What do you think of the new drop-side crib ban?
Forbes is reporting that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has voted unanimously to ban the manufacture, sale and re-sale of drop-side cribs, which have a side rail that moves up and down.
The deaths of more than 30 infants and toddlers in the past decade prompted the CPSC to take this action.
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Without drop-side cribs, parents can feel safer knowing that the rails will not detach from the crib creating a dangerous gap between the mattress and side rail where a baby can get caught and suffocate, or worse yet strangle and die.
However, drop-side cribs allow parents to place a sleeping infant into a crib without too much jostling, which many parents find handy.
Have you or anyone that you know been affected by dangerous cribs? What do you think of this ban?
Comments
Stephanie
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 9:09 p.m.
The problem is not that babies fall from the top of the crib because a parent left the side down. They are falling through the space a the bottom between the railing and the mattress and suffocating! "In his book on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, pediatrician William Sears cites co-sleeping as a proactive measure parents can take to reduce the risk of this tragedy. McKenna's research shows that babies who sleep with parents spend less time in Level III sleep, a state of deep sleep when the risk of apneas are increased. Further, co-sleeping babies learn to imitate healthy breathing patterns from their bunkmates." "If scientific research consistently demonstrates that co-sleeping offers tremendous benefits for babies and has no deleterious effects, it's time Americans join the rest of the world and parent our babies 24 hours a day." http://www.breastfeeding.com/reading_room/co_slepping.html
dading dont delete me bro
Thu, Dec 16, 2010 : 12:16 p.m.
thinking back, what can they do about making the sides HIGHER. you know how many kids (or times the same kid) has crawled out and fallen? tell me that's not an issue.
robyn
Wed, Dec 15, 2010 : 11:53 p.m.
@ Tammy: I did the same thing - until the kids were moving around I kept the side down. The worst problem I ever had with either of our cribs was with my son - his crib had casters on it - he figured out how to roll it to get around his room. I really have sympathy for parents that have lost a baby in such a terrible way - but as someone else has already said - 30 deaths in 10 years is NOT an epidemic and certainly not a good measure of the safety of a product. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics - 180 children died in a 17 year peiod as a result of being suffocated by their parent or care giver from being 'rolled over on' while asleep. There are also studies that show which cribs are NOT safe - maybe making companies that manufatcure cribs abide by the standards that have already been set would be a better idea. Heirloom cribs were notoriously bad. (Not sure where they were made.)
treetowncartel
Wed, Dec 15, 2010 : 10:51 p.m.
! AA Joker, I just put one to the curb a few months back. I wanted to pass it on but feared the liability. I was hoping someone might take it from the trash pile, but they didn't. The junk man did get the springs though.
AAJoker
Wed, Dec 15, 2010 : 8:39 p.m.
This ban is overblown, well assembled and maintained drop side cribs to not have problems. My 18 mo old is still in his drop side and we are looking on Craigslist to find another for as his sister is on her way!
Soothslayer
Wed, Dec 15, 2010 : 8:22 p.m.
30 infants in a decade. Honestly this is like a multimillions to one shot. There are way more dangerous things to consider keeping your infant away from like the drunk or high boyfriend or step father which carries MUCH higher risk but no one wants to "ban". I can't even think of anything near 1 to 200 Million odds to compare this to. What a surprising Halliburton style boon to the crib manufacturers. Perfectly well made cribs with drop down sides will be landfilled for no reason or those parents continuing using them will be made to feel bad as if they don't care. What's the dollar value impact of this decision and whose initiatives, research and funding was behind it? Remember the strollers that would unlock causing them to fold up or the play pens with the same locking issue causing them to fail? I'm sure the same was with the drop down sides on the cribs (not locking and failing). Can we get a mandate to have German engineered locking mechanisms on important devices brought into the US already or something? I'm guessing 90% of this stuff that failed was inexpensively manufactured in China. We expect somehthing we can rely on but aren't willing to pay anything but the cheapest price from the most notorious discounters. Walmart forces suppliers to cut costs and most of the time the easiest way is through cheaper materials and manufacturing processes. The true price we pay for cheap stuff I guess is a trade off huh? How about just banning cheaply manufacured crap from US markets? Talk about a boon to the US economy..
kathryn
Wed, Dec 15, 2010 : 7:55 p.m.
Is the design inherently unsafe (all the time)? or only unsafe if it fails? If the latter, then a warning is what's needed and instructions on how to check to make sure it's working properly.
Tammy Mayrend
Wed, Dec 15, 2010 : 5:29 p.m.
We used a drop-side crib for both children and used the drop down feature early on, mostly because I had two c-sections. The surgery and my short height made it difficult to belt over the top of the crib and reach in. I never had an issue with the crib not going back into it's proper position though! I'll agree though, I'm not sure making them illegal was necessary. Better parenting and education on using them combined with good, long-lasting hardware should take care of any issues with the sides becoming dislodged and causing a shild injury or death!
dading dont delete me bro
Wed, Dec 15, 2010 : 5:25 p.m.
why a ban? i can see a warning. we had a drop down, but never (never) had a need to drop it down. how many actually do?