Family Voices — Tyler Jonathan’s Story
Tyler died when he was entrapped by a faulty drop-side crib. He was ten months old.
Submitted by his mother
When I woke up on the morning of December 12th, 1997, I found my son, Tyler Jonathan, with his neck caught between the side rail and headboard of his drop-side crib. Sometime after his one AM bottle, a single screw became loose, creating a gap wide enough to entrap his neck. When this happened, the side of his crib became a spring-loaded vice, strangling him to death instantly. The very last image I have of my precious son is that of him trapped and killed by a crib that I thought was his one and only safe haven.
For years after Tyler’s death, I could walk into a store and see the same crib that strangled my Tyler advertised as #1 in safety. There is something very wrong about that. It shocked me to learn that Tyler was not the first baby to die such a horrific death. I assumed, since I purchased his crib new from a high-end retailer and it met CPSC standards and was never recalled, that it was safe.
What’s happened since Tyler’s death?
Tyler was killed in 1997, and since then there have been at least 32 infant deaths caused by suffocation or strangulation in a drop-side crib, as identified by the CPSC. It wouldn’t be until over 10 years after Tyler’s death that drop-side cribs would begin to gain attention for the dangers that they pose to infants.
On June 28, 2011 the world’s strongest crib standard went into effect, ensuring at long last that new cribs coming onto the market will provide a safe haven for babies and their families through a ban on the drop-side crib design, stringent testing standards and other improvements.
How You Can Take Action
To take action and help prevent further incidents, injuries, and deaths,
there are a number of things you can do:
- Follow the ABCs of safe sleep at every sleep time: 1) Baby is Alone and has their own separate sleep space. 2) Baby is placed to sleep on their Back, and 3) baby sleeps in a Crib, play yard or bassinet that meets the federal safety standard.
- Remove other products such as crib bumper pads, pillows, positioners, extra padding, blankets, stuffed animals, or toys from the sleep environment.
- Share KID’s safe sleep PSA.
- Report any incidents to the CPSC at SaferProducts.gov.
Check out our action steps for all children’s products here.
More Information on Cribs
Although mandatory standards exist for cribs, only recently has an effort been made to strengthen those standards and require testing and verification of new cribs. Because of these standards, all cribs must include proper assembly instructions and diagrams as well as cautionary and warning labels as required by federal law.
More information on Safe Sleep
A safe sleep environment is the one place parents and caregivers can place an infant and know they will be safe, even as the parent sleeps or attends to other things. Infants sleep safest following the ABC’s of safe sleep—Alone, on their Back and in a Crib, bassinet or play yard that meets federal standards and hasn’t been recalled. AAP also recommends babies sleep on a flat surface and unrestrained. Nothing should be in the crib except a firm mattress with a tight-fitting sheet.
View our safe sleep video to learn more about how to keep your baby safe while sleeping.