Update the CPSC's children's sleepwear snug fit guidelines to comfortably fit children
Update the CPSC's children's sleepwear snug fit guidelines to comfortably fit children
The Issue
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has strict guidelines for children's sleepwear pertaining to fire safety. Any children's sleepwear (including pajamas, loungewear, robes, and any other garment designed for sleep, relaxing, leisure, or anything related to these activities) must be made out of a fire resistant material or treated with a flame retardant.
Most natural fibers - with the exceptions of wool and silk - are not flame resistant. Flame retardants have been shown to cause neurological damage, hormone disruption, and cancer. One of the biggest dangers of some flame retardants is that they bioaccumulate in humans, causing long-term chronic health problems as bodies contain higher and higher levels of these toxic chemicals.
In 1996, the CPSC introduced a loophole: children's sleepwear that didn't meet the requirements above could be produced, but they must be snug fitting. They introduced a standard of measurements that wrists, ankles, chest, etc., could not exceed. The goal was to ensure there was no oxygen in between a child's skin and the garment, the rationale being that flames feed on oxygen.
The snug fit guidelines do not apply to infants under 9 months of age.
So what's the issue?
If you have or have ever cared for small children, you've probably noticed that a large majority of sleepwear is very tight and constricting - often to the extent of leaving marks on wrists and ankles. The romper in the photo attached to this petition would be considered a fire safety violation. While the size of the average child has increased since 1996, the CPSC's snug fit measurements have not been updated. Industry insiders have fought to update the measurements, but to no avail.
This is where you come in!
Let the CPSC know that we want sleepwear and loungewear in natural fibers, without flame retardants, that comfortably fit our children. While there is absolutely a need for regulation in consumer products, these measurements are outdated and unreasonable. If presented with enough signatures from real consumers, maybe we can get these measurements changed to a more realistic number.
671
The Issue
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has strict guidelines for children's sleepwear pertaining to fire safety. Any children's sleepwear (including pajamas, loungewear, robes, and any other garment designed for sleep, relaxing, leisure, or anything related to these activities) must be made out of a fire resistant material or treated with a flame retardant.
Most natural fibers - with the exceptions of wool and silk - are not flame resistant. Flame retardants have been shown to cause neurological damage, hormone disruption, and cancer. One of the biggest dangers of some flame retardants is that they bioaccumulate in humans, causing long-term chronic health problems as bodies contain higher and higher levels of these toxic chemicals.
In 1996, the CPSC introduced a loophole: children's sleepwear that didn't meet the requirements above could be produced, but they must be snug fitting. They introduced a standard of measurements that wrists, ankles, chest, etc., could not exceed. The goal was to ensure there was no oxygen in between a child's skin and the garment, the rationale being that flames feed on oxygen.
The snug fit guidelines do not apply to infants under 9 months of age.
So what's the issue?
If you have or have ever cared for small children, you've probably noticed that a large majority of sleepwear is very tight and constricting - often to the extent of leaving marks on wrists and ankles. The romper in the photo attached to this petition would be considered a fire safety violation. While the size of the average child has increased since 1996, the CPSC's snug fit measurements have not been updated. Industry insiders have fought to update the measurements, but to no avail.
This is where you come in!
Let the CPSC know that we want sleepwear and loungewear in natural fibers, without flame retardants, that comfortably fit our children. While there is absolutely a need for regulation in consumer products, these measurements are outdated and unreasonable. If presented with enough signatures from real consumers, maybe we can get these measurements changed to a more realistic number.
671
Petition created on March 15, 2023