recall alert: check your cribs!

If there's one thing a Baby Buncher can't do without, it's a crib.  In fact, many of us have two.  

We all know the warnings about the safety hazards of using cribs from unfamiliar sources where we don't know the history (much like car seats), cribs older than 10 years, or cribs with missing pieces of hardware.  But recently, there's been a rash of crib recalls that should have all of us on notice.  The drop-down crib in and of itself is taking a major beating these days - the industry is moving away from them and major retailers such as WalMart and BabiesRUs are moving towards taking them off the floors altogether.  The government is actually revising safety standards on cribs this year and there are rumors that manufacturing of drop-downs in the US will be phased out all together within the next few years in favor of those with hinged sides, possibly.

New today is a massive recall from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission of cribs from seven companies manufactured between 2000 and 2009 - which means potentially, many our of cribs.  An estimated 2 million cribs will be affected by the recall, so PLEASE check the list and your crib(s). In most instances, the injury or death was caused by the drop down side failing to latch securely and the child getting trapped between the drop down and the mattress.  This is, apparently, frequently due to improper hardware or improper installation, often in cribs with missing parts being re-used for the 2nd or 3rd child.

Personally, my second crib was recalled about a year ago and I was elated to hear the news because although Baby #3 was in crib #1, I never planned to use crib #2 again and I was able to return it to Target for a full refund (which means basically I got to use a brand new crib for free for 2 years)!  Of course, my child wasn't injured in it, so I had no complaints. And as a mom on the taller side, I think I actually USED the drop-down side of my crib approximately twice in my 6+ years of parenting, there wasn't exactly a lot of risk associated with my usage patterns.

But we love our Bunchers and their Bunches and it would break our hearts to hear of any of your wee ones being assaulted by a drop-down crib, so do your research and use good judgment.  Just thought we'd keep you in the know since if you're like us, you haven't seen the news or read a newspaper since your first baby was born and might very well have missed this important recall.

Comments

[jean grow]

perhaps my excessive height is why our two drop-down cribs only show teething wear... but I'm worried that I'll send in all the stuff for the refund, and somehow the fact that I own two exact matching cribs will lead to one refund never showing up.