DockATot Certifications and Standards

If you visit DockATot's website you will find a very long list of Certifications and Safety Standards that they boast about meeting.

This awesome list was compiled by a mom in a safe sleep group and lays out what each of these many standards actually mean. I have gone through and double-checked each one to make sure the following information is accurate:

 

  1. Oeko-Tex certification, Standard 100, Class 1: Textile items for babies and toddlers up to 3 year of age (clothing, toys, linens, etc.)

 

  1. Tested for compliance with US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008: This Act is about lead in products

 

  1. Tension tested for 'Normal and reasonably foreseeable use and abuse:There is not enough information so know what standard they actually mean, but all signs point to the use and abuse of toys for certain age groups. Not very relevant...

 

  1. Bumper air permability according to BS4578: Specification for methods of test for hardness of, and for air flow through, infants' pillows from 1970. Hmm do you think safe sleep standards for infants have changed since the 1970s? Yup!

 

  1. Resistant to ignition according to BS5852: Fire test to upholstered seating

 

  1. 16 CRF 1632 flammability testing: Standard for the flammability of mattresses and mattress pads

 

  1. Phthalate testing: Well that’s vague.

 

  1. Small parts and use and abuse testing under 16 CFR 1500.50: Test methods for simulating use and abuse of toys and other articles intended for use by children.

 

  1. Heavy metal testing: Ok? Again, vague.  

 

  1. ASTM F-963-11: Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety

 

  1. California Bulletins 116 and 117 flammability testing: Test Procedure and Apparatus for Testing the Flame Retardance of Upholstered Furniture, Flammability Standard Requirements for Upholstered Furniture

 

  1. California Proposition 65: The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986

 

  1. 16 CFR PART 1500.53(f) (1-1-12) (CAN): Test methods for simulating use and abuse of toys and other articles intended for use by children over 36 but not over 96 months of age.

 

  1. CAN/CGSB-4.2 No 27.5-2008: Textile Test Methods Flame Resistance - 45º Angle Test - One-Second Flame Impingement

 

  1. ASTM D3574-08 Sections 16 through 21 for Indentation Force Deflection. High ratio (excellent support factor): Standard Test Methods for Flexible Cellular Materials - Slab, Bonded, and Molded Urethane Foams

 

Wow! That sure is a lot of Certifications and Standards! DockATot must be a really safe and reliable product. NOT. Just briefly flipping through these standards, you can see that they have NOTHING to do with safe sleep and more to do with flame retardance and toy use. What?? I believe that DockATot likes throwing all these standards out that most sleep-deprived parents are not going to take the time to look into. It's a way of padding their resume, so to speak, but it means very little in the world of safe sleep.

Click here to go back to my original article about the DockATot.