Largest Crib Recall in US History Announced; 2.1 Million Drop-Side Cribs Involved

Posted on November 23, 2009 in Consumer Goods, Parenting, Recalls

More than 2.1 million drop-side cribs made by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc. and sold across the United States and Canada have just been recalled after more than 100 reports of children suffering deadly and serious suffocation and entrapment injuries in the infant beds, U.S. product safety officials said.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Health Canada, and Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc., of British Columbia, Canada, announced the voluntary international recall today, just hours after a CPSC spokesman hinted that a large crib recall was on its way.

The safety recall, which ranks among the largest single recalls ever announced for cribs, includes about 147,000 Stork Craft drop-side cribs with the Fisher-Price logo, plus another 1.2 million beds distributed in the United States and 968,000 distributed in Canada, officials said.

There have been dozens of reports of the cribs malfunctioning, including some where children were killed or seriously injured after they became trapped in gaps between the drop sides and the frames on the cribs, the CPSC said.

The plastic hardware on the cribs drop-side can bend or break, or beds may have been shipped missing parts, the CPSC said. Also, the drop-side can be installed upside down, which can cause the side to break or allow for a gap to form in the frame that is wide enough for children to become trapped, injured, and suffocated, officials said.

Crib Deaths, Injuries Reported

Some highlights of the just-released CPSC recall notice for Stork Craft/Fisher-Price cribs include:

• 110 incidents of drop-side detachment (67 incidents in the United States and 43 in Canada)

• 15 entrapments (12 in the U.S. and three in Canada)

• 4 of the entrapments resulted in suffocation, including a 7-month-old in Gouverneur, N.Y., a 7-month-old in New Iberia, La., a 6-month-old in Summersville, W.Va., and a 9-month-old in Bronx, N.Y.

• 20 falls from cribs (12 in the U.S. and eight in Canada), causing injuries ranging from concussion to bumps and bruises.

Stork Craft and Fisher-Price Cribs Recalled

The Stork Craft cribs were manufactured and distributed between January 1993 and October 2009. The Stork Craft cribs with the Fisher-Price logo were manufactured between October 1997 and December 2004, officials said.

The recalled cribs with the Fisher-Price logo were first sold in the U.S. in July 1998 and in Canada in September 1998. The cribs were sold in various styles and finishes, the CPSC said.

The recalled cribs were sold in major retailers across the United States and Canada, including BJ’s Wholesale Club, J.C. Penney, Kmart, Meijer, Sears, USA Baby, and Wal-Mart stores as well as online at Amazon.com, Babiesrus.com, Costco.com, Target.com, and Walmart.com from January 1993 through October 2009 for between $100 and $400, the CPSC said.