Industry Launches New Initiative to Secure Drop Sides with Free Immobilization Devices

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), with the cooperation of seven firms, is announcing voluntary recalls of more than two million cribs to address drop-side hazards and other hazards that affect the safety of young children. The recalling firms are providing consumers with free repair kits to immobilize the drop sides or other remedies. Do not attempt to fix these cribs with homemade remedies.

The drop-side and fixed-side crib recalls announced today are of units manufactured between 2000 and 2009 by the companies listed below. Consumers should contact these firms directly for the appropriate remedy:

• Child Craft, (this firm is out of business): Fixed-Side | Drop-Side
• Delta Enterprise Corp., of New York, N.Y.
• Evenflo, of Miamisburg, Ohio
• Jardine Enterprises, of Taipei, Taiwan
• LaJobi, of Cranbury, N.J.
• Million Dollar Baby, of Montebello, Calif.
• Simmons Juvenile Products Inc. (SJP), of New London, Wis.

“Cribs should be the safest place in the home for infants and toddlers,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. “CPSC is committed to addressing the hazards with cribs and to restoring parents’ confidence that their child will have a safe sleep.”

CPSC continues to actively investigate various cribs for potential drop-side and other hazards as part of a larger effort by the agency to rid the marketplace and homes of unsafe cribs. CPSC staff is also working on a new mandatory standard to make cribs safer, which is targeted for completion in 2010.

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) has also launched a new crib safety initiative. The listed manufacturers are providing free drop-side crib immobilization kits to prevent the drop side from detaching, plus replacement hardware and assembly instructions for cribs manufactured by participating firms. These materials are available free to any consumer by request.

The firms involved in today’s recalls are providing immobilization devices or other remedies as part of JPMA’s crib safety initiative. Consumers can visit JPMA’s website, http://www.cribsafety.org, for a list of participating manufacturers and for downloadable materials about ensuring that children have a safe sleep.

The immobilization devices, which will be available in the next few weeks, should be attached to keep the drop side from detaching from the cribs. Immobilization devices are not a solution for cribs with broken or damaged drop-side hardware. If your drop-side hardware is broken, contact the manufacturer for an alternative remedy.

CPSC issued a warning last month alerting parents and caregivers that there can be deadly hazards associated with drop-side cribs. Nine million drop-side cribs have been recalled over the past five years. CPSC staff has determined drop-side cribs generally have a tendency to be less structurally sound than cribs with four fixed sides.

Drop-side crib incidents can also occur due to incorrect assembly or age-related wear and tear. Age is a factor in the safety of any crib. At a minimum, CPSC staff recommends that you not use a crib that is older than 10 years. Many older cribs do not meet current voluntary standards and can have numerous safety problems.

Important Message from CPSC:

The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a crib or bassinet depending on their age. If your crib has been recalled or it has missing, broken or loose parts, find an alternate safe sleep environment intended for a baby. If your baby is less than six months old and is not yet able to push up to his/her hands and knees, you can put your baby to sleep in a bassinet. Make sure your bassinet has not been recalled. Also, you can use a play yard.

Do not put additional bedding such as pillows, thick quilts, comforters or anything plush into your baby’s sleeping space. More babies die every year from suffocation in plush sleeping environments than from defective cribs. Always place your baby on his or her back to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Visit CPSC’s Crib Information Center for more information on Crib Safety and Recalls.