Feds file lawsuit against Nap Nanny maker

• CPSC: Five infants die in Nap Nanny recliners
• Regulator files lawsuit seeking consumer refund
• Nap Nanny maker wouldn't agree to recall, CPSC says

Federal regulators Wednesday sued the maker of Nap Nanny infant recliners because the company wouldn't agree to a recall.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission had demanded a recall because it says five infants died while in a Nap Nanny.

The CPSC's lawsuit alleges that Baby Matters, the maker of Nap Nanny, should notify the public about the risks and refund the cost of the product to any customers who bought it.

"We did what we could," founder and owner Leslie Kemm Gudel told USA TODAY in March. She said that included testing the product with babies and making product changes.

The company shut down in November, says Gudel. However, its website remains up with product information and a statement released Wednesday.

In that statement, Gudel said, "The ongoing battle with the CPSC cost us so much money that it forced us out of business a month ago."

In July 2010, CPSC and Baby Matters agreed to a settlement in which the company offered an $80 coupon to owners of the Generation One Nap Nanny toward the purchase of a new model. Those models came with more understandable instructions and warnings.

The CPSC's complaint alleges that the Nap Nanny Generation One and Two and Chill infant recliners have defects in the design, warnings and instructions, which "pose a substantial risk of injury and death to infants."

CPSC says it knows of four infant deaths in earlier Nap Nanny models. A fifth death involved the Chill model. The agency also says it has received more than 70 additional incident reports of children nearly falling out of the product.

But CPSC charges that Gudel's company declined to address the potentially fatal hazards that occur when the product is used in a crib without the harness straps securely fastened.

"Parents are placing (the Nap Nannies) inside cribs and there have been tragic situations when they tipped over," says CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson.

Risks include infants falling out of the product and becoming wedged between the sides of the crib and the mattress. In some cases, the harness failed to keep babies from falling out if the product tipped over, Wolfson said.

Nancy Cowles, executive director of the Kids in Danger advocacy group, says, "If you design products for the most sleep-deprived and stressed among us – parents of fussy babies – safety has to be more than a catchphrase."

Gudel says the company did everything it could to ensure safety.

"I set out to make a product that comforted babies and improved infant sleep," Gudel's statement Wednesday said. "I know we accomplished this mission. I'm sorry we won't be around to carry it on any longer."