The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has approved new standards for cribs to make them safer for infants and young children.
The standards, which take effect in June, will prohibit the manufacture and sale of drop-side cribs; require stronger mattress supports and more durable hardware; and make safety testing more rigorous.
Once the final ruling is published in the Federal Register, child care centers, family child care homes, Head Start centers and places of public accommodation such as hotels and motels will have 24 months to provide safer cribs.
The CPSC ruling comes after three years of recalls of more than 11 million cribs. CPSC received at least 32 reports of deaths attributable to children being caught and strangled in malfunctioning drop sides since 2000.
Crib manufacturers already have begun testing products, according to the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association (JPMA), a nonprofit association representing industry and safety of juvenile products. JPMA offers a list of crib manufacturers for which repair kits and rebate coupons for the purchase of new cribs are available at http://cribsafety.jpma.org/content/drop-side-initiative. Parents also can visit the CPSC Web site, www.cpsc.gov, or call 800-638-2772 to check if a crib has been recalled. Find more information about crib safety, including second-hand cribs, at www.aapnews.org.
