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I just saw this in our local area newspaper today. I searched and didnt see it yet mentioned (from what I can tell) on this forum. Apologize if it has been mentioned.
New crib standards starting June 28 2011....makes current cribs obsolete. Illegal to sale or donate cribs that do not match these new standards.
Some stores started early. I was shopping for a new crib in December and already there were no drop sides available, and they were all advertized as meeting the new standards.
A lot of these accidental deaths were caused by people not properly following the assembly and maintenance directions.
just means dont get rid of the cribs you have if you know they work well, im usin an old drop side crib i got from the inlaws for my child, never had a single problem with it, put it together myself and shook it pretty vigorously to make sure it was nice and stable, and you can bet your butts i aint gettin rid of it just because the government wants to butt in more into our lives and ban drop side cribs
“I know times are tough, but I always felt like the price of a crib is minuscule compared to the price of your child's life,” said Susan Cirigliano, a Long Island, N.Y., mother who has pushed for tougher standards after her son Bobby died in a defective crib in 2004. “I was a normal mom raising her kids. Never in a million years would I have thought that could happen to me.”
Over the last four years, Tribune investigations have reported that a product supposed to be the safest item in the nursery — the one place where a parent can leave an infant unattended for hours — had become a deathtrap for some babies thanks to bad designs, defective hardware and flimsy parts.
As I read this the problem was
bad designs,
defective hardware and
flimsy parts
err so the government just tosses it out.
Personally I think the govt should do nothing. People should look at what they are buying and take responsibility to buy a decent cot. We went tens of millions of years without laws on cots and society manages to survive but now we need a law for everything. Yes there would be some more deaths.
Hmmm... they change crib standards every 10-15 years or so. Sales get slow on new models, I guess.
I would think that improperly put together cribs are a bigger problem, frankly. The drop down model fiasco a few years ago was caused by 'operator error' - though the manufacturers got the blame for not making it easier to put together. Ridiculous. That's like suing keyboard manufacturers due to typos.
This is part of the reason why my hair dryer comes with the warning, "Do not use while sleeping or in the shower/bathtub".
Hmmm... they change crib standards every 10-15 years or so. Sales get slow on new models, I guess.
I would think that improperly put together cribs are a bigger problem, frankly. The drop down model fiasco a few years ago was caused by 'operator error' - though the manufacturers got the blame for not making it easier to put together. Ridiculous. That's like suing keyboard manufacturers due to typos.
This is part of the reason why my hair dryer comes with the warning, "Do not use while sleeping or in the shower/bathtub".
It is amazing what people sue for these days. I have a website that I read that has crazy lawsuits like suing Home Depot because a bird flew overhead and scared someone OUTSIDE in the garden department!
I think it is crazy that the government steps in because some people can't assemble things correctly. Are they going to sue the company (or get new regulations put into place) when their entertainment system falls apart and the tv falls on someone because they didn't screw it together correctly?
I bought my crib used. It had drop sides. When I was assembling it, I noticed that one of the drop side brackets seemed a little weak. So, I called the manufacturer and ordered a replacement bracket. While I was at it, I ordered a couple of other small parts that just didn't feel right to me. It was my responsibility to make sure I was putting my baby in a safe crib. If I assemble it wrong or use inferior parts and a tragedy happens, it is my fault because I didn't make sure everything was fine with the crib I bought. I checked the crib occasionally while it was in use to make sure there were no loose parts, no screws were coming loose and basically making sure it was still safe. That was my responsibility as a parent. That is not the responsibility of a company who made something that you assembled incorrectly.
If you can't assemble things, don't endanger your child's life by proving that you can. Hire someone to do it for you, or buy it pre-assembled. Don't bring the government into it.
The crib I used for all my kids was purchased in 1993. It is a dropside. Dh and I were looking at cribs about 3 years ago (for a friend, lol) and noticed that the dropsides mechanisms seemed flimsy compared to ours. Ours has metal rods that the dropside run on-no way for it to detach. The ones we saw had plastic brackets-I see how they could fail. We noticed this even before the govt issued the warnings.
I don't know why they changed the way they were made. We loved ours. I still have it, and would use it again. However, I would not use one with the brackets-I'd purchase a new fixed side one. However, as a short person, I loved the dropside!
I agree that the issue is far more often the operator than the actual crib. However, there are indeed many poorly manufactured cribs that are behind the ban. Sadly this is one of those situations where the government felt the best option was an all or nothing deal and chose all.
I have a crib bought for my oldest daughter who just turned 29 a couple of months ago that I have used for all 4 of my kids, the youngest being 8 now. It is a Bassett crib, well made and very secure. It has been put together and taken apart so many times over the years that I can't even remember how many. It doesn't fit through doorways, so even moving it from one room to another was cause to take it apart.
Unless the wood cracks and breaks, the sides are not coming off this one. As long as the manufacturers continue to make the full size mattresses for cribs, there will never be a dangerous gap. It did come with knobs at the top of the corners, but those were 'recalled' many years ago and we removed them for the possible danger of strangulation if a clothing item got caught.
It's withstood the test of time and won't be tossed just because it's a drop side crib. I realize it can't be sold or given away, however it will become an antique and likely a family heirloom, so it's not going anywhere. No matter what the government says.
I thought dropsides had been forbidden for a while? We bought our baby's crib last September and dropsides were not available anymore because law prohibited this type of crib...
good god, anyone over the age of 25 or 30 slept in a drop down, lead painted, wide gap between the bars rickety crib and we all managed to get through life just fine....
sheep... both my kids slept in MY crib from when i was a baby and they are alive and kicking as well....
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