervising them.
If It Meets The New Infant Lounger Standards, Can I Use It Safely?
The answer ranges from ‘maybe’ to ‘probably,’ with caveats.
If you use the product exactly as directed, maintain supervision, and follow safety guidelines yourself, risks are drastically reduced. If, however, you place the baby in the lounger and leave it on the couch or bed, leave the room, or use it for a baby that is more mobile than it’s designed for, risks are high.
The new regulations are designed to make these baby loungers safer when used correctly and to encourage parents to use them correctly and in the safest manner possible.
However, there are deaths every year of infants in these devices, so using them should always be done with the utmost caution. In fact, according to NBC, some legislators have discussed the possibility of removing loungers from the market altogether.
If the new regulations don’t decrease the fatalities of infants in these loungers, that could be a future step.
We have written several times about choosing the right car seats for children and using various child safety products properly. Like other items we’ve covered, we encourage you to read each product’s instructions and make sure you are using your infant loungers according to their recommended safety instructions.