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Leachco Confirms Podster® is Safe for Infants, Rejects CPSC’s Claims
Since 1988, Leachco, a family-owned company in Ada, Oklahoma, has made safe, innovative and quality products to support families and infants. The entire Leach family, including founders Clyde and Jamie Leach, and now their adult children, Mabry, Alex, and Andrew, are in the business of helping mothers, fathers and caregivers with the difficult task of caring for infants who need constant daytime care and supervision.
Leachco’s Podster®, an infant lounger, is made in the United States and has been sold to nearly 180,000 families since it was introduced 13 years ago in 2009. The Podster® is specifically designed to help with daytime care of awake infants for the countless times each day when parents and caregivers need to free up their hands for the activities of daily life. The Podster® provides a safe, secure spot to place an infant on its back as the parent or caregiver supervises hands-free, able to prepare a meal, pay bills, check email, give a hand to siblings and many other daily tasks. The Podster® helps babies and is loved by parents and caregivers. The Leach family has used the Podster® for their own children and grandchildren, and they stand firmly by the safety and value of the products they provide to the public
The Podster® is not a sleep product. Even though infants can fall asleep anywhere, safe sleep guidelines and CPSC regulations draw a clear line between products intended for sleep and products not intended for sleep. Leachco has always had clear warnings on the product and its packaging not to place it in a bed or crib or use it unsupervised or for sleep. The CPSC is wrongly telling consumers to stop using the Podster® altogether instead of explaining that no lounger should be used in a crib or bed and no lounger is safe for unsupervised sleep. The loss of an infant is truly tragic and families who suffered that loss have our deepest sympathies. Unfortunately, the statistics show that infant deaths can occur anywhere, even in cribs where sleep is the safest. Leachco supports the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) safe sleep guidelines and urges families to use the Podster® as intended for supervised daytime activity only—not for sleep.
Leachco believes that banning products like the Podster® will not improve safety. In fact, it will leave families and caregivers with fewer safe ways to care for awake infants. Infant care requires constant attention. It can be an exhausting job and parents and caregivers need products to help them. For as many hours of the day that infants need care, it simply is not reasonable to expect parents and caregivers to put them in a crib.
The CPSC’s claims are wrong. The agency ignores the important role loungers can have for parents and makes the wrong choice for families. Leachco stands by the Podster®’s quality, safety and value of the Podster®.
Leachco has sued the CPSC in federal court to protest unfair treatment in the CPSC’s biased in-house court. Leachco is represented by Pacific Legal Foundation, a national public interest law firm.
JPMA has issued a statement in support of Leachco’s position. For more information Click Here.
First Candle has also issued a statement concerning the issue. For more information Click Here.
To see the press release about our lawsuit against the CPSC Click Here.
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The CPSC has told us it believes that loungers, including the Podster® are not safe because parents and caregivers will ignore the warnings and use them for unsupervised sleep. We disagree because the Podster® is not a sleep product. It is intended for daytime use with awake babies. The Podster® has been on the market for 12 years and helped parents care for infants when they are not in their crib. With 180,000 sold over 12 years, parents and caregivers have shown that it can be used safely.
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The CPSC has not acted against all infant loungers, and there are new infant loungers flooding the market every day, many of which are from non-U.S. companies. We asked the CPSC if there is something specific about the Podster® they want changed or improved, but they haven’t provided any answer or suggested any improvement to the product or its warnings.
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By law, the CPSC must provide Leachco with the opportunity for a hearing where Leachco will defend the safety, quality and value of the Podster®.
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We can confidently tell parents and caregivers the Podster® is safe for its intended use—which is adult supervised daytime or awake time use. No lounger, including the Podster® is safe for unsupervised care or sleep. The Podster® has 12 years of experience of families using it safely.
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We are following our normal process for customer satisfaction and returns if customers are not satisfied with any of our products. Customers can access us in the usual way though our website or email at customerservice@leachco.com.