WASHINGTON — Six major retailers are pulling from their shelves Simplicity bassinets linked to the deaths of two babies after a company refused to recall the infant beds.

Wal-Mart, Toys "R" Us, Kmart, Big Lots, Target and J.C. Penney have recalled the "close-sleeper/bedside sleeper" because the products pose a strangulation hazard, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Last week, a 6-month-old girl from Shawnee, Kan., was strangled when she became trapped between the bassinet's metal bars. Last September, a 4-month-old girl from Noel, Mo., became trapped in the metal bars and died.

SFCA, the company that purchased the assets of Reading, Pa.-based Simplicity earlier this year, has refused to recall the products. SFCA maintains that it is not responsible for products previously manufactured by Simplicity.

The bassinets have been on the market for about seven years,