Please, despite the frequency, don’t become indifferent to hearing about crib recalls. Each recall represents thousands of cribs currently being used in homes across America — putting millions of babies at risk every night.

Today’s announcement of 7 (!) more manufacturers whose cribs have proven unsafe is just the last in a long line of recalls — and don’t be surprised if more recalls are still to come.

Some notes on today’s recalls:

  • The danger on these cribs isn’t just drop-side failures. They also involve several with fixed side rail dangers and mattress support problems. And these are just a portion of the almost 10 million cribs recalled in the last four years, so whatever you do, check your crib against the recall list today.
  • While CPSC says the recalls represent 2.2 million cribs, one of the recalls just lists the number of cribs recalled as “unknown.” With a major manufacturer and a ten year span, that is a substantial “unknown.” This particular company was recently bought by another: perhaps poor record keeping can be blamed in part?? Another recall just notes ‘all’ of the companies cribs using wooden stabilizer bars are included without giving a number. So perhaps the total number is closer to 3 million.
  • The only bright note is that if you have a Childcraft recalled crib, you will get a rebate coupon to use toward the purchase of a new crib rather than the immobilizer given out by the other firms. KID believes in cases of sleep environment recalls, refunds or replacement products should be given, rather than a hardware repair kit — after all in most instances, it is the hardware that failed in the first place.

So, what should parents do who have drop-side cribs? Check out this CPSC blog post and video or our earlier post on drop-side cribs for more information. In general, avoid drop-side cribs when possible and don’t pass them down to family or friends.

Thankfully, things are changing in the crib world. Due to pressure from consumers and the media, a re-invigorated CPSC and intensive work by everyone involved, ASTM’s new crib standard includes more stringent testing for durability and a ban on the dangerous drop-side design. By the end of 2010, CPSC vows to have a strong mandatory standard in place.

Cribs are the one product intended to be safe enough to leave a baby unattended all night (once they sleep that long anyway!). The new standard can’t come soon enough.

Specific recalls links:

Childcraft Fixed Side: 4 entrapments
Childcraft Drop-side: “unknown”, 7 incidents, 2 injuries
Jardine: 130,000, 47 incidents, 10 injuries
Evenflo: 750,000, 31 incidents, 12 injuries or falls
Million Dollar Baby: 156,000, 43 incidents, 11 injuries or falls
LaJobi: 306,000, 40 incidents, 1 injury
Delta: at least 747,000, 76 incidents, 6 injuries or entrapments
Simmons: 50,000, 30 incidents, 5 entrapments or injuries