Lead-based paint, once commonly used in cribs, went by the wayside after teethers gnawing on bars and flaking paint caused children to become ill. Next, the distance between the individual bars around the crib narrowed to make it impossible for a head to get stuck between them, and now the Consumer Product Safety Commission has unanimously voted to ban cribs that have a side rail that move up and down.
Adjustable side rails allow babies to easily be put to rest or lifted out of a crib and can be particularly important for people with shorter stature. However, safety won out over convenience, due to infant deaths and subsequent recalls of cribs with defective side rails. In the last decade, at least 30 deaths have been attributed to drop-side cribs, while recalls exceeded 9 million during the same period.
Given the problematic nature of the cribs, many manufacturers had made the decision to phase out such cribs, something that will now become mandatory by June of this year. Resale of existing cribs will be prohibited as well, although most likely to be confined to resale and consignment shops, not garage sales.
This new ban also impacts day care providers and the hotel industry, which will no longer be able to offer drop-side cribs at their facilities. The Consumer Product Safety Commission will allow them two years to come into compliance.
“I believe these new standards will markedly reduce crib-related hazards and help to ensure that young children sleep more safely in their cribs,” said Inez Tenenbaum, Consumer Product Safety Commission chairman.
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