The FDA Puts Out Warning Advising Against the Use of Infant Neck Floats
The FDA recently put out a warning advising against the use of infant neck floats in water.
Infant Neck Floats
There's a good chance you've seen videos and photos online of infants floating in a bathtub with a neck float keeping their heads above water. While these floats do make for an adorably funny photo or video, the FDA has now put out a statement advising against them especially discouraging use for infants with special needs.
Deceptive Marketing
According to the FDA's latest warning, there are some companies marketing these neck floats as therapeutic for babies, and advising they are beneficial for water therapy. The FDA put out a statement saying that they have not evaluated these neck floats for use in water therapy and would recommend against caregivers and parents using these devices for water therapy. In a statement from the FDA they said:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning parents, caregivers, and health care providers not to use neck floats with babies for water therapy interventions, especially with babies who have developmental delays or special needs, such as spina bifida, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1, Down syndrome, or cerebral palsy. The use of these products can lead to death or serious injury.
Risk of Injury or Death with Infant Neck Floats
The FDA also advised that at least one infant has died and one infant was hospitalized after the use of these neck floats. Here's what the FDA had to say:
The FDA is aware of one baby who died and one baby who was hospitalized related to the use of baby neck floats. In both cases the babies were injured when their caregivers were not directly monitoring them.
While the FDA believes that death or serious injury from neck floats is rare, health care providers, parents, and caregivers should be aware that these events can and do occur. It is also possible that some cases have not been reported to the FDA.
You can see the FDA's full statement regarding these neck floats, here.