New research in Pediatrics shows 26 crib-related injuries per day

A study in the March issue of Pediatrics shows that as many as 26 infants and toddlers are rushed to emergency rooms each day for injuries involving cribs, play yards or bassinets. Most of the injuries (83%) are crib related. One of the lead authors on the study was Dr. Gary Smith, KID's Best Friend Award Honoree in 2010.

Much attention (rightly) has been focused on suffocation and strangulation deaths in poorly designed cribs or those with hardware problems. But this study highlights that most injuries involving cribs are related to falls. Some of the falls are also hardware related when a side rail comes loose or may be caused by mattresses set too high, children still sleeping in cribs when they can attempt to climb out or soft bedding that provides a foothold for climbers.

Parents can prevent injuries by

• checking their crib for loose or missing hardware,
• making sure their crib hasn't been recalled,
• Lowering the mattress setting to the lowest level when a child starts to push up on hands and knees,
• keeping the drop-side* in the top position,
• removing any soft bedding that can provide a foothold or suffocation risk,
• moving the child to a toddler bed or even a mattress on the floor as soon as they reach 2 years, 35 inches or show signs of attempting to climb out.

Check KID's or CPSC's crib pages for more information.

The data in the study will be useful to CPSC and ASTM International as they look for design changes or stronger warnings to prevent falls and other injuries.

*The drop-side is dangerous for many other reasons too.

Toys "R" Us offers discount for used baby items

Today Toys "R" Us has announced their second-ever "Great Trade-In" Event, an initiative designed to help parents replace potentially dangerous used children's products with new ones. The event will begin Friday January 29 and end Saturday February 20.

Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us will offer a 25% discount on selected new products when parents return their used products. Eligible items include cribs, car seats, bassinets, strollers, travel systems, play yards, high chairs and toddler beds.

KID suggests to take advantage of the opportunity. The drop-side crib, for example, has been notoriously dangerous over the years but has only recently been banned since last December.
"Exchanges such as the Toys "R" Us program go a long way to help", says Nancy Cowles, Executive Director of KID, referring to the number of dangerous sleep products that still remain in homes.

Toys "R" Us has no restrictions on number of trade-ins and will also accommodate bulk exchanges from childcare facilities and other organizations.

Before visiting the store, we suggest you visit the CPSC website to check if any of your items have been recalled. If so, you may be eligibile for a full refund.

Latest CPSC Report on Nursery Product Related Injuries & Deaths

Recently, the CPSC released their latest available statistics on injuries and deaths related to nursery products. This report details the nursery product related injury estimates from 2008 in which an estimated 63,700 injuries among children under the age of five were treated in hospital emergency rooms.

The items most frequently involved in these incidents were carriages/strollers, infant carriers and car seat carriers (used outside of cars), cribs/mattresses, and high chairs. Stroller injuries rose 33% to 12, 400 from 9,300. The leading cause of injuries were falls in which the head was the most frequently injured body part -- 48% (which is up 4% from last year's report of 44%) of the reported injuries involved the head.

The most recent numbers CPSC is releasing on deaths are from 2004 through 2006 in which 247 deaths occurred. CPSC estimates an average of 82 deaths annually involving nursery products. About 31 of those deaths annually involve cribs/ mattresses, with an average of 12 deaths in baby baths/bath seats/ bathinettes and 11 deaths involving playpens/ play yards and bassinets/cradles. The causes of these deaths range from positional asphyxia and strangulation to drowning. These statistics are a reminder that before using any sleep environment for your baby, check to make sure it is properly assembled, with no missing or broken hardware; that it has not been recalled; and then, remember, bare is best. Remove all soft bedding from a crib or bassinet and use only the mattress supplied or recommended by the manufacturer. Report all problems with a nursery product to the manufacturer and CPSC. Lastly, remain vigilant to your baby and their surroundings.

Local, national efforts to ban drop-side cribs

Wayne Horsley, a member of New York's Suffolk County legislature, has been spearheading a local effort to ban the sale of dangerous drop-side cribs. The drop-side design has been responsible for dozens of infant deaths and thousands of injuries throughout the nation.

The Suffolk legislature will vote on the proposal October 13th, the same day that ASTM (a national industry standards body) is due to make their own ruling. You may learn more about the national issue by visiting the Chicago Tribune's article.

