CPSC has announced the recall of 2.1 million cribs made by Storkcraft. They were sold from 1993 through this year and also sold under the Fisher Price name from 1997 through 2004. The company, CPSC and Health Canada have 110 reports of incidents of dropside detachments in these cribs resulting in 15 entrapments and 20 falls. There were four deaths in these cribs. We know one baby in Louisiana died this May. The question is, were the other deaths earlier and did delay in announcing the recall contribute to this death or any of the others?
Kids In Danger supports the move of voluntary standards setting bodies and retailers away from drop side cribs. But the underlying issue of hardware failures and durability must be addressed in the crib standard by requiring more rigorous testing to stingent standards for durability.
In addition, this highlights the need for a public safety database. With such a searchable database of information, parents and caregivers would have learned of these incidents sooner and perhaps been able to take swifter action to protect their children.
The recall involves a repair kit from Storkcraft that immobilizes the dropside — converting it to a fixed side cribs. KID believes that in recalls involving sleep environments, especially where a death is involved, consumers should be offered a replacement product or a refund or store credit.
Update: Storkcraft’s website and phone lines have been overwhelmed by the volume of calls and hits. They posted this link on Facebook and a blog with more information.
