Last month, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) unanimously outlawed the manufacture, sale, and re-sale of drop-side cribs, due to the deaths of over thirty infants and toddlers in the past decade, and millions of crib recalls.
The drop-side cribs have a side rail which moves up and down, which allows parents to more easily lift their baby or toddler from the crib. However, babies can get caught and then suffocate or be strangled due to the dangerous "V"-like gap between the mattress and side rail.
The new standard requiring cribs to have fixed sides will take effect in June 2011. Hotels and childcare centers have one year to purchase new replacement cribs in order to be in compliance with the new regulation.
Around for decades, these drop-side cribs have come under scrutiny in recent years because of malfunctioning hardware, sometimes cheaper plastics, or assembly problems that can lead to the drop-side rail partially detaching from the crib, causing the "V"-like gap.
The new standard also mandates tougher safety testing of cribs, tests that more closely simulate a child in a crib. As children get older, they can apply more force to the crib by shaking on it, running around in it, and jumping up and down. The new tests will ensure that the cribs can withstand that kind of pressure.
Also required - better labeling on crib pieces. This measure aims to cut down on the misassembly problems that some parents have encountered - problems that can lead to the death of a child.
For those parents who lost their children in drop-side cribs, last month's ban couldn't have come soon enough.
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Source: Consumer Product Safety Commission
If your child has been seriously injured or killed due to the use of a drop-side crib, you will need an experienced San Diego personal injury attorney to navigate the legal system for you, in order to ensure your family's financial future and health.
