UPDATE: Suffolk County Bans Drop-Side Cribs

Suffolk County is the first city in the nation to put a ban on the sale of drop-side baby cribs. Unfortunately, millions of drop-side baby cribs have been recalled due to their connections with a number of injuries and deaths to infant children- including the nation’s largest crib recall on Monday, November 22nd . Before signing the nation’s first drop-side crib ban Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy declared that, “one of the last places a parent assumes their child may be in danger would be in his or her own crib”... “We owe it to our youngsters to minimize their exposure to dangerous and potentially deadly products, and Legislator Horsley’s landmark legislation will provide parents with one less hazard to worry about.”

Largest crib recall ever announced: Storkcraft

CPSC has announced the recall of 2.1 million cribs made by Storkcraft. They were sold from 1993 through this year and also sold under the Fisher Price name from 1997 through 2004. The company, CPSC and Health Canada have 110 reports of incidents of dropside detachments in these cribs resulting in 15 entrapments and 20 falls. There were four deaths in these cribs. We know one baby in Louisiana died this May. The question is, were the other deaths earlier and did delay in announcing the recall contribute to this death or any of the others?

Kids In Danger supports the move of voluntary standards setting bodies and retailers away from drop side cribs. But the underlying issue of hardware failures and durability must be addressed in the crib standard by requiring more rigorous testing to stingent standards for durability.

In addition, this highlights the need for a public safety database. With such a searchable database of information, parents and caregivers would have learned of these incidents sooner and perhaps been able to take swifter action to protect their children.

The recall involves a repair kit from Storkcraft that immobilizes the dropside -- converting it to a fixed side cribs. KID believes that in recalls involving sleep environments, especially where a death is involved, consumers should be offered a replacement product or a refund or store credit.

Update: Storkcraft's website and phone lines have been overwhelmed by the volume of calls and hits. They posted this link on Facebook and a blog with more information.

CPSC about to announce huge crib recall

The airwaves are buzzing this morning with talk of a massive recall of cribs -- with drop-sides -- tomorrow. While the crib makes and models aren't known yet, it is a good opportunity to remind everyone with a baby in a crib to give their crib a once over this morning for safety.

• Find the brand name and model and check at CPSC.gov to make sure your crib hasn't already been recalled. If it has, stop using immediately and contact the manufacturer for the repair, refund, or replacement. Contact information is usually listed at the bottom of the recall notice.
  

• Check all hardware on your crib to make sure it is all secure and in place and not broken -- look at plastic hardware especially for wear or stress marks or signs of breakage. If hardware is missing, stop using the product and contact the manufacturer for replacement hardware.
  

• Set the mattress at the appropriate height and always leave the sides in the highest position. Once a baby starts to move onto their hands and knees or attempts to pull up to a standing position, move the mattress to the lowest position and remove mobiles.

• Remove all soft bedding from the crib. Babies are safest in a bare crib, on their backs, with a sleep sack type outfit if necessary for warmth.

• If you do have a problem with your crib, report it immediately to the manufacturer and the CPSC.

• If you accept a hand-me-down crib, use a crib for a second child or pass yours along -- always make sure it hasn't been recalled, has all the hardware and instructions, and isn't older than 8 years -- standards have improved much since then. If it is a dropside, we would recommend NOT passing it along or using a second-hand crib.
  

Let us know how your crib checks out and pass this reminder onto any friends or families with babies in cribs.

The 24th Annual Toy Safety Report

On Tuesday, November 25, Illinois PIRG released its 24th annual toy safety report, Trouble In Toyland. The report highlights the year's most pressing toy safety hazards including choking, lead, phthalates (toxic chemical), and excessive loudness.

Here were some of the most significant findings:

• Choking hazards were the leading cause of children’s product recalls in 2009. Three children died as a result of choking on a toy or toy part in 2008 alone. There is a ban on small toy parts for toys intended for children under the age of three; however, toys with this hazard are still available on store shelves.

• PIRG found some toys with volume levels over the 85-decibel limit set by the American Society for Testing and Materials standards. Loudness of toys is of increasing concern as nearly 15% of children age 6-17 have signs of hearing loss.

• While the first law regulating the amount of phthalates in children’s toys and products went into effect in 2009, setting the limit at 0.1%, Illinois PIRG identified children’s products with up to 7.2% concentrations of phthalates.

• Lead regulations have also become increasingly stringent in the last year. Nonetheless, children’s products with dangerous levels of lead remain on store shelves, including Barbie, Disney, and Dora brands tested in California.
  

For tips on avoiding common children's product safety hazards, read this flyer packed with tips from Kids In Danger to help you shop safely this holiday season!

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High lead levels found in children's products sold in California

The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) in California recently reported on the testing of 250 children's products, finding high lead levels in seven of the items. These include Barbie, Disney, and Dora brands. While the number of products found containing high lead levels has decreased from last year, the high amounts of lead found is disturbing. Of the seven products found to contain higher-than-legal lead levels, the range of lead levels varied from twice the legal limit to 65 times the legal limit.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has released a letter to the retailers of these items (including Target, Walgreens, Sears, and TJ Maxx) notifying them that his office will be enforcing lead standards. The testing commissioned by CEH was funded by a grant from the California Attorney General.

At a town meeting on toy safety in New York, Inez Tenenbaum, Chairman of the CPSC, stated that the decrease in numbers of toys with high lead levels this year is a result of tougher lead standards in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Michael Green, Executive Director of CEH, stated that parents should remain aware this holiday season that some children's products contain high lead levels and called for manufacturers and retailers to do more to protect children from this hazard.

The lead provisions in the CPSIA have gone into effect, but the testing requirement was stayed by the CPSC until at least February 2010.