Regulation Policy

Regulators War Against Pajamas

An example of the unintended effects of federal regulations can be seen in the reported disappearance of children's pajamas. Since the 1970s, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has required children's pajamas -- size 14 and under -- to be flame-resistant. In practice, this has meant pajamas made from polyester rather than cotton.

  • Because cotton is more comfortable, many parents dress their children in cotton clothing that looks and feels like pajamas but is labeled "Not intended for sleep."

  • To skirt the regulation, manufacturers resorted to the subterfuge of labeling cotton children's sleepwear "brushed cotton sets," "short johns" and so forth.

  • After almost two decades, the CPSC finally acknowledged parents were circumventing the law and in April 1996 voted to allow cotton sleepwear beginning in January 1997.

  • However, to reduce the risk of burns, the new regulation requires pajamas to be "tight-fitting," defined by specific measurements.

Manufacturers say the tight-fitting sleepwear is unsaleable. And consumer activists are concerned sneaky parents will just buy larger sizes to compensate for the tighter fit.

Activists point out that annual deaths due to clothing ignition among children under the age of 15 fell from 60 in 1970 to four in 1995. But observers say this may be mainly due to other factors, rather than the pajama regulations, such as the decline in smoking, safer portable heaters and greater awareness of fire hazards.

Observers say this shows how rare deaths from pajamas catching fire always were -- much less common than drowning in backyard swimming pools, for example. Source: Jacob Sullum, "Compromising Kids' Safety for Comfort," Conservative Chronicle, June 17, 1998.

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