Largest Crib Recall in U.S. History - Stork Craft Cribs

Another Crib Recall –

You would think the manufacturers would get it right by now. But not so. How can we change the course of what types of products manufacturers send to the stores? We either buy the product or we don’t buy the product. We as consumers make or break a sale. If we don’t like something, we don’t buy it and it goes away.

A baby crib is where our precious baby sleeps for several years. How can we ever think that it might also kill our precious child? The manufacturers of cribs need to be told to get it right and stop endangering our children. Mothers have a huge voice when it comes to protecting our children. We need to use this voice now.

We need to stop buying the drop side crib. Buy the crib with the stationary sides. If you buy a crib, and after assembly you think the crib is not safe, then take it back to the store and tell them the problem. It may be a hassle to take it back, but it could save the life of your child. If you buy a second hand crib, remember your child’s safety first. There are lots of dangerous drop side cribs sitting in someone’s garage waiting to be sold.

Largest crib recall in U.S. history announced
Suffocation danger tied to 2.1 million drop-side cribs made by Stork Craft.

Crib recall largest in history
Nov. 23: The Consumer Products Safety Commission is planning to announce the largest ever recall of more than 2 million baby cribs with dropdown sides. NBC's Tom Costello reports.
Nightly News

Government safety regulators say more than 2.1 million drop-side cribs by Stork Craft Manufacturing are being recalled, the biggest crib recall in U.S. history.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the recall involves 1.2 million cribs in the United States and almost 1 million in Canada, where Stork Craft is based.

Nearly 150,000 of the cribs on recall carry the Fisher-Price logo.

The agency is aware of four deaths of young children who suffocated in the cribs, which have a side that moves up and down to allow parents to lift children from the cribs more easily.

The Stork Craft cribs have had problems with their hardware, which can break, or with assembly mistakes by the crib owner.

The danger is that a child's head can get caught between the mattress and the side railing, if it separates from the crib.

This is not the first time cribs have been recalled due to such fears. Nearly 5 million cribs by several manufacturers have been recalled over the past two years, including half a million from Stork Craft earlier this year, and the CPSC has considered banning drop-down sides altogether.
"Drop-side cribs, because of the amount of hardware that's involved, because it weakens the structure of the crib itself have been involved in numerous deaths and injuries, crib failures where the side may come loose or come off," said Nancy Cowles, of the advocacy group Kids in Danger.

Stork Craft is one of the most widely purchased brand names in baby cribs , with products sold at some of the biggest retailers in the country, including Target, WalMart, Sears and Kmart.
CPSC urges parents and caregivers to immediately stop using the recalled cribs, wait for the free repair kit and avoid attempting to fix the cribs without the kit. They should find an alternative, safe sleeping environment for their baby. Consumers should contact Stork Craft to receive a free repair kit that converts the drop-side on these cribs to a fixed side.

The cribs, which were manufactured and distributed between January 1993 and October 2009, sold for between $100 and $400, and were made in Canada, China and Indonesia.
The manufacture date, model number, crib name, country of origin, and the firm's name, address and contact information are located on the assembly instruction sheet attached to the mattress support board. The firm's insignia "storkcraft baby" or "storkling" is inscribed on the drop-side teething rail of some cribs.















The cribs’ drop-side plastic hardware can break or deform, or parts can become missing. In addition, the drop-side can be installed upside-down, which can result in broken or disengaged plastic parts. All of these problems can cause the drop-side to detach in one or more corners. When the drop-side detaches, it creates space between the drop-side and the crib mattress. The bodies of infants and toddlers can become entrapped in the space, which can lead to suffocation. Complete detachment of drop-sides also can lead to falls from the crib.

CPSC, Health Canada and Stork Craft are aware of 110 incidents of drop-side detachment; 67 incidents occurred in the United States and 43 in Canada. The incidents include 15 entrapments, 12 in the U.S. and three in Canada. Four of the entrapments resulted in suffocation: a 7-month-old in Gouverneur, N.Y.; a 7-month-old in New Iberia, La.; a 6-month-old in Summersville, W.Va.; and a 9-month-old in Bronx, N.Y. Another 20 babies have fallen from their cribs.

