Illinois AG calls out JPMA on safe crib issue

JPMA (Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association) is coming to Chicago tomorrow to kick-off their Baby Safety Month activities, focusing on safe sleep. Just one problem says Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan -- most of the millions of recalled drop-side cribs, involved in dozens of deaths, were certified as 'safe' by JPMA. Even now JPMA asserts that as long as your drop-side crib hasn't been recalled and is put together correctly, it is perfectly safe to use. This despite the banning of this design by the voluntary standards organization, ASTM International AND a probable mandatory standard that will also ban the design. Most manufacturers have stopped making cribs with drop-sides and most retailers no longer sell them.

So what are caregivers to do?

First, for more information on drop-side cribs and safety, check out our previous blog post, What's the deal with dropside cribs? It gives common sense answers to help parents decide about which crib to use for their children.

Also, along with their press release, the Illinois Attorney General's office put out a very helpful guide to drop-side crib recalls and safe sleep tips for parents. But note that this is a list of drop-side crib recalls -- many other sleep environments including non-drop-side cribs, play yards and bassinets (also almost all certified by JPMA) have been recalled. Check any children's product you use against the recall list at CPSC.

But JPMA is right on one thing --too many children die in unsafe sleeping environments -- whether that be a recalled crib, a sofa or waterbed, adult beds or any sleeping surface with too much bedding, extra padding or possibilities for entrapment. So check our safe sleep tips (and those from our friends at Sudden Infant Death Services of Illinois) and choose the safest sleeping environment for your baby -- and use it everytime.

Illinois Attorney General requests records from JPMA

As reported in the Chicago Tribune today, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has asked the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) to provide documentation on their certification program, as it relates to drop-side cribs. Madigan had previously asked JPMA to stop certifying drop-side cribs, given their track record of recalls and deaths, ahead of the scheduled June date. "The fact that they knowingly are putting a seal of approval on a deadly product is outrageous," Madigan said in an interview. "It should be illegal, and it needs to be stopped."

Almost all of the 7 millions drop-side cribs recalled recently were certified by JPMA. That is also true of the additional 4 million fixed sided cribs, bassinets and play yards also recalled during the same time period.

Don't use Amby Baby Hammocks or similar products

UPDATE: Amby and CPSC announced a recall this morning, citing two suffocation deaths. The recall says a repair kit will be sent. As soon as we have more information, we'll share it.

We just finished reading this post at the Baby Bargain's Blog and wanted to pass on the warning to our readers. The Amby Baby Hammock has been involved in at least one death (the grieving parent was told their baby was the third) and is not being offered for sale at this time. If you have one, please stop using it immediately and find a safe place for your baby to sleep. We have asked CPSC for any information they may have.

Kids In Danger first raised the issue of this product to the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association back in February 2009, surprised to find a product that didn't even meet the definition of a bassinet 'certified' to the bassinet standard by JPMA. JPMA never answered our questions as to how the product was certified, but has now removed any mention of it from their site. But the Amby Baby site still sports the JPMA logo saying the product was 'certified for safety and effectiveness'.

Most of the seven million cribs recalled for entrapment and other hazards in the past two years and responsible for numerous deaths were also JPMA certified.