by Allison Micarelli-Sokoloff
June 08, 2010

In May, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) approved a new federal safety standard for infant bath seats. This is the first mandatory standard for infant and toddler products issued by the CPSC as required under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).

Intended for use in sinks and tubs, infant bath seats provide front and back support for babies 5 to 10 months of age. Since 1983, infant bath seats have been implicated in 174 deaths and 300 serious injuries, many due to babies being left unattended.

In a warning to parents, the CPSC cautioned, “Young children can drown quickly, even in small amounts of water. Never leave a child alone, even for a moment, near any water. Always keep a young child within arm’s reach in a bathtub. And never leave a baby or toddler in a bathtub under the care of another young child.”

Under the new federal standard, infant bath seats must now provide greater stability to prevent seats from tipping over, smaller leg openings to prevent babies from slipping out of the seat, and larger warning labels alerting parents that bath seats are not safety devices and that infants should never be left unattended in a bath seat.

According to the CPSC, no baby bath seats on the market meet the new standards—the kitchen sink and bathroom tub are looking better all the time.