Family warns other parents after their son died in a Fisher-Price sleeper
The American Academy of Pediatrics Tuesday joined growing calls to have a Fisher-Price baby sleeper recalled. Consumer Reports has linked 32 infant deaths to that sleeper.
In December 2017, Keenan and Evan Overton awoke to find their 5-month-old son Ezra on his stomach unresponsive.
"I saw Ezra, face down with his nose squished into the back of the seat, and he was already passed away. I picked him up and he was like a doll," Keenan Overton said.
Ezra died of suffocation, and the Overtons say his Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play Sleeper was to blame. They're speaking out to warn other parents, in the wake of a Consumer Reports investigation that found 32 babies have died in a Rock 'n Play similar to the one used by their once healthy, happy son.
"We had no reason to suspect that it would be dangerous because it was Fisher-Price. You would think it's a reputable company," Evan Overton said.
Consumer Reports author Rachel Peachman said the magazine found deaths of babies younger than 3 months, and says the sleepers' very design, on an incline, poses a risk to infants because they can suffocate if their heads tilt forward.
"With this product being out on the market being marketed as a sleeper, parents are confused," she said.
In a statement to CBS News, Fisher-Price said the product meets safety standards and while
"the loss of a child is tragic and heart-breaking," it's "essential that the product warnings and instructions are always followed."
But the Overtons said they had none of those warnings and did everything they could to keep Ezra safe.
"I hope that it's never on the shelves again," Evan Overton said.
