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AS 5407.3 TEST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE AND ASSOCIATED REQUIREMENTS
New CO₂ Rebreathing Standard For
Infant Sleep Products
A world-first test method - coordinated by INPAA, developed with Australian industry and published by Standards Australia.
AS 5407.3 is the result of a sustained collaboration between Australian manufacturers, retailers, importers, regulators, researchers, and clinicians.
INPAA is proud to have led that work.
What you need to know
What is the CO2 Standard?
AS 5407.3 is the second in a suite of three Australian standards that gives the industry a consistent, scientific way to measure how much carbon dioxide a sleep product can trap around a baby’s face. It sets a clear pass/fail benchmark, so claims about a product’s safety can finally be tested and verified.
Why does it matter?
CO₂ rebreathing is a recognised contributing factor in sleep-related infant deaths, supported by more than 30 years of peer-reviewed science. Until now, there was no consistent way to test whether a product helps protect against it.
AS 5407.3 changes that — giving parents, regulators and industry a verifiable answer for the first time.
What is its impact?
The product-level hazard of CO₂ rebreathing is now measurable, testable, and addressable through standards that industry can implement, regulators can reference, and parents can ask retailers about.
What the CO2 standard means for parents
If shopping new, there is now one good question worth asking any brand:
“Does this product help reduce the risk of rebreathing, and has it been tested?”
Parents will be able to shop with much greater confidence that the products in their baby's sleep space have been tested for CO₂ safety using a consistent, scientific method.
In the short term, the most important thing parents can do hasn't changed - follow the established safe sleep environment principles.
The established safe sleep environment principles remain the most powerful protective factor for any baby.
The new CO2 standard supports the existing advice and makes the products inside that environment even more reliable.
Q: What is carbon dioxide rebreathing?
When a baby breathes out, the air around their face contains carbon dioxide. Normally that air disperses and they inhale fresh air on the next breath. But if the surface around their face is soft, porous, or poorly ventilated, that exhaled air can become trapped — and the baby ends up rebreathing it.
Rebreathing means the baby is taking in air with rising CO₂ levels and falling oxygen. For a healthy adult that triggers a response to move their head, reposition and/or wake. For a vulnerable infant, the protective responses that should wake them and prompt them to move can fail.
The international consensus is that hazardous sleep environments, including those that promote CO₂ rebreathing, are a significant contributing factor in sleep-related infant deaths.
Q: What products does the standard apply to?
The standard applies to anything a baby may sleep on, against, or have their face come into contact with during sleep.
That includes:
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All infant mattresses (cot, bassinet, portable cot, bedside sleeper)
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Mattress protectors and toppers
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Cocoons, nests and similar layered products
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The vertical side panels of bedside sleepers, where a baby's face could rest
Critically, the standard tests products in combination — for example, a mattress with a sheet over it — because that's how parents actually use them. Some combinations behave very differently to the individual components on their own. That real-world testing approach is one of the most important features of the standard.
Q: What about products marketed as “breathable”?
Until very recently, ‘breathable’ was the only word any of us had and it was used in good faith for many years. This term suggests that air can pass through a fabric — which sounds protective, and is a real property of materials used in clothing when referring to heat and moisture wicking.
In the context of infant sleep, a products 'breathability' has no relation to its ability to absorb, retain or repel carbon dioxide when a baby's face is pressed into it during sleep.
In order to keep carbon dioxide safely at the sleep surface and prevent rebreathing, a product must create a barrier to CO₂.
The question we’d encourage parents to ask about products marketed as 'breathable' is instead whether the product helps reduce the risk of rebreathing, and whether it’s been tested to the new standard.
That’s a more meaningful question, with a verifiable answer.
The three-phase suite
AS 5407.3 is the second phase of a three-phase suite. Each phase addresses a different
product-level hazard, and the three were designed to work together.
AS 5407.1 & AS 5407.2
Enhanced Firmness Standards
Standards for testing all infant sleep surfaces, capturing both flat surfaces and non-standard surfaces.
AS 5407.3
CO₂ rebreathing
Newly published test method for carbon dioxide rebreathing risk
COMING SOON
Product Safety Communication
Final standard requiring products to be labelled, advertised, and presented to parents in line with safe sleep science.
Resources for parents, industry and media
Standards Australia
Standards Australia Consumer Guide to the AS 5407.3 Standard.
