Baby-sling loving uber-mommies got new reason to fear yesterday, after more than 1 million units of a popular child carrier were recalled because of a string of suffocation deaths, according to federal officials.
Consumers who bought the Infantino-brand SlingRider and Wendy Bellissimo models of infant slings were told yesterday to immediately stop using them, since both units can squeeze babies until they stop breathing.
Infantino President Jack Vresics said the company would offer a free replacement baby carrier, activity gym or shopping-cart cover to owners of the slings.
Baby slings have become the hot new way for fashionable moms to tote their kids around town, with celebrities from Brooke Shields to Rachel Weisz seen using them. But earlier this month the Consumer Product Safety Commission warned parents that slings can be deadly dangerous.
Yesterday, the commission said three deaths have been linked to the recalled carriers.
A Brooklyn mom whose son died on Feb. 20, told The Post yesterday she believes that her child was also a victim of an Infantino carrier.
“They need to make a law so these things aren’t made, because these things aren’t safe for babies,” said Christina Bethea, 24, whose 25-day-old son, Rayshawn, died after she held him in an Infantino SlingRider for about 40 minutes.
She said that she was at the Madd Fun entertainment center in East New York with her three other kids and some family members when she first realized something was wrong.
“I took him out to feed him and he wasn’t responding,” she said yesterday, welling up in tears. “His hands were blue and his feet were blue.
The city medical examiner has not determined an official cause of Rayshawn’s death. Bethea blames the carrier.
“It was the sling,” she said. “It was the only thing, because my baby was born full-term, he was totally healthy, he didn’t have breathing problems.”
Her attorney, Stephanie Ovadia, said that she will be filing suit soon.
“We are currently investigating circumstances surrounding this horrible tragedy,” she said. “I’m glad that there is a recall at last, and hopefully no more mothers will have to undergo this nightmare.”
Additional reporting by Sabrina Ford and Murray Weiss