More than 2.1 million drop-side cribs by Stork Craft Manufacturing are being recalled, the biggest crib recall in U.S history, following reports of four infant suffocations.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said late Monday the recall involves 1.2 million cribs in the United States and almost 1 million in Canada, where Stork Craft is based. Sales of the cribs being recalled go back to 1993.
Nearly 150,000 of the cribs carry the Fisher-Price logo.
The CPSC said it is aware of four infants who suffocated in the drop-side cribs, which have a side that moves up and down to allow parents to lift children from the cribs more easily.
Kimberly Pettit, a North Texas mother of five, is frustrated that the government appears to be dragging its feet on a critical safety issue.
Gus Pettit’s room is a place that is supposed to be his safe haven, but the drop-down sides on his crib could be dangerous.
The CPSC is on record saying the hardware in many cases isn't 'substantial.' That means kids could wiggle their heads between the side rail and headboard, a problem that has already proven deadly.
"I never thought about it being a safety concern," said Gus' mom, Kimberly Pettit.
Pettit has five children. Gus is number four to sleep in this crib, and he won't be the last.
Gulliver Thomas waits in the wings while a frustrated Pettit waits for the CPSC to release the recall list which will be out Tuesday morning.
"I have a monitor that makes me feel a little bit safe," Petit said. "But I also think, who knows? You can't hear every little thing. If it is going up and down, you may not be alerted even with a baby monitor on."
So parents, check the hardware on your child's crib.
Ask yourself: Does it feel solid?
Feel the side rail. It if appears to be loose, it could be dangerous.
"It seems like you hear about recalls every other week, so it doesn't really matter if there is not that many," Pettit said. "If there is one, and it could be your child, then you care about it."
The Stork Craft cribs have had problems with their hardware, which can break, deform or become missing after years. CPSC said there can also be problems with assembly mistakes by the crib owner. These problems can cause the drop-side to detach, creating a dangerous space between the drop-side and the crib mattress, where a child can become trapped.
The commission is urging parents to stop using the cribs until receiving a free repair kit from Stork Craft.
The cribs, which were manufactured and distributed between January 1993 and October 2009, were sold at major retailers including BJ's Wholesale Club, Sears and Wal-Mart stores and online through Target and Costco. They sold for between $100 and $400, and were made in Canada, China and Indonesia.
Consumer advocates have complained for years about drop-side cribs. More than 5 million of them have been recalled over the past two years alone — recalls that were associated with the deaths of a dozen young children.
ASTM International, an organization that sets voluntary industry safety standards for everything from toys to the steel used in commercial buildings, approved a new standard last week that requires four immovable, or fixed, sides for full-size cribs — essentially eliminating the manufacture of drop-side cribs.
CPSC is also considering new rules for making cribs safer and could adopt the ASTM voluntary standard as a mandatory one, outright banning the cribs.
Toys"R''Us started phasing out drop-side cribs earlier this year and will no longer carry them next month.
In the Stork Craft recall, the manufacture date, model number, crib name, country of origin, and the firm's name, address and contact information are located on the assembly instruction sheet attached to the mattress support board. The firm's insignia "storkcraft baby" or "storkling" is inscribed on the drop-side teething rail of some cribs.
Consumers can contact the company, 877-274-0277, to order the free repair kit, or log on to www.storkcraft.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
E-mail sslater@wfaa.com
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