Bassinets available to Australian parents are continuing to fail safety tests, according to consumer advocacy organisation CHOICE.

With a lack of Australian safety standard for bassinets, the organisation says it’s found a range of bassinets with serious safety failures, with brands including Stokke, Fisher Price and Childcare.

CHOICE says its experts have discovered new bassinet models from leading brands pose serious suffocation risks, with four out of 10 tested bassinets failing CHOICE key safety requirements. However some of the manufacturers say they stand by their products.

“Unfortunately, there’s currently no mandatory Australian safety standard for bassinets like there is for cots,”  CHOICE baby product expert Kim Gilmour said. “This means that year after year we continue to see unsafe bassinets make it onto the shelves.”

“These major safety failures reinforce the need for a new product safety law, which CHOICE continues to campaign for. This new law would help to stop unsafe products from ever hitting the market in the first place.”

The organisation is encouraging consumers who have purchased any of the bassinets, to take them back to the retailer and ask for a refund.

“If the retailer doesn’t give you a fair refund, you can escalate your complaint to your state or territory fair trading body.”

Bassinets with safety issues, according to CHOICE

CHOICE tested 10 new bassinets, finding the following four have ‘serious safety issues’.

• Kmart Anko Bassinet with Canopy
• Childcare Osmo Bassinet
• Fisher Price Soothing View Bassinet
• Stokke Sleepi Mini V3 and mattress

According to CHOICE, in its latest test, ‘the most concerning findings were around ill-fitting mattresses and non-breathable areas on the side of bassinets that can create an unsafe sleeping environment’.

“Although there isn’t a safety standard for bassinets in Australia, there is a standard test for cot mattress firmness, which we conducted on the bassinets in our accredited laboratory.

“Three of the bassinets we failed – from Childcare, Stokke and Fisher Price – had mattresses that were too soft, with coverings that puffed at the sides and ends, posing a suffocation risk if your baby rolls over or moves,” said Kim.

“Other failures – for the Kmart Anko cot and a second failure for the Childcare cot – were due to the fact that these bassinets have areas of non-breathable material around the edges of the bassinet, which also present a suffocation risk if an infant happens to roll onto their side.

“When choosing a bassinet, look for things such as adequate breathable zones on all four sides of the bassinet, sturdy construction and a mattress that fits snugly around all sides with no gaps,” added Kim.

CHOICE did seek responses to the findings from each of the manufactures.

Kmart said its bassinet is, “designed, constructed and tested to meet the European Standard, the EN 1130:2019 Children’s furniture – Cribs – Safety requirements and test methods … We note your comments on non-breathable material. We have incorporated in our design to have as much breathable zone as possible without impacting the structural strength of the bassinet. We are keen to understand more about testing conducted by CHOICE, as it may assist in informing product assessments along with future product iterations.”

Stokke responded: “We are surprised to see this result from CHOICE. Both the Sleepi V3 bed and mini mattress were tested in [a] third-party lab for the mattress firmness testing to the Australia standard.”

According to CHOICE Stokke had the mattress urgently retested by an accredited third-party lab, where the result passed. CHOICE says it stands by its results on the model tested.

Fisher Price and Childcare as yet had not responded to a request from CHOICE for comments on the findings.

Bassinets that passed CHOICE testing

Out of the ten new bassinets tasted by CHOICE, six passed the testing:

• 4Baby Dreamy Bassinet
• 4Baby Sleeptime Bedside Sleeper
• 4Moms MamaRoo Sleep Bassinet
• Boori Neat Rocking Cradle
• Childcare Nocto Bassinet
• Jengo Oakleigh Bassinet

Looking for the right bassinet for your baby? Take a look at our round up of bassinets in Australia.