Defective: Parents left to be product testers with their babies as subjects [Video]

(InvestigateTV) — When a new type of toy or baby invention hits the markets, most parents assume those products have undergone rigorous safety testing.

But the truth is that in the U.S., their homes become the testing labs. Mothers and fathers become unwitting scientists, and their children are the test subjects.

The real safety testing comes later, oftentimes after children have been injured, or worse.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission tallied at least 154 suffocation and/or asphyxiation deaths associated with nursing pillows before mandatory safety standards were approved for them in September.

It took 20 years – and an act from Congress – to create mandatory design standards for children’s dressers to prevent them from tipping over. In the meantime, hundreds of children died when a dresser fell onto them.

Congress also stepped in to ban the sale of inclined infant sleepers, tied to around 100 deaths. No mandatory safety standards ever existed for that product.

Most recently, federal lawmakers have …