Breathe Easy Baby urges science-based crib mattress testing

Detroit infant sleep company Breathe Easy Baby is urging parents and regulators to demand measurable safety evidence for crib mattresses, including testing for CO2 rebreathing and airflow resistance. The push comes as the company points to its own independently tested mattress system and a lack of a comparable U.S. standard for rebreathing risk.

Why it matters: - Breathe Easy Baby is arguing that crib mattress safety should be judged by measurable test results, not by marketing words like “breathable” or “safe.” - The company says parents should be able to ask how a mattress was tested before trusting it in a crib. - The issue matters because infant sleep surfaces can affect suffocation risk, including carbon dioxide rebreathing and restricted airflow. - The company points to CDC data showing about 3,400 babies died suddenly and unexpectedly in the U.S. in 2024. - Those deaths included SIDS, accidental suffocation, strangulation and deaths with unknown causes.

What happened: - Detroit-based Breathe Easy Baby issued a call for science-based crib mattress safety testing on Sept. 15, 2026. - The company said its crib mattress system was engineered to address two sleep-surface concerns: CO2 rebreathing and resistance to airflow. - Breathe Easy Baby said its crib mattresses have undergone independent scientific testing for CO2 rebreathing, CO2 dissipation, airflow resistance, firmness, temperature regulation and surface pressure. - The company also said its breathe-safe mattresses comply with Australia’s AS 5407.3 standard, described as the world’s first CO2 rebreathing standard for infant sleep products. - Breathe Easy Baby said it supports established safe-sleep practices, including placing babies on their backs on a firm, flat sleep surface.

The details: - The company says exhaled air can stay near an infant’s nose and mouth when a face comes into contact with a sleep surface. - If that air is not dispersed effectively, some may be inhaled again, which the company describes as CO2 rebreathing. - The company says high airflow resistance can make it harder for air to move against or through the sleep surface. - Breathe Easy Baby said Australia adopted AS 5407.3 to give parents and professionals a measurable way to evaluate airflow and rebreathing claims. - The company said the U.S. strengthened crib-mattress requirements in 2022 by adopting the Australian firmness standard, AS/NZS 8811.1. - Breathe Easy Baby said there is still no comparable U.S. CO2 rebreathing standard. - The company said the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Back to Sleep campaign helped reduce SIDS rates during the 1990s. - Kelly Obriot, founder of Breathe Easy Baby, said parents are often told how to place a baby to sleep but are rarely told to ask whether the mattress is safe if the baby’s face comes into contact with it. - Obriot said parents deserve measurable scientific evidence rather than reassuring marketing language. - The company said it is moving away from traditional baby-product advertising built around smiling babies and adoring parents and toward graphs, charts and scientific testing. - Breathe Easy Baby said it worked with forensic engineer and safe-sleep expert Mike Leshner. - The company said Lesher’s Baby Breathing Lab has conducted numerous tests on Breathe Easy Baby mattress products. - Breathe Easy Baby said its website describes its mattresses as the Gold Standard of safe sleep and says the company has scientific evidence to support that claim. - The company said no mattress can guarantee that SIDS will not occur. - Breathe Easy Baby said it is not claiming that all traditional crib mattresses are inherently unsafe. - The company said its focus is on specific hazards in the sleep environment, especially CO2 rebreathing and airflow resistance. - The company said product information and infant safe-sleep education are available at More information. - Breathe Easy Baby also listed social links on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Between the lines: - The company is trying to shift the safety debate from broad consumer trust to specific engineering evidence. - That approach mirrors how other infant-product hazards have led to recalls, warnings and standards after product-specific evidence emerged. - The company is also positioning Australia as a model for a more targeted testing framework than the U.S. currently has for CO2 rebreathing. - The message is as much about consumer education as product promotion: parents are being urged to ask what a mattress can prove, not just what it claims.

What's next: - Breathe Easy Baby is likely to keep leaning on testing data and safe-sleep education as its main sales and advocacy message. - The company’s broader goal is to push parents, manufacturers and regulators toward more standardized evidence for crib mattress performance. - If more products adopt rebreathing-focused testing, the company’s argument could add pressure for a U.S. standard closer to Australia’s AS 5407.3.

The bottom line: - Breathe Easy Baby wants crib mattress safety to be measured with science, especially for CO2 rebreathing and airflow, before parents accept “breathable” as a meaningful claim.