The U.S. government is preparing a safety warning about baby slings -- those popular and fashionable infant carriers that parents can sling around their chests to carry their baby.

The concern: infants can suffocate, and at least a few have.

The head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Inez Tenenbaum, said yesterday that her agency is getting ready to issue a general warning to the public, likely to go out this week, about the slings.

"We know of too many deaths in these slings and we now know the hazard scenarios for very small babies," said Tenenbaum. "So, the time has come to alert parents and caregivers."

Tenenbaum did not single out any specific baby slings or discuss the number of deaths linked to them. In 2008, Consumer Reports raised concerns about the soft fabric slings and some two dozen serious injuries, mostly when a child fell out of them.