Health & Baby

2.2 Million Drop-Side Cribs Recalled

Nov. 24, 2009 -- After four U.S. infants died while trapped in the cribs, 2.2 million drop-side cribs made by Stork Craft -- including 147,000 with the Fisher-Price logo -- have been recalled.

It's far from the first time that child entrapment has led the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to recall drop-side cribs.

CPSC chair Inez Tenenbaum is now considering banning this type of product, says CPSC spokeswoman Nychelle Fleming.

"We have had other drop-side crib recalls, and the chairman is proposing to write regulations in the next few months to address the bigger issue of drop-side cribs," Fleming tells WebMD.

The current recall is the largest crib recall in CPSC history. It includes only cribs with plastic hardware made by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc. of British Columbia, Canada. Stork Craft drop-side cribs made with metal rods are not part of the recall.

The recall includes more than 1.2 million cribs sold in the U.S. and nearly 1 million sold in Canada.

CPSC, Health Canada, and Stork Craft have learned of 110 incidents in which the drop-side of the cribs became detached: 67 incidents in the U.S. and 43 in Canada.

All four of the deaths involved infants who smothered while trapped when the crib hardware detached and the child slipped between the side of the crib and the mattress. They included:

• A 6-month-old in Summersville, W.Va.
• A 7-month-old in Gouveneur, N.Y.
• A 7-month-old in New Iberia, La.
• A 9-month-old in Bronx, N.Y.

Other injuries include 20 falls from cribs, with injuries ranging from bruises to concussion.

All cribs involved in the incidents had plastic hardware that broke or wore out over time, or hardware or crib sides that had been improperly installed by the consumer during crib assembly.

Not all the cribs are new. Some were sold as long ago as 1993.

"We have just not been acting as quickly as we should have at the Consumer Product Safety Commission on this type of incident," Tenenbaum said today on the CBS Early Show.

The current recall includes Stork Craft cribs with manufacturing and distribution dates between January 1993 and October 2009.

Consumers who purchased the cribs are being offered a free repair kit that will prevent the cribs' drop sides from moving. The repair will turn the drop-side cribs into stationary-side cribs.

This recall also includes Stork Craft cribs with the Fisher-Price logo that have manufacturing dates between October 1997 and December 2004. The Stork Craft cribs with the Fisher-Price logo were first sold in the U.S. in July 1998 and in Canada in September 1998.

The cribs were sold in various styles and finishes. 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.