What makes pajamas fire resistant

The argument is that if pajamas fit snuggly there is less oxygen between the garment and child's skin for the fire to feed on. This meant that cotton pajamas without added chemicals could make a comeback! But this is not a bad thing even though it sounds super scary!

Honestly, we feel confident putting our own children in them. Unless you have a ton of flammable objects that your young children access without your direct supervision, we feel like the known consequences of exposure to these chemicals outweighs the risk of your child catching fire.

A first time parent is shopping online for newborn pajamas. These garments are not flame resistant. Loose-fitting garments are more likely to catch fire. In fact, the non-flame-resistant PJs are actually the better option! There were state-specific laws as well. Many people believe that the tobacco industry was behind all this because they wanted clothing and furniture manufacturers to be blamed for fires—rather than cigarettes.

In , when researchers discovered that two commonly used fire retardant chemicals brominated and chlorinated tris were very dangerous. I've carried fire safety lessons into my adult homes, checking the smoke detectors every time we spring forward or fall back. When a pan of brussels sprouts in bacon fat kept tripping the alarm last week, I had my son practice getting to the door.

Even in my fire-conscious home, flame-retardant pajamas had never once come up. So I assumed my mom would reassure me that ill-fitting or flammable jammies were yet another of the ridiculous precautions taken by modern parents.

But after I hung up, I returned the pajamas. It turned out my mom did know about pajama fires, including images of ignited sleepwear burned into her memory. I resolved to buy flame-resistant pajamas from then on. So I decided to learn why exactly children's pajamas are so dangerous. That label on the Gap pajamas?

It comes from the Consumer Product Safety Commission , and how it got there is an interesting story. The story starts with another common Halloween dress-up item: cowboy chaps. Specifically, a Gene Autry costume that, as Barbara Young Welke writes in an inventive play published in the UC Irvine Law Review , was the cause of one hundred lawsuits between and The cowboy suit and other similar incidents were the impetus for the passage of the Flammable Fabrics Act , which regulated, among other things, which fabrics could be used for clothing.

No more rayon pile chaps for kids or brushed rayon sweaters for women , as such items had become famous for creating what were widely reported at the time as "human torches. In , the CPSC added additional requirements for children's sleepwear. In the years that followed, both pediatric burn rates and burn severity declined. Abraham Bergman's editorial in Pediatrics captures how enthusiastic pediatricians and burn care specialists were about the CPSC sleepwear regulations:.

Though sleeping in a big baggy t-shirt may be comfy, the long, draping fabric is more likely to catch fire during sleep. To put it simply, anything that fits your kids well without being uncomfortable. Leggings are also good heat regulators, keeping you warm when you need it without turning around and overheating you when the furnace kicks on.