U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced Esther’s Law which will ban the sale of hazardous water beads which pose an ingestion and toxicity hazard. This bill will direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to issue a rule that would ban water beads marketed to children as toys, educational materials, sensory tools, or art materials. A similar water bead ban bill was introduced in the U.S. House last year.

Water beads are tiny, plastic balls made of superabsorbent polymer chemicals that can grow up to 1,500 times their size when placed in liquid. If ingested, inhaled, or inserted in ear canals, water beads absorb bodily fluids and can lead to potentially life-threatening injuries. The bill is named after 10-month-old Esther who passed away on July 7, 2023, in Wisconsin due to water bead obstruction. No one knew how Esther got hold of a water bead because her family did everything correctly - the water beads had not been used in months, adult supervision was strictly enforced, and they followed the directions.

Want to support this bill? Find your Senators' contact info ask them to cosponsor Esther's Law to ban deadly water beads. Please respond to this email and let us know how your call went. Need more guidance? Here’s a draft script for a call or email.

Despite being marketed as a tool to help babies sleep, weighted sleep products such as swaddles or wearable blankets have little evidence supporting their safety and effectiveness. These products have some weight added either in one place, such as the chest or the front of the product. In a 2023 letter to the CPSC, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended against using weighted infant sleep products and stated, “the evidence available at this time does not indicate that weighted swaddle products are safe, nor does it demonstrate that they are effective in helping babies sleep longer or with fewer disruptions.” Last month, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the deceptive advertising practices of two weighted infant sleep product manufacturers that promoted the idea that the weight in these products naturally reduces stress and increases relaxation. However, the AAP sates that there is no evidence in the peer-reviewed scientific literature evaluating the safety of weighted sleep products on typical, healthy infants, and there is also nothing published regarding their use in an unmonitored setting. In a great win for consumer safety, Target, Walmart, Nordstrom, Babylist, and Amazon have pulled weighted infant sleepwear from their shelves in response to the mounting concerns. To better understand safe sleep, check out the AAP’s safe sleep guidelines and watch KID’s Safe Sleep PSA.

In her recent testimony, Nancy Cowles outlined key priorities that KID recommends for the CPSC for fiscal years 2025 and 2026. Here are a few issues she emphasized:

Read her full testimony here.