Defective Railings In Cribs Prompts Recall
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Safety officials announced a recall of approximately 24,000 cribs on February 28, 2008, and also alerted parents against putting their babies to bed with pillows and other soft bedding that could suffocate them.The nearly 24,000 Indonesian-manufactured cribs were recalled because children were at risk of falling out of the. The cribs, imported by Munire Furniture Inc., have inappropriate brackets that don't allow their mattresses to be fully lowered. As a result, a child inside the crib could crawl over the railing and fall.
The recall includes the company's Majestic Curved Top, Majestic Flat Top, Essex, Brighton/Sussex and Captiva cribs with various model numbers. The cribs were sold at children's specialty stores between November 2005 and November 2007. To date no injuries have been reported.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is also concerned about what parents are placing inside their babies' cribs. From 2002 to 2004, an estimated 241 children under age 5 died in incidents involving nursery products, the CPSC said. About 40% of the deaths involved cribs, with soft bedding cited as the leading contributing factor. Many of the children suffocated when lying face down on pillows or other bedding, the agency said.
"Less is more when you're talking about the crib," CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese said, adding that cribs should be free of adult pillows and blankets, stuffed animals and baby quilts.
To diminish risk of suffocation and sudden infant death syndrome, parents should place babies on their back in a crib that meets current safety standards, the agency said.
Among other incidents of death in cribs, babies became trapped when the mattress was ill fitting, CPSC said. Old, broken and modified cribs should not be used, and parents should never allow a gap larger than two fingers at any point between the sides of the crib and mattress, the agency advised.
The agency said there were 36 deaths over the same period relating to baby baths and bath seats. All occurred when caregivers left the baby unattended. In many instances, babies slipped out of bath seats, fell out of baby seats or tipped forward or sideways into the water.
At no time, even for a few seconds, should babies be left unattended in the tub, Vallese said. Deaths involving playpens also were high, with many resulting from the use of soft bedding. Although CPSC has in recent years issued many crib product recalls, Vallese said there were no related deaths during 2002 through 2004 that involved a recalled product or a product that eventually was recalled.
In 2006, the most recent year in which injury data was collected, CPSC counted about 66,400 emergency injuries linked with nursery products among children under age 5. Most of these were related to baby carriers and car seats, excluding motor vehicle accidents, followed by incidents involving cribs and mattresses.
The most common injuries in 2006 resulted from falls, and the head was the most frequently injured body part.
For more details on the crib recall, call 866-586-9639 or visit http://www.munirefurniture.com.
Posted in Defective Products • Baby Cribs