CPSC Warns of Dropside Mesh-Sided Crib Dangers

Washington, DC -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and nine manufacturers of dropside mesh-sided cribs and playpens today renewed a warning to parents that these cribs and playpens present an asphyxiation and suffocation hazard when a child is left in one of these products with a side down.

Beginning the second phase of an extensive publicity campaign to alert parents to the dangers of leaving infants in dropside mesh-sided cribs and playpens with a side down, the Commission cited 15 deaths of young children in the "side down" scenario since 1978. Seven of the victims were six weeks old or younger.

The victims rolled or moved off the floor of the crib or playpen into the mesh pocket formed by the lowered side and suffocated.

Children may be unable to cry out when caught in the mesh pocket because they cannot breathe.

Children can also suffer other injuries such as brain damage as a result of becoming caught in the mesh pocket of the lowered side.

The nine manufacturers in signing a Consent Agreement last year agreed to engage in a notice campaign. The program was initiated in August 1985. This announcement is part of the campaign which includes sending letters to households with children nine months of age or younger to warn of the "side down" hazard. The firms will also mail posters to pediatricians, obstetricians, and health officials; place a paid advertisement in Parents magazine, and seek space in other magazines aimed at families with young children.

Firms signing the Consent Agreement and Participating in the safety program are Bilt-Rite Juvenile Product, Inc.; Century Products, Inc.; Pride-Trimble Corporation; Spalding & Even-Flo Companies, Inc. (successor to Questor Corporation); Strolee of California; and Welsh Company, Inc.

Consumers wanting more information on the hazards of dropside mesh-sided cribs and playpens when a side is left down should call CPSC's toll-free hotline number at 800-638-CPSC. A teletypewriter number for the hearing impaired is (301) 595-7054.