Meanwhile, safety experts caution that cribs often stay in homes for generations. If you have one of the cribs in your basement that's been recalled in recent years, fix it or get rid of it. The full list of crib recalls is on the CPSC Web site.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Original story is from MSNBC.

Cypriana ~ natural and organic products for baby, bed & bath

More on crib safety

If you’ve visited my store or followed my blog, you know that I believe crib safety is very important for babies and young children. If you are considering using a hand-me-down or previously-used crib, consider these safety tips shared by Janelle Sorensen in her 1/27/09 blog on secondhand safety:

1. Safe cribs. Cribs manufactured after 2000 should be safe, provided it is not broken or been modified, and all of the pieces are intact.

2. Unsafe cribs. Cribs manufactured prior to 2000 had different safety standards, so avoid them. Of particular concern are cribs with cutouts in the headboard and those with corner posts over 16 inches which could pose serious safety risks.

3. Organic mattresses and organic mattress covers. If you save money by using a secondhand crib, consider spending the money you save on a chemical-free organic mattress or organic mattress cover. For more information on the value of an organic mattress like our Ecobaby mattress, visit our blog dated December 10, 2008.

Do you have a crib safety tip to share? If so, send them to me via e-mail or post a comment here. I’d love to hear your ideas on ensuring your babies’ safety.

To your baby’s health and safety,

Susan Thomas
Cypriana ~ the natural home store

The Importance of Crib Safety

At Cypriana, we care about your child’s safety and well-being. Not only do we provide healthy alternatives to traditionally-manufactured baby products, but we feel that it is equally important to convey safety awareness to our customers.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently published a new Crib Safety article:

Building Baby Safety from the Ground Up

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A warm bath, lullaby and bedtime stories are staples in your child's nighttime routine. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) urges parents and caregivers to add a safe sleep environment to the daily routine of placing baby to sleep.

CPSC staff is aware of 97 crib related deaths from 2002 through 2004.

A CPSC staff analysis (pdf) of reports of deaths related to cribs found that about half of the deaths were in cribs containing pillows, quilts and other bedding. About half of these were due to suffocation when infants ended up face down on pillows or face down in a crib with pillows, quilts and other bedding.

Thirty-percent of crib deaths were attributed to entrapment between components of old cribs that were in bad condition, with broken or missing parts or loose hardware, and entrapment in spaces generated between the sides of a crib and an ill fitted mattress. The remainder of the deaths were associated with accessories situated in/around the crib (such as window cords or curtain tie backs), falls out of cribs, alterations made to cribs, or entrapment when the child became wedged between the crib and other furniture or a wall.

As CPSC works to remove defective products from the marketplace, parents and caregivers are being asked to take action as well.

The CPSC is urging parents:

• To reduce the risk of SIDS and suffocation, place baby to sleep on his or her back in a crib that meets current safety standards
• To prevent suffocation never use a pillow as a mattress for baby to sleep on or to prop baby's head or neck
• Infants can strangle to death if their bodies pass through gaps generated between loose components, broken slats and other parts of the crib and their head and neck become entrapped in the space.
o Do not use old, broken or modified cribs
o Regularly tighten hardware to keep sides firm
• Infants can suffocate in spaces generated between the sides of the crib and an ill fitted mattress; never allow a gap larger than two fingers at any point between the sides of the crib and the mattress
• Never place a crib near a window with blind or curtain cords; infants can strangle on curtain or blind cords.
• Properly set up play yards according to manufacturers' directions. Only use the mattress provided with the play yard. Do not add extra mattresses, pillows or cushions to the play yard, which can cause a suffocation hazard for infants.
• Routinely check nursery products against CPSC recall lists and remove recalled products from your home
• Sign-up for automatic e-mail recall notifications at www.cpsc.gov

The CPSC has been working since 1973 to improve crib safety with the publication of mandatory standards for full-size cribs and non-full size cribs. CPSC staff has also been involved in the development of voluntary standards for cribs addressing issues such as corner posts and structural and mechanical failures. The work of the CPSC has contributed to an 86% decrease in crib-related deaths.