CPSC report on nursery-related deaths highlights crib and play yard dangers

Today, the Consumer Product Safety Commission released its annual report, Nursery Product-Related Injuries and Deaths Among Children under Age Five. The news is not encouraging.  In 2006, the latest year for which data was analyzed, children under age five suffered an estimated 66,400 injuries associated with nursery products that were severe enough to require hospital treatment.  And during the three-year period from 2002 to 2004, again the most recent data available, there was an average of 80 deaths per year associated with nursery products among children under five.  Compare that to last year’s report, which showed 59,800 injuries in 2005, and an average of 61 deaths per year during the period of 2001 to 2003.  It certainly looks like we're heading in the wrong direction.

What worries us most are the number of deaths and injuries associated with cribs and play yards. Together, these two products accounted for 43 deaths per year and about 12,400 injuries according to the CPSC’s most recent data.  The recall of almost 1.5 million cribs and play yards in 2007 alone may be indicative of an inherent problem.  Many of the crib recalls were due to lack of durability.  Although the CPSC regulates cribs, their standards do not include durability test requirements.  They should. 

Cribs are also covered by several voluntary ASTM-International standards.  Although those standards include durability test requirements, the tests do not completely simulate the stresses that an active toddler can place on a crib when jumping or vigorously shaking the side rails or other components. 

Crib hardware often becomes loose over time. Parts can fatigue and fail, screws can loosen and fall out, wood can split or splinter—all creating hazards to a child.  For these reasons we think it's important to check your crib for loose or missing hardware every two months.  We also recommend against buying any crib whose history you don’t know, such as one from a garage sale, or a crib that has been in use for more than five years.  And never buy a crib that has loose or missing hardware or other components.

To provide a safe sleep environment for your child, Consumer Reports and the CPSC also recommend:

• Placing baby to sleep on his or her back in a crib that meets current safety standards to reduce the risk of SIDS and suffocation.
• Removing all soft bedding, including bumper pads, from the crib to prevent suffocation hazards.
• Never using a pillow as a mattress or to prop a baby’s head or neck; doing so poses a suffocation risk.
• Using a snug fitting crib sheet that can’t be easily pulled off and possibly become wrapped around a baby's neck.
• Never using an old, broken or modified crib because an infant can strangle to death if his or her body passes through gaps between loose components, broken slats or other parts of the crib and the baby's head and neck become entrapped in the space.
• Never allowing a gap larger than two fingers wide to develop between the sides of the crib and the mattress. Infants can suffocate in spaces between the sides of the crib and an ill-fitting mattress.
• Never placing a crib near a window with blind or curtain cords; infants can strangle on cords.
• Properly setting up a play yard according to manufacturers’ directions. Only use the mattress provided with the play yard. And do not add extra mattresses, pillows or cushions, which can cause a suffocation hazard for infants.
• Routinely checking nursery products against CPSC recall lists and removing recalled products from your home. You can sign-up for automatic e-mail recall notifications at www.cpsc.gov.
• Using a baby monitor to alert you to a problem before your child becomes one of CPSC’s statistics.

Comments

[Trisha]

Hi,
This comment is in reply of the one listed by "Kristine".
Kristine, I have a Co-Sleeper as well. This happened to your child because you were not using the liner. There are printed warnings all over the unit telling you NOT to use your Co-Sleeper without the fabric liner. I just think it's unfair to blame the product when the truth is, you weren't using it correctly. I love my Co-Sleeper and have never had a problem with it. I highly recommend the Co-Sleeper to all of my family and friends!

[Daphne]

Angela,

CR cautions against the use of sleep positioners and does include them in the soft object/pillow category of objects that should never be placed in a baby's crib. Here's a link to their warning, including a video:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/babies-kids/baby-toddler/eating-and-sleeping/sleep-positioners/sleep-positioners-for-babies-305/overview/index.htm

[Kristine]

My infant slid from the top of the Co-Sleeper we were using and landed down in the bottom area, which is a playpen for when they are bigger babies. Her head pushed against the mesh on the side and stretched it enough to allow her little body to slide right down through! I shudder to think of what would have happened if her head had gotten stuck. She probably could have hung there or suffocated. Luckily I heard her cry and ran right in. VERY dangerous. Beware no matter how small your baby is. It only takes a second for tragedy to strike. Thanks for this article.

[Pam Borchardt]

Thank you for another excellent article on safe sleep for infants. We cannot stress enough how important infant sleep environment is. It is our hope that parents, grandparents and caregivers use this information as tools to keep their babies.

An organization such as the CPSC can really help us to get our message out. Thank you.

[Angela Lee]

Sleep positioners seem increasingly popular. Quite often they show up on baby registry suggestion lists that stores supply to parents-to-be when they are making up their gift registry. We learned in our parenting and child birth classes that these were a huge no-no even though almost everybody receives them as a gift even when they don't register for them (we surely didn't register for it yet we got one). What is CR's stance on them? Was the suggestions of the parenting class/child birth class being overly cautious? Do you include sleep positioners in the "Pillow" category?

Thanks for your input!