WASHINGTON, DC -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission, along with Stork Craft Manufacturing, Inc., announced the recall of more than two million cribs. Included in that number, about 1,213,000 sold in the United States.
"The hardware can crack, a depression is made in the bed, and the baby's head gets caught in that depression and the baby can strangle and die," explains former chairwoman of the CPSC, Ann Brown.
In fact, there have been four cases linked to the cribs in which the child involved suffocated. In addition to broken parts, trouble can crop up if parts are missing or if the owner has not put the crib together correctly. The recommendation is that parents or caregivers check hardware closely on their cribs.
In the past five years, there have been almost five million cribs recalled for a variety of reasons. The problem could be that not all regulations are mandatory when it comes to baby products, making it difficult to be sure an item is as safe as it needs to be. Earlier this month, Maclaren recalled one million strollers after a dozen children had fingertips amputated in hinges on the strollers.
"Most parents are not aware that there was no requirement that the products be tested for safety before they were sold," says Nancy Cowles, Executive Director of Kids in Danger, a non-profit group that advocates improving the safety of children's products.
A federal law passed in 2008 requires safety testing and allows the government to set tougher mandatory standards for children's products. Proposed regulations for baby bath seats and walkers have gotten tighter. New rules for cribs still are in the works.
If you need information about the Stork Craft recall and the cribs included in it, you can reach the company at 877-274-0277.
