New Crib Regulations in Effect: What You Need to Know

on July 2, 2011 at 3:46 PM

baby in crib Time to go crib-shopping (again!). The government's new crib regulations are in effect, and they're a whole lot stricter than ever before. In fact, chances are the crib your baby is sleeping in now wouldn't meet the latest standards.

The biggest change in crib safety: The sale and manufacture of drop-side cribs is now banned. If you already have one, it's still legal to use it, but when you hear why the feds are cracking down on drop-side cribs you might not want to anymore.

Since 2000, drop-side cribs have been blamed for the deaths of at least 32 babies. In most of these cases, the movable sides broke and created a gap between the mattress and the side of the crib where the infants were trapped. I can't imagine anything more horrifying, so if either one of my kids was still in a crib (ours was a drop-side!), I'd be buying a new one right now. Why take the risk?

Of course, cribs are expensive and times are tough -- that's why I think there should be some sort of reimbursement program in place for parents who already own a drop-side crib. It's really not fair to announce that a certain kind of crib is potentially deadly without offering some kind of assistance for families who'll need to replace their model -- a discount? Coupons? Something.

Crib manufacturers have a few other new guidelines to follow, too, including making stronger slats and mattress supports and outfitting hardware with anti-loosening devices. No need to toss your current crib based on those changes, though -- just do regular checks to make sure the screws are tight and everything is secure.

Do you have a drop-side crib? Will you keep it?

Image via Sonya Green/Flickr

About the author Jacqueline Burt

has written for numerous magazines, newspapers, and websites. She is easily bored and often tired, so she requires constant entertainment to keep her awake. Dance, Monkey! Dance!

Filed Under: nursery, safety, baby gear

Comments (30)

Facebook comment from Rachel Schiller

on Jul 2, 2011 at 4:00 PM

The manufacturers give FREE kits to keep the side in place. Or at least the one that made our drop-side crib did. We bought our crib in 2008 for our second baby and will keep using it for baby number 3.

Report this comment

Facebook comment from Jennifer Kupper Swan

on Jul 2, 2011 at 4:12 PM

And if you do daily checks on your crib - it's easy to do (even my daughter tries to do them), then you also limit the risk (let's face it, there is no perfect crib out there).

Being only 5ft tall, I still believe it is more dangerous for my child if I don't use a dropside crib.

RhondaVeggie

on Jul 2, 2011 at 4:44 PM

If you don't have drop sides then you either need a higher mattress or a lower edge and both of those things pose a safety hazard too. A high mattress is fine for a couple of months but once the kid starts rolling and pulling on stuff it needs to go down. At that point you have a choice of dropping the side or dropping the baby and I think dropping a sleeping infant six inches or more to the matress is potentially dangerous not to mention the trauma and the fact that they'd almost certainly wake up.

I want to see data on the exact cribs used and how they were used. Between flimsy cheap cribs and stupid parents who can't operate the sides or who never check the connections I'll bet none of those deaths can be blamed directly on the drop side. Buy a quality product and maintain it and you'll be fine.

Nonmember comment from Anon

on Jul 2, 2011 at 4:48 PM

They banned something that killed 3 babies per year, usually due to mistakes made by the consumer (faulty assembly, etc.). Wondering why they haven't banned everything else that has killed 3+ babies per year, including cosleeping, cars, stairs, windows, bathtubs, pools, and probably 1000 other things. Next they will have to ban parents who make mistakes. Oh hell, why not just ban kids and get it over with?

douxmusique

on Jul 2, 2011 at 5:10 PM

Yeah the manufacturers actually ship out FREE kits to crib owners that will make the things safe. And why is this even new news? it's old news. the fact that you dont know you can just call a crib company and get the free kit shipped to you is kinda lame... should have at least made a quick 5 minute call and solved that problem.

Nonmember comment from Brianna

on Jul 2, 2011 at 5:35 PM

This is just getting stupid. Anon had it right, just ban babies and you'll save them from all the horrors of this world.

momversuswild

on Jul 2, 2011 at 5:58 PM

TOTALLY agree with Anon.

starrsitter

on Jul 2, 2011 at 6:10 PM

It bears repeating...an average of 3(ish) children were killed per year, in a country where somewhere in the ballpark of 4 million are born every year, by drop side cribs. THREE. While this is tragic for those three families per year, many of them probably could have been prevented by simple maintenance of the crib. It is also ridiculous to ban them...by this logic we should ban hundreds of other things that children come into contact with every day.

butterflymkm

on Jul 2, 2011 at 6:12 PM

This is one of those times I'm glad I'm 5'7. My fiancé is pretty short but I have no problems putting my daughter down in the regular crib. Actually we used a pack & play for the first 18 months (the basinett part & then the regular part when she got to big) due to finances & space available. We then bought a
good quality convertible crib (again limited means so we wanted something that would grow with her) it also helped that we always put her to bed awake if we could help it so placing her in bed didn't jar her. Now at 2 we put her in & she lays down on her own. That said, I think all parents should do what they need to do. Some kids will unfortuately pass away for any number of reasons & as parents we can't possible avoid them all.