About the Affected Products
The warning covers Kids2 Bright Starts and Baby Einstein Rockers — inclined seating products sold as soothing and entertainment devices for infants. Kids2 has sold more than 1.8 million of these rockers worldwide since 2012, distributing them through major national retailers and online channels.
Latest Updates
The CPSC and Kids2 jointly issued Consumer Warning Release No. 22-158 on June 14, 2022, disclosing at least one reported infant death in 2019 linked to a Bright Starts Rocker and advising that all Kids2 rockers should never be used for sleep [1]. The Kids2 warning was issued alongside a parallel warning against Fisher-Price rockers, which the CPSC linked to at least 13 infant deaths between 2009 and 2021 — making the total infant rocker death count across both brands at least 14 [2]. One CPSC commissioner publicly stated that the warning had been delayed two months by an agency practice requiring manufacturer permission before issuing safety warnings — meaning these products remained in use while the agency awaited Kids2’s cooperation [3].
Why Inclined Rockers Are Dangerous for Sleep
Infant rockers are designed with an inclined seat positioned at an angle that allows a baby to recline while awake and supervised. When an infant falls asleep in this inclined position, the head can slump forward and compress the airway, or the face can press against the padded surface, blocking breathing.
Infants lack the muscle control to reposition their heads when an airway obstruction develops, and a sleeping caregiver may not recognize the danger in time. The same incline that makes a rocker soothing for a supervised, awake infant makes it acutely dangerous as a sleep environment.
Kids2 Offered No Remedy
The CPSC’s June 2022 action was a consumer warning, not a formal recall — and Kids2 offered no refund, repair, or replacement program in connection with it. More than 1.8 million families who purchased a Baby Einstein or Bright Starts Rocker received no compensation and no mechanism to return a product the government’s own safety agency declared too dangerous to use as intended.
A class action lawsuit seeks to hold Kids2 accountable for that gap: the company marketed and sold these products for years knowing that inclined sleep surfaces posed a documented suffocation risk to infants, and it provided no remedy when the danger was officially confirmed.
Who May Be Included in the Class
A class action against Kids2 may include anyone who purchased a Baby Einstein or Bright Starts Rocker in the United States and was not offered a full refund or other remedy — as well as parents and families whose infant was injured or died while in one of these products. You do not need to have experienced an injury to be part of the purchasing class; the sale of a dangerous, defective product without adequate warning or remedy is itself the basis for recovery.
Families who suffered an infant injury or death may have additional wrongful death or personal injury claims beyond the class action, with higher individual damages — and should speak with an attorney as soon as possible given state filing deadlines.
A Federal Safety Rule That Came Too Late
The CPSC’s final rule requiring all infant sleep products to maintain a sleep surface angle of 10 degrees or less took effect on June 23, 2022 — nine days after the warning. The rule was designed to close the regulatory gap that allowed steeply inclined infant products to be sold for years despite accumulating evidence of suffocation risk.
That gap — between when the science showed these products were dangerous and when a federal rule finally prohibited them — spans at least the three years between the 2019 infant death and the 2022 regulation, during which Kids2 continued to sell rockers to families who had no way of knowing the risk.
Reported Deaths and Incidents
The CPSC linked at least one confirmed infant death in 2019 to a Bright Starts Rocker and stated it was still reviewing additional reported incidents as of the June 14, 2022 warning. No final incident count specific to Kids2 products has been publicly released.
Can I Join the Lawsuit?
If you purchased a Baby Einstein or Bright Starts Rocker, or if your child was injured or died while in one of these products, you may have a claim in a class action lawsuit against Kids2. Contact an attorney promptly, as state filing deadlines apply.
What to Do Now
Stop using any Baby Einstein or Bright Starts Rocker as a sleep surface immediately and never leave an infant in a rocker unsupervised or unrestrained. Always move a sleeping infant to a firm, flat surface — a crib, bassinet, or play yard with a fitted sheet only — and place infants on their backs. Report any incident to the CPSC at SaferProducts.gov or by calling 800-638-2772 (Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5:30 p.m. ET).
References
1. https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2022/CPSC-and-Kids2-Warn-Consumers-About-Death-in-a-Kids2-Rocker-Advise-Rockers-Should-Never-Be-Used-for-Sleep
2. https://www.fox13news.com/news/fisher-price-kids2-rockers-linked-to-over-a-dozen-reported-deaths-cpsc
3. https://ksat.com/news/local/2022/06/14/infant-rockers-linked-to-at-least-14-deaths