Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper Lawsuit Alleges Recalled Product Caused Infant’s Death

Nearly 5 million Fisher-Price Rock ’n Play Sleepers were recalled in 2019 following reports of infant suffocation deaths linked to the product’s design.

Two California parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging their infant daughter suffocated while sleeping in a recalled Fisher-Price Rock ’n Play Sleeper.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Erica Yoana Espinoza and Jay Glenn Anguiano on September 22, in the Los Angeles County Superior Court of California, on behalf of their infant daughter, Jaylah Marie Anguiano. It names Fisher-Price Inc. and its parent company, Mattel Inc., as defendants.

The parents allege their daughter’s death was caused by dangerous design features in the Rock ’n Play Sleeper, which had been linked to more than 50 infant deaths between 2009 and 2019, before the product was recalled.

Rock ’n Play Sleeper Injuries and Recall

The Fisher-Price Rock ’n Play Sleeper was designed with an inclined sleeping surface that elevated an infant’s head above the rest of the body. It also featured raised, padded sides, a collapsible frame and a fabric hammock where the baby rested.

However, the product has been linked to dozens of infant suffocation deaths and injuries, raising concerns about whether its design allowed babies to roll into positions that obstructed their breathing.

In April 2019, Fisher-Price and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a Rock ’n Play Sleeper recall affecting nearly 5 million units.

The recall was followed by several wrongful death and class action lawsuits alleging Fisher-Price knew or should have known the sleepers posed serious suffocation risks but continued selling them without adequate warnings.

In 2021, a House Oversight Committee report criticized Fisher-Price for continuing to market the product for nearly a decade despite reports of infant deaths. The report alleged Fisher-Price ignored safety concerns and withheld information about deaths associated with the sleepers to avoid the costs of a recall.

The CPSC issued another warning in June 2022, urging parents to stop using Fisher-Price and other infant rockers due to the risk of suffocation and death. Federal safety requirements also led to a ban on inclined infant sleepers that took effect in 2022.

In 2025, Fisher-Price agreed to a $19 million Rock ’n Play Sleeper class action settlement resolving claims brought by consumers over the recalled product. The settlement provided compensation to eligible purchasers, including those who bought sleepers before April 12, 2017.

Rock ‘n Play Sleeper Suffocation Allegations

According to the complaint, Espinoza put her 6-month-old daughter, Jaylah, down to rest in a Rock ‘n Play sleeper after feeding her on October 14, 2024. When the mother awoke, Jaylah was lying on her right side in the sleeper with her face pressed against the fabric. She was not breathing.

Espinoza ran outside for help, and a neighbor administered CPR. Paramedics were called and attempted life-saving measures. Jaylah was taken to the hospital where more attempts to resuscitate her were made, but the infant girl was ultimately pronounced dead.

The lawsuit alleges Jaylah died because the Rock ’n Play Sleeper was defective and not designed in accordance with the American Academy of Pediatrics infant safety guidelines, which recommend a baby be put to sleep on their back on a flat surface, with no soft pillows or blankets.

The complaint further alleges both Fisher-Price and Mattel knew the sleepers were unsafe before they were developed and marketed. The company allegedly had no data to support that the sleepers would be safe and relied on insufficient information from a family doctor who later lost his medical license.

Critics warned that the incline built into the sleepers allowed infants’ heads to roll downward and to the side, allowing the airways to close and creating a suffocation risk.

Additionally, the manufacturers were allegedly aware of infant deaths linked to sleepers as early as 2005 and dozens more between 2009 and 2019.

The lawsuit asserts that the companies continued to disregard reports of injuries, deaths and warnings from prominent medical associations and federal regulatory agencies. Jaylah’s parents accuse the defendants of participating in deceptive advertising, calling the devices safe overnight sleepers and marketing them alongside cribs and bassinets.

“It is indisputable that defendants had actual knowledge that their product, the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper, could cause infant death if used as an infant sleeper, and defendants continued to advertise their best-selling product as safe for infant sleeping despite that knowledge.”

— Erica Yoana Espinoza et al, v. Fisher-Price Inc. et al.

The lawsuit raises allegations of strict liability, design defect, failure to warn, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, intentional misrepresentation, violation of the California UCL, negligent infliction of emotional distress and wrongful death and survival.

Espinoza and Anguiano are seeking punitive and general damages, resulting from the loss of love, affection, society, service, relationship, comfort, care, support, right to support, expectations of future support and counseling, companionship, solace and mental support, training and guidance, as well as funeral, burial, hospital, medical, professional and incidental expenses.

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