The company responsible for the Nap Nanny is fighting a lawsuit by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to prevent their product from a forcible recall. The CPSC claims it has received approximately 70 complaints of the product, including 5 related to infant death. As a result retailers across the country including Amazon  Babies “R” Us, and others have voluntarily stopped selling the product and are allowing customers to return it for a full refund.

The Nap Nanny is distributed by Baby Matters. The CPSC attempted to convince Baby Matters to execute a recall of the product, but the company refused claiming that it is safe for the market.

These issues began in 2010 after a baby reportedly died from using the Nap Nanny; in response the product was recalled and redesigned. Baby Matters claims that although the deaths that allegedly occurred from the Nap Nanny were tragic, use of the Nap Nanny as directed is safe. The company believes that parents create a risk for infants when they neglect instructions and warnings by placing the device on a table or crib, or by failing to strap in their child.

The CPSC disagrees with Baby Matters and believes that the Nap Nanny contains design defects and warning / instruction defects. As a result, it brought a lawsuit last month to compel recall the product.

More than 150,000 Nap Nannys have been sold since the product was launched in 2009. Although many large retailers have stopped selling Nap Nannys, the product is still available at smaller retailers.

Baby Matters’ attorneys have called CPSC’s claims false and deceptive.

You can learn more about the litigation here: Lisa Stark, After 5 Deaths, Stores Recall Nap Nanny Recliners, ABC News.com (December 28, 2012)