If you are a resident of Suffolk County and would like to express your support for the safety ban, you may contact your local representative at the legislature's website. Make it known how you feel about your child’s safety.

LaJobi recalls 4,900 Bonavita and Babi Italia cribs in two recalls

LaJobi and CPSC announced two recalls today for 4,900 cribs.

First, 2,000 Bonavita "Cabana" cribs were recalled for slat failure -- the slats can come loose and/or break. LaJobi had ten reports of slats coming out of the rails and six reports of slats breaking.

Also, 2,900 Babi Italia "Pinehurst" cribs and Bonavita "Hudson" cribs were recalled for drop side failures. The spring pins in the dropside mechanisms can come out, causing the side to detach and presenting an entrapment hazard. LaJobi had 33 reports of the pin failing, including two entrapments and one child falling out of the crib.

For the Cabana crib with the slat failures, consumers should stop using the crib immediately and contact LaJobi for replacement side rails.

For the Hudson and Pinehurst cribs, consumers should stop using the crib immediately and contact LaJobi. The company will arrange for professional technicians to provide an in-home retrofit.

KID is very interested in hearing from consumers about their experience with these recall remedies. Post in the comments below with your experience or send an email.

CPSC creates online Crib Information Center

In the recent edition of the Safety Review, CPSC's monthly online newsletter, one article highlights all the crib recalls over the past few years -- over five million cribs, play yards and bassinets. CPSC has posted a Crib Information Center on their site, not only listing all the recent sleep environment recalls, but posting additional crib safety information for parents.

One important safety reminder was left out-- if you have problems with your crib -- hardware loose or broken, slats that break or come loose, mattress supports that fail, or dropsides that don't work correctly -- stop using it and report it immediately to the CPSC and the manufacturer. That action might save a baby's life. You can learn more from KID's Safe Sleep flyer.

CPSC gives companies another year to prove their products are safe.

The lame-duck CPSC voted today to postpone enforcing the testing and certification requirements of the CPSIA for another year. Key portions of the Act were scheduled to go into effect in February. CPSC's inability to put in place compliance information and exclusions to the testing requirements for safe components created confusion. Rather than act more quickly or institute a short delay, CPSC gave companies (and themselves) an extra year.

Of course this means another year of parents having to wonder if the toys and nursery products they buy for their children are safe -- taking us through another holiday shopping season with no way to know which products have lead or other toxins and which don't. It also delays putting in place stronger toy standards for other hazards. While CPSC says the ban on lead and phthalates will still become effective on February 10, 2009 just without the testing and certification, it doesn't do parents much good. Take a look at our last post for instance -- lead paint on toys has been banned for 30 years and yet in two months, 13 products had to be recalled for that hazard.

Please, President Obama, put real leadership in charge of our children's safety quickly -- we can't afford to wait any longer.

University of Michigan students design safer crib

Students at the University of Michigan joined together in Project Safe Crib to look at design ideas to eliminate some of the hazards that have led to millions of cribs being pulled from the market due to defects, injuries and deaths. The team developed a prototype (painted of course in proud Michigan colors) that can only be assembled one way and with virtually no hardware, even though it still has a dropside. The dropside can even store under the mattress creating a daybed or changing table mode.

If you are interested in learning more, contact us at KID. The project is part of KID's Teach Early Safety Testing (TEST) program to integrate design safety into undergraduate engineering programs. This is the sixth year KID has worked with a team from UM.

Another Simplicity recall: will it ever end?

CPSC announced the recall today of another 600,000 Simplicity cribs with dropside problems -- the same ones they said were safe back when they recalled 1 million other Simplicity cribs. This on the heels of a recall of 900,000 Simplicity bassinets. Our advice -- do not use or buy any Simplicity products. The current company SFCA has refused to stand behind Simplicity labeled cribs and bassinets and we (and the CPSC) know of other incidents with Simplicity cribs that aren't on either of these recall lists. If you have a Simplicity crib on today's recall list, stop using it immediately and return it to the retailer for a refund or store credit. If you have a Simplicity crib not yet on a recall list, at the very least check it carefully for broken or loose hardware or problems with the wood in the drop sides or slats. Stop using it and report any problems with the cribs to CPSC.