Twenty-two cribs have been recalled in the last two years and have resulted in at least five infant deaths. Consumer Reports has the information you need to know in order to buy a safe crib.
One morning in 2007, Carolyn Zabriskie-Hartung and her husband Andrew awoke to a sound no parent wants to hear, their daughter Abigail shrieking in pain.
“We ran in there and we found Abigail with her hand caught in between the front part of the crib and the base.”
Thankfully, Abigail was okay. But her crib was eventually recalled. Consumer Reports says there are lots of problems with some cribs, especially ones with drop sides.
Don Mays, of Consumer Reports, says “The problem with many drop-side cribs is that the hardware can fail, and if it fails, it can open up a dangerous gap in which a child can get their head entrapped and possibly strangled.”
Problems with drop sides have lead to the recent recalls of more than a million and a half Delta cribs and more than a million Simplicity cribs. Toys “R” Us has announced it will no longer order drop-side cribs.
With so many cribs recalled, it’s all the more important that consumers NOT buy secondhand cribs.
Consumer Reports says parents should get a stationary-side crib, with sides that don’t drop. A good choice is the Ikea Leksvik. It’s a Consumer Reports Best Buy at 160 dollars. And it rated excellent for safety.
At this point, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of some four-million cribs. You can check if your crib is one of them by
clicking here.
