Recall on Baby Cribs

Shortly before Thanksgiving 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled about 2.1 million cribs that were sold between January 1993 and October 2009 at major retailers such as Sears, Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon.com. The concern was over what is known as "drop-side" cribs, whereby the side of the crib detaches for easier access to the child. Those drop-side cribs produced by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc., of British Columbia, Canada are said to unhinge by themselves and create a space into which a child could fall and potentially suffocate.

So far, 110 cases of drop-side malfunction have been documented across the United States and Canada. Four of these incidents resulted in suffocation, while 20 caused a wide variety of non-fatal injuries such as bruising and concussion. Fortunately, the majority of cases have not resulted in major injury, but retailers and advocacy groups are in wide accord that there is a problem. The recall comes on the heels of a smaller recall in January for cribs by the same manufacturer and recalls for Simplicity and Delta Enterprise cribs totaling 1 million units. In all, the CPSC has recalled over 5 million cribs, bassinets and play yards since 2007.

Toys "R" Us has stopped ordering drop-side cribs altogether, though those remaining in stock and not recalled will be sold. They expect to have sold all existing drop-side cribs by the end of 2009 and are currently taking a stance in favor of standards prohibiting the manufacture of cribs with a drop side. Chicago-based advocacy group has had its eye on the safety hazard of drop-side cribs for some time. In March, a meeting was held between the CPSC and a number of retailers and advocacy groups, during which voluntary production standards for cribs were discussed. The meeting sparked some good ideas, but there is still no consensus on what needs to be done as plenty of drop-side cribs still remain in stock. The primary retailers of the recalled cribs include BJ's Wholesale Club, J.C. Penney, Kmart, Meijer, Sears, USA Baby, Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, Babiesrus.com, Costco.com, Target.com and Walmart.com. The cribs were priced between $100 and $400.