CPSC nursing pillow standard part 1242.

Scope, purpose and date

Section 1242.1(a) says the part "prescribes requirements intended to reduce the risk of death and injury from hazards associated with nursing pillows." The application date in paragraph (b): "all nursing pillows that are manufactured after April 23, 2025, are subject to the requirements of this part." The rule was published on October 25, 2024 (89 FR 85414). The checker’s date field compares your date with April 23, 2025: a pillow made on that date or earlier is before the application date, and one made after it is within.

Definitions

A nursing pillow is "any product intended, marketed, or designed to position and support an infant close to a caregiver’s body while breastfeeding or bottle feeding, including any removable covers, or slipcovers, sold on or together with such a product," products that "rest upon, wrap around, or are worn by a caregiver in a seated or reclined position." The part defines the pieces the rules refer to: the infant support surface (the intended support surface during nursing or feeding), the caregiver opening (the surface intended to fit against the caregiver’s torso, typically but not necessarily crescent-like), the caregiver attachment (straps, buckles or latches that secure the pillow to the caregiver), and an infant restraint system (straps or harnesses that secure or hold an infant in place).

Exemptions

Three products are exempt in 1242.1(c): maternity pillows, defined as "a large body pillow intended, marketed, and designed to provide support to a pregnant adult’s body during sleep or while lying down"; sling carriers as defined in 16 CFR part 1228; and soft infant and toddler carriers as defined in 16 CFR part 1226. A pillow marketed for pregnancy that is also marketed for feeding an infant is not discussed in the exemption text; the definitions above decide.

General requirements: 1242.3

Section 1242.3 applies four general rules and one label rule. All paint and surface coatings must comply with 16 CFR part 1303. There must be no small parts as determined by 16 CFR part 1501, before testing or liberated by testing. There must be no hazardous sharp points or edges as determined by 16 CFR 1500.48 and 1500.49. And any removal of components accessible to an infant, when tested under 1242.5(b), must not present a small part, sharp point or sharp edge. The component removal test applies a torque of 4 lb-in. (0.4 N-m) gradually over 5 seconds, clockwise and then counterclockwise, and a 15 lb (67 N) tension force over 5 seconds, held for 10 seconds.

Warnings must be permanent. A paper label is permanent if it cannot be removed, tears into pieces or damages the surface when removal is attempted without tools or solvents. A label sewn into a seam must stay in contact with the fabric around its whole perimeter and must not detach under a 15 lbf (67 N) pull. Printed warnings are tested with the tape test, Test Method B of ASTM D3359-23.

Performance requirements: 1242.4

Five performance rules apply. Firmness: the force required for a 1.00 in. (2.54 cm) displacement of a 3 inch (76.2 mm) diameter hemispheric probe at any measurement location "shall be greater than 10.0 N (2.24 lb)." The test is run on the infant support surface at three locations at least 3 in. apart (the point of maximum thickness and two others most likely to fail), on the inner wall of the caregiver opening, and again after laundering and drying as the manufacturer instructs. Infant containment: surfaces within the caregiver opening "shall not contact the 9-inch (230 mm) diameter head probe" such that the probe is constrained, and the probe must extend past the caregiver opening. Infant restraints: "Nursing pillows shall not include any infant restraint system." Seam strength: a 15 lb (67 N) tension on every distinct seam and every 6 in. along it must not leave a small part, sharp point or sharp edge. Caregiver attachment strength: 20 lb (89 N) tension on each side of the attachment and across the fastener.

Marking, labeling and instructions

Each product and its retail package must show the name, city, state, mailing address with zip code and telephone number of the manufacturer, distributor or seller, and a code mark identifying the month and year of manufacture. The marking must be permanent, and upholstery labeling required by law cannot be used to satisfy it. Warnings must be in English at a minimum, conspicuous and permanent, and conform to ANSI Z535.4-2011 sections 6.1 through 6.4, 7.2 through 7.6.3 and 8.1 with the changes the CFR lists. "The safety alert symbol and the signal word WARNING shall be at least 0.2 in. (5 mm) high," and the remaining text upper case at least 0.1 in. (2.5 mm).

Package warnings must at a minimum address "Do not use for sleep" and "Do not use in sleep products like cribs, bassinets, or play yards," and the retail package must address the manufacturer’s recommended weight, height, age or developmental stage. Warnings may not "indicate or imply that the infant may be left in the product without an adult caregiver in attendance." Instructions in English must cover assembly, maintenance, cleaning and use, repeat the warnings, and add: read all instructions before using; keep instructions for future use; do not use if damaged or broken; and state the maximum weight, height, age or developmental level of the infant.

Worked example

A pillow made June 1, 2025 is after the April 23, 2025 date. The lab pushes the 3 inch probe 1.00 inch into the infant support surface and reads 12 N at the softest of three locations: that is greater than 10.0 N. The warning panel has a 6 mm signal word and symbol, which is at least 5 mm. The checker shows each reading as meeting the written value. At 9.8 N the firmness reading fails. The same pillow sold with a belly-strap harness for the infant fails regardless of the numbers, because 1242.4(c) bars any infant restraint system.

Limits of this page

This checker compares typed values with the numbers in 1242.1(b), 1242.4(a) and 1242.6(d)(5). It cannot run the containment, seam, caregiver attachment or small parts tests, and it does not reproduce the warning artwork in the figures or the text of ANSI Z535.4-2011 and ASTM D3359-23. Part 1242 also contains a severability clause (1242.9). Certification and other duties are in other parts of the CFR.

Sources

Sources opened and read November 2, 2026.

• eCFR: 16 CFR part 1242, safety standard for nursing pillows (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)
• eCFR: 16 CFR part 1303, ban of lead-containing paint and certain consumer products bearing lead-containing paint (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)