Infantino Baby Sling Recall: SlingRider and Wendy Bellissimo Infant Slings

More than a million Infantino “SlingRider” and “Wendy Bellissimo” baby slings are being recalled after at least three deaths were attributed to the infant sling’s design. 

The Infantino sling recall was announced Wednesday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada. The CPSC said that it was aware of at least three infant deaths that occurred in these slings within the last year, including a 7-week old infant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; a six-day-old infant in Salem, Oregon; and a 3-month-old infant in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The baby sling recall comes after a CPSC warning earlier this month alerting parents to the risk that babies could suffocate against someone’s body while in the sling. Overall, the CPSC reported that there had been at least seven baby sling deaths reported. The CPSC also suspects that some other deaths, reported as cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), might be attributed to the slings as well.

The Infantino SlingRider and Wendy Bellissimo sling recalls affect about one million baby slings sold in the U.S., and 15,000 sold in Canada. The slings are soft fabric baby carriers that have a padded shoulder strap. They are worn by parents and caregivers and used to transport infants weighing 20 pounds or less.

The SlingRiders have “Infantino” printed on the plastic slider on the shoulder strap, and “Infantino and “SlingRider” are also printed on the instruction and warning label inside the baby carrier. The Wendy Bellissimo slings have a label sewn into the inside of the sling strap that says “Wendy Bellissimo Media, Inc.” on it and has the item numbers 3937500H7 and 3937501H7.

The slings were sold in the U.S. and Canada from January 2003 through March 2010 for between $25 and $30. The Wendy Bellissimo slings were sold exclusively at Babies ‘R’ Us, while the SlingRiders were sold there, as well as at Wal-Mart, Burlington Coat Factory, Target, BJ’s Wholesale and other baby stores, children’s stores and retailers nationwide.

The CPSC is recommending that people immediately stop using these slings, and warns that they should not attempt to fix the baby carriers and then use them. Consumers can contact Infantino for a free replacement product via their website at www.infantino.com.