Word is finally out on the dangers of drop-side cribs. The industry has started phasing out production of the cribs, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has pledged to ban the sale of them by the end of the year, and now legislation is to be introduced in Congress to outlaw the manufacture, sale, and re-sale of these cribs. That last part, the re-sale, is especially important.
Part of the problem is that these cribs are frequently sold in garage sales or online as the parents no longer need them. So a change in safety standards for new cribs, or even a ban on the manufacture of drop-side cribs, won’t get them all out of the hands of unsuspecting consumers.
More than 7,000,000 drop-side cribs have been recalled in the past five years for safety defects. The government says at least 32 babies have been suffocated or strangled in drop-side cribs since 2000. Let’s hope there are no more.
