Crib Recall After Hardware Fails

February 10, 2010 (by Horatio Algren) According to reports there is a recall in effect for two models of cribs after reported hardware failure. The cribs that are affected by the recall are two models that are sold in several stores including Buy Buy Baby, Wal-Mart, Kmart and other stores.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commision the models involved are the Generation 2 Worldwide and ChildESIGNS, of which there have been more than 500,000 of the drop side cribs sold. They have stated that the plastic hardware is known to fail on the drop side and the mattress supports can break away from the crib frame.

These defects in the cribs can cause gaps where infants and toddlers can become trapped and suffocate or strangle.

So far the agency has received three reports, two of which the children involved died after becoming trapped in the gaps between the drop sides of the crib and their mattress.

One of the infant deaths occurred in July of 2007 when an 8 month old in Newark Ohio suffocated when the drop side of the crib detached, occurring from a broken stop tab on the lower track. The second suffocation death occurred when an 8 month old from Richmond Indiana died when the hardware broke allowing the drop side to detach from the crib’s headboard in one corner in October 2003.

The third infant that died was a 6 month old in Staunton Virginia in September of 2002, the death occurred due to two missing screws that allowed the lower drop side of the crib to pull away from the headboard post.

The company that manufactured the Generation 2 Worldwide crib went out of business in 2005 and according to the CPSC they believe that over 500,000 of the cribs were sold nationwide. These were sold at Wal-Mart, Kmart, Buy Buy Baby and other retail furniture stores.

There have been at least 20 reports of incidents that involved the drop sides and 8 reports of the mattress supports detaching to the CPSC. The ASTM International is responsible for setting voluntary industry safety standards for items such as steel used in commercial buildings and other things like children’s toys and cribs.

As of November 2009 there were new standards approved that will requires four removable sides for full size cribs. This along with their refusal to certify drop side cribs will help eliminate new manufacturing of the drop side cribs.

The CPSC stated owners of the cribs should contact the store where the crib was purchased for information about the recall, including refunds. They also stated any crib owner that has difficulties getting the crib fixed or a refund should contact their agency.


View Larger